You’re generally a confident person with what you consider, decent communication skills, but why then do you shake like a leaf in a storm when it is time to go up on stage and make a presentation? Why is the very thought of speaking in front of a group of people as scary to you as death itself?
But here’s the thing though: it isn’t as tough as it looks, but it isn’t as easy as it looks either.
When, for the first time, we heard Obama speak, I am sure we all went, “Damn, this guy is good. If I were an American, I’d vote for him.” You want to believe with him, share his vision. Same goes for Bill Clinton, J.F. Kennedy, Roosevelt, Martin Luther King Jr., Mahatma Gandhi, more recently, Shashi Tharoor and many others. Good oratory skills not only influences people to your way of thinking, it also gives them confidence in you.
There are a few tips that can enable you to master the art of public speaking:
Know what you want to say
Be an expert on your topic. Know it inside out. This calls for tremendous practice. Don’t think you can make the speech on the fly. It might be possible for an Obama, but for you and I, we need to go over our speech a gazillion times. Choose your words carefully. Don’t use too much fluff. Keep it to the bare minimum. Cut down on the umms and uhs. Pick a group of friends and speak in front of them. Practice in front of a mirror. Record yourself and make notes as to where you’re going wrong. If you know your material well, that’s half the battle won. And stick to the material, unless you’re very confident and extemporize.
Have a theme
Have a single, unforgettable theme. Because no matter how hard your audience concentrates, their attention spans cannot be trusted. If you have a main theme, you can come back to it often, so that even if people don’t get your entire speech, they will get the gist. If your main theme is, say, Traveling, keep coming back to the adventures of traveling.
Make it simpler
If you are a doctor and speaking at a medical conference, people will get whatever jargons or medical terminology you throw at them. But if you’re at a small gathering of disparate audience called to speak on the benefits of jogging, you cannot obviously start throwing fancy medical terms at them because one, they won’t get it, and two, they will lose interest. Never overestimate or underestimate the intelligence of your audience. Keep it simple and clear. Don’t use flowery words when a simple one will do. Omit the needless words, the points that are not contributing to the main idea of your theme.
Paint a picture
Don’t give people numbers, show them what those numbers mean. For example: don’t say, “Last year 30 percent of people didn’t vote.” Rather tell them what they’re missing out on when they don’t vote. Relate it to the impact of not voting: development of the nation. Use your body language and visual aids to further emphasize your point. Be animated, excited, sound passionate. Watch the tone of your voice, modulate where needed.
Keep your audience engaged
Remember in school when the teacher didn’t look at you, you felt bored and automatically tuned out. So make constant eye contact with your audience. Don’t stare, just a general look in their direction, so it seems to them that you’re talking to them. Use examples that they can relate to. “Did you miss the bus today? I did, too.” And more often than not, use “we”, instead of “I”. “We all have problems.” It instantly helps you connect with them. Ask them questions, address them directly.
Enunciation
Articulation is highly important when you’re speaking. Make sure you don’t speak too fast, or too slow. Ensure every word is clear and loud. Do some voice exercises to sound better, to get a better throw. Practice speaking loudly and at a steady pace.
Follow these tips and you should feel yourself getting better at public speaking in no time.
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