Public Speaking Tips And Tactics

As I'm sure you already know, public speaking can be absolutely terrifying or extremely satisfying. Apart from the ability to boost your career prospects and earning power, once you pluck up the courage it is a source of self-actualization and of building both confidence and self-esteem.

Because some people are terrified, I am going to show you 3 specific ways, that I have used personally, to overcome your fears. They are quite easy, but first you need to believe that the fear and nervousness you are experiencing CAN be overcome: find out how...

Further down this page, I've also included an article I wrote specifically to give you 7 great tips for public speaking.

My Own Experience Of Speaking In Public

After maybe the second or third time I was asked to speak in public I began to enjoy it; being able to communicate ideas to a group or even influence that group is a powerful feeling.

When people accept you and your ideas as a public speaker, it has a measurable impact on your feelings of achievement and as you build your public speaking confidence you can also measure the impact on your career finances.

As you develop your skills, you find that people ask for your views more often, you become more visible to decision-makers in your organization and this can be massively important to your career. It can boost the apparent authority you have, especially when you are requested by senior, influential people.

If you want to advance your career and hence give your career finances a boost, you could do no better than by immediately brushing up your skills and volunteering to give a speech or lead a session in a seminar.

Perhaps you have tried it before and didn't enjoy it? There are a number of simple techniques to help you which do not take too much to master.

Many people think that the greatest measure of success is discerned by how long you have been in your job or what level of qualifications you hold. However research has shown that people who give more speeches tend to command higher salaries than those who give fewer or no speeches.

In some of the, lets say more 'practical' roles, such as engineer, the value of being able to give powerful presentations is often underestimated, yet notice how the one who can give a good speech, perhaps communicating some complex idea to laymen, is often the one who gets the promotion.

In other jobs, say a client-facing role, you know you will have to give speeches so you better do what you can to be the best at them.

Whatever your role in employment or even in life, there will be instances when you simply have to talk in public. If you have opinions of any kind, the day will come when you have to speak to defend them or inform others publicly. Now let me tell you three ways to overcome your nervousness at speaking publicly.

3 Ways to Overcome Public Speaking Fears

I am going to show you three specific ways, that I have used personally, to overcome your fears of speaking in public. They are quite easy, but first you need to believe that the fear and nervousness you are experiencing CAN be overcome.

1. It is normal to be nervous and even fearful before getting up to speak in public. Most great actors feel nervous before going on stage; world class athletes are nervous before a big event so don't feel that you have to be fearless!

If you can accept that your nerves are a normal response and not unusual in any way, then you start to release the tension and allow yourself to function effectively. Because fear is a normal physiological response that releases adrenaline into your bloodstream - preparing you for the fight or flight response - you can harness the help you are being given.

Adrenaline heightens your responses and gives you the extra 'lift' to give of your best.

2. Work out where your fear comes from. With most people it is a fear of appearing foolish - nobody wants to look daft - so preparation is the key. Your self-esteem is a powerful mantle and you don't want to lower it by exposing yourself to laughter or ridicule.

You may feel that the audience won't like you - in fact they are probably more supportive than you may think. You may be worried that the audience will not like your speech or value the content of what you have to say.

Aim for approval from your audience and you will find yourself well pleased too; but never at the expense of compromising the truth of the message you deliver.

3. The audience knows nothing of your fears; audiences like this have seen many speakers before and are looking forward to hearing your speech. Because they are 'neutral' all you need to do is hide your nervousness and act the part of an accomplished speaker.

Think about speakers YOU have seen before; how did they look and act. COPY THEM! Now bear in mind why you have been asked to speak; keep your material simple but to the point and focus on what you believe the audience needs to understand.

Put their needs before yours and you will be assured of giving a great speech.

These three ways to overcome your public speaking fears will soon have you saying "I enjoy giving a speech, and I'm actually good at it."When you are happy with these three ways to overcome your public speaking fears you can move on to my 7 Great Tips and build your public speaking skills up to a higher level anytime you like.

7 Great Public Speaking Tips

My tips for effective public speaking are for when you are giving speeches in front of large or small groups, with old familiar faces or new unknown ones, you may feel that the stress of public speaking is always with you. What I am going to do is give you these seven great tips for public speaking that work for me and should help you work through your nerves so you can communicate your speech topics with genuine confidence.

Public Speaking Mastered, Nerves Banished

1. Accept that you will be nervous, but realise that you can overcome your nerves. Public speaking nerves are natural and help you rise to the challenge - they're a form of stress response that heightens your senses. Problems only occur if you allow yourself to dwell on the stress of the situation and how you feel rather than focusing on the speech itself. Tell yourself how bad you feel and even more tension sets in. Keep your mind on your presentation and all will go well.

2. Keep your mind on your speech topics by thinking to yourself: "I'm here to deliver some important information". Whether it is a persuasive speech to convince clients to buy or an acceptance speech at an awards ceremony you should believe that the audience is attending to hear what you can tell them. The thought that "they want me to do well because they will learn something" is a powerful motivator when public speaking.

3. Try to get to your room before anyone arrives. If you can become familiar with the layout and 'feel' of the room your speech will go better. Look around the room at the seating arrangement and try visualizing people sitting in the audience. Move around the room and you will be more comfortable in the surroundings. Stand at the lectern and raise your eyes to the back of the room; now look at the front row. Move away so that you won't fall into the trap of 'hiding' behind the equipment.

4. If you are using visual aids or other equipment practice operating it beforehand. You will relax more if you don't have to try to remember how the things work. Being seen as a confident public speaker is partly about being able to operate the equipment! If you are using presentation materials don't replace all of your speech topics with slides that say what you are going to say.

Practice Makes Perfect

5. Public speaking gets easier with practice. So practice your speech out loud, especially the opening and closing remarks. Practice the main body of your presentation with your visuals running - this helps with overall timing. Keep practicing until you feel that the flow of your words sounds natural and you are used to the sound of your own voice.

6. Some light exercise before you speak will burn off the stress. Do some stress-burning exercises before you speak. Massage your neck, shoulders, lower back, temples, or anywhere else you feel the physical signs of tension. Breathe deeply, jog on the spot or shout out - anything you do will help you remain calm and your public speaking experience will be improved.

7. Walk confidently to the front of the room, think about your message and move with confident body language. I sometimes think that starting to speak before you reach the front can capture you audience's attention and avoids any unnerving silence as you stand there. If you are on the platform, however, then glance around and try to catch the eye of one or two people - you'll be surprised how this gets their attention and starts to quieten the room.

My 7 great tips work well if you relax and trust yourself. Nobody is expecting you to be perfect, but you will get better with practice.

Try out these 7 great tips for effective public speaking the next time when you are giving speeches in front of large or small groups, with old familiar faces or new ones. Although you may feel that the stress of public speaking is always with you, what I have done is give you these 7 great tips that actually work for me and should help you work through your nerves. When you feel in control, you can communicate your speech topics with genuine confidence and your audience will appreciate your efforts.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Peter_Fisher

Public speaking is just one of the things that can make a real difference to your career success so its worth taking the time to develop this as one of your stronger work skills to advance your career and hence give your career success a boost, you could do no better than by immediately brushing up your public speaking skills and volunteering to give a speech or lead a session in a seminar. When you can claim speaking in public as one of your key strengths, you stand out as one of very few people who have that skill. Now that will get you noticed!

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