Have you ever wondered how to be an effective public speaking expert? The truth is, public speaking comes from being prepared and keeping your message simple. Confidence, humor, and emotion helps but it’s most important to be prepared for what you’ll be talking about and keeping the points of your message simple and easy to understand.
Be Prepared
Nothing makes for a better presentation than a well prepared one. Being prepared doesn’t mean you have to rehearse exactly what you’re going to say so you can repeat it like a recording. In order to develop your speaking skills, you need to prepare your thoughts and organize them.
“Don’t go up there with a blank sheet in your head and expect to write as you go” suggests John Rogan of Motivational Speakers. “You don’t necessarily have to write out your speech word for word, but it is a good idea to have a rough outline ion paper and then fill in the blanks once you’re up there. Just by knowing what your main points will be, you’ll be more comfortable, effective, and confidence will come naturally.”
After you have your main points down and are comfortable you can incorporate humor. Telling jokes and stories are a great way work in your points and have them stick in the minds of your audience. People are more inclined to remember something if they hear a story to go along with it. Having anecdotes for your key points is a great way to leave a lasting impression and achieve effective public speaking.
Be Yourself
Once you are comfortable with what you have to say, the final key to effective public speaking comes from just being yourself. Everyone remembers watching public speakers who were so nervous or awkward that you felt embarrassed for them. Or even someone who made no mistakes, but spoke like a robot and didn’t engage the audience at all. At some point or another, we have all gone through these difficult times.
Practicing your speech in front of a video camera until you look and sound natural is a good idea for those who are struggling to learn effective public speaking. “Self confidence is developed over time” says Sean Adams of MotivationPing.com. “If you truly want to have more courage, you have to take chances and do the things you fear most.”
When you boil it down, effective public speaking comes from preparation. Spend enough time in preparation to know what you are going to say and to look comfortable saying it. As long as you are organized before you go up to speak, you’ll get your point across. After all, getting your point across is the real definition of effective public speaking.
Here are three simple steps you can follow:
Step one: Picking a topic.
You want to pick a topic that you know a great amount about that way during your speech of you forget one of your points you can use the information you already know.
Pick a topic that your audience range will be interested in. The audience who is choosing to listen because your topic is one they enjoy will be easier to speak with.
Step Two: Planning
Everyone and everything needs a plan. Start by creating an introduction. You want your introduction to be short enough that it introduces the topic, but still gets the audience’s attention. Try starting out with a joke, or s startling fact. Then give a brief overview of your topic/
Next you need the body to the speech. This is where all your facts and information should be. Give each fact enough time to be explained in detail. Remember not to go on, and on about each fact. Theres only so much you can say. Keeping it simple will keep your audience’s attention. Remember to explain any words that may not make sense to someone who knows absolutely nothing on your topic.
Last you need a nice conclusion. Restate your topic. This will remind them what the main point was. Make sure to go over your main points in a new wording. To end it make sure you leave them thinking. You can use a quote, or ask a question.
Step Three: Speaking
Here are five tips about giving your speech:
- Standing up straight will help your confidence
- Remember it’s not a race take your time
- Having a plan will reduce the number of umms, and uhhs in your speech.
- Do not fidget; it takes away from your speech
- Looking at the audience is a plus
Public speaking is not as hard as many people think. Yes, you do have to get over the fear of being on stage. And you definitely need to learn how to craft your speech. But once you have done this, you will see that it is pretty simple and straight forward.
