If you are like most people, speaking in public is something that strikes fear in your heart. Just thought of getting in front of strangers can make you panic. Take a deep breath and relax, because now you are going to read great public speaking tips that will put your mind at ease. Continue below to the follow article for a great education on the art of public speaking.
Make sure you wear a supportive pair of shoes when you do public speaking. You want your posture to be tall and confident, with open and relaxed shoulders so you portray confidence. If you get tense on stage from feet, knee or low back pain, it will affect your speech greatly.
If you have to speak publicly, try to keep it at twenty minutes or less. This is the average attention span of most individuals, so speaking for longer than this is going to risk boring them. If you have to speak for longer than this, find some way to change gears in the middle to liven things up.
The tone of your speech should depend on who you are giving it to. For instance, if your speech is work-related, your speech should be professional. On the other hand, if you are around friends and have to make a speech, you can be more personal. Base your whole speech on your audience.
If you accidentally skipped over a sentence, forget it and keep going. Don't call attention to it and disrupt the flow of your speech. If you just keep going, your audience will never know you made a mistake.
Do not use a laser pointer to run over words as you read them from a screen. This gives your audience the idea that you think they are incapable of reading for themselves. Once they begin to feel insulted, it will be much harder for you to convince them to listen to you.
Know your topic well. Take the necessary time to research your topic and learn all you can. When delivering your speech, try to be flexible. Allow participants to ask questions. If you do not know the answer, tell them that you do not know, but you will find the information out and make it available to the group at a later time.
When preparing a speech that contains large amounts of information, don't be too proud to use note cards. Even the most gifted orators recognize the usefulness of notes. It is preferable to quickly glance at your notes rather than cite information incorrectly or omit key points. This works especially well when the topic includes specific figures, such as dollar amounts, percentages, and dates.
Even if you are very nervous and feel that you are falling all over yourself, don't apologize. You feel as though you're a fool, but the audience might not notice. If you made an error, quickly fix it and keep going forward without apologizing.
Do your best to deliver unique information to your audience instead of telling them things they could have easily gotten from someone else. You need to make it clear that it is you that they need to listen to. Do research to make sure that you are not giving them duplicated content.
Be sure to use appropriate visual aids to make your speech more interesting. A picture or an object is worth a thousand words and can add depth and dimension to your presentation. Be creative in your choices of visual aids. Photos, paintings, sculpture, souvenirs, charts, graphs and many other types of objects can help you get your point across clearly.
It's important to speak clearly and use a strong voice. You can use a cup of water, kept nearby, to help with this. Don't drink soda pop or milk products the day you speak. These beverages will make your saliva thicker. Drink tea before giving a speech.
Avoid nervous gestures and mannerisms. Don't cross your arms or rattle your keys in your pocket. Use your hands to convey your points, but not too much. You don't want to distract or annoy your audience by waving your arms around. Get a friend to watch you rehearse your speech to identify any gestures or movements that may be problematic.
Try to relax when it comes time for you speak in public. If you need time before your speech, try pausing, smiling, and silently counting to three to relax. When you start speaking, make sure you address your audience. This can also give you some extra time to calm down.
Pay attention to the rate of speed when you speak. Nerves can sometimes cause you to speak too quickly, which could lead to your audience missing some of your important points. If you speak too slowly, the audience may get inpatient. Practice often so that you hit on just the right cadence.
Carefully choose the words you use when presenting your speech. Technical jargon and other difficult to understand words should be avoided. If you must use a technical word, make sure that your audience understands what that word means by giving them a concise definition of the word. This will help ensure that your audience knows what you are talking about.
If you are so nervous during speeches that you cannot look at your audience, try the following trick. Instead of looking into the faces of the people you are speaking to, look at the tops of their heads. Keep looking at different head-tops and your audience will think you are looking right at them as you speak.
To get ready for a public speech, get your voice warmed up beforehand. This is more important if your speech is early in the day. If you don't, you may find that you'll start carrying a lot of tension in your vocal chords during the speech. This can make your voice crack and add a tinniness to your voice.
You should now have more confidence to get in front of strangers after reading the tips in the above article. You should not have to tremble in fear any longer whenever you speak to someone you don't know. Remember what you learned here, and use it whenever you need to do public speaking.
Orignal From: Public Speaking: Simple Tips And Tricks
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