Four Steps: Be A More Confident Public Speaker

Amy is a twenty-year-old sophmore in college. She wants to be a high-school teacher someday and encourage teens from low-income families to also attend college.

David is in a management position for the company he works for. He hopes to one day "climb the ladder" and have three times his current salary.

What do Amy and David have in common? Their fear of public speaking. Perhaps you can relate to them. You have big plans, big ideas, and dreams for your future, but public speaking is not your forte. The success you yearn for is just four steps away. They are found in the acronym O-P-E-N.

The first letter in this acronym stand for "overcome fear". Over coming fear is difficult, but not impossible. The best way to overcome fear is action. There is some grain of truth to the "just-do-it" slogan used by the NIke Shoe Company. Now I am not advising you jump off a cliff although, to some, this is what public speaking feels like. I am suggesting that you " just do it" and realize that building confidence in anything takes time. The more you do it, the more your new found confidence will shine through. If you believe in yourself others will believe in you as well.

One of my favorite quotes by an anonymous speaker is "Plan your work and work your plan". This brings us to the second step on the journey to be a more confident public speaker. The second letter in the acronym stands for "preparation and practice".

Prepping yourself beforehand is very important to delivering your speech in a confident way. There are many techniques one can use for preparation:

-Note cards- Take small phrases or sentences from your speech and write them on note cards to study repetatively.

-Practice in front of a friend- Say your speech to a friend who is willing to listen and then give suggestions and clarity on certain points.

-Write your speech by hand- Repetition is your friend. If you incorporate other mediums into your preparation regimen you will feel more confident that you know your material.

-Visual Aides- You could bring a few items to pass around that help communicate your main points. Thais works best in a classroom setting.. You can also bring story boards and other physical "props" for a stage situation. Many people make a "Power Point Presentation" on the computer to give a more interesting spin. This is also good because the speaker can use it to keep himself/herself on track.

These are just some of the ways you can reassure your knowledge on the topic you have decided to speak on. These techniques will add an extra level of comfortableness to you and your audience.

The next part of this step is practice. I have heard it many said many times that "practice doesn't make perfect. Practice makes permanent". If this is the case then it is important to practice not only what your are going to say, but also the hand gestures and posture you are going to utilize during your speech.

Everytime you go through your speech you should do it and say it as if you are in front of the peopel you will be speaking to. This will result in you gaining confidence in the fact that you know exactly what you're going to do and how you are going to do it.

It's important that unless the context of your speech calls for a more sobering tone that overall you entertain your audience. To do this will take more than a few one-liners and knee-slappers. The core of entertaining your audience has to do with your enjoyment of the topic as well. If you think that talking about "Lethal Spiders in Taiwan" is a boring topic then the odds are that your audience will end up thinking the same. Your attitude towards the subject is very important. It is vital that your audience cares about what you've been talking about by the end of your speech.

Other ways that will encourage your audience to be interested in your topic besides your own enjoyment are:

- Speak with emotion- This does nto mean well up in tears every five seconds, but rather that you express the passion you feel for a subject.

-Speak with clarity- Make sure that yo uare concise and clear. Every sentence should have a purpose.

-Relate with your audience. We are all human and therefore it important to bridge the gap between you and your audience. This can be done by telling a personal story (topic appropriate please), a joke, or even an inspirational quote. We all appreciate others who admit they are human and make mistakes as well.

-Talk with your hands- Body language has alot to do with how we receive people. Use open gestures and happy excited facial expressions.

-Ask questions/Discussion- This is best used in a class room setting. Asking questions keeps your group engaged and discussion helps everyone to dig deeper into the issues at hand.

In summary, your audience will appreciate someone they can relate to rather then someone who talks at them from a platform. They also need to know that you not only care about your topic, but that you care about them. Entertainment has very many different connotations both good and bad. However, when used in the public speaking arena it can be a vital part of keeping your audience interested in your topic.

The fourth and final step is knowing your audience or "navigating" your audience. I cannot emphasize this step enough. If you take the time to research and find out the "what, who, and where" facts about your audience it will bring you a huge amount of confidence in what you are saying to them.

Even a fact as simple as the age of a group can make a big difference in how you approach your audience. Learn your audience beforehand. Set time aside to "navigate" through their thoughts and ideas before you parade your own in front of them.

Look at the situation you are going into and devise a some unique strategies for that audience. One pitfall to a public speaker is to succomb to the assumption that every audience is the same and will respond the same.