Public speaking is a huge challenge for most people, whether it's to give a speech, raise a toast at your friend's wedding, or be called to the front of the class. Luckily, you can try some of the following techniques to make public speaking more comfortable and less stressful. While giving speeches may never be your thing, at the very least, it's much less likely to embarrass yourself in front of your audience.
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Part 1 of 3: Preparing for a Speech
Step 1. Identify your area of discussion
One of the things that makes public speakers feel comfortable and dynamic is making sure you know what you're talking about and are knowledgeable about it. Lack of knowledge can make you anxious and sound doubtful when you speak and this will be felt by the audience.
- Preparation is key. Spend sufficient time as you compose your speech to ensure that your speech flows naturally and logically. You also have to make sure that you know how to welcome and enhance your best qualities while minimizing your flaws.
- Even for something as simple as answering a question in class you still need to make sure you know your audience. This can help you feel more confident, which will make a positive impression on your listeners.
Step 2. Train your body
Public speaking is not like running a race, there are still things you can do to ensure that your body is working with you. It's more than just standing up straight while you're talking (hold your toes to keep your feet straight when you speak), it's also about breathing, and includes imagining and making sure you can speak regularly.
- Speak from your diaphragm. This will help you produce a clear, loud sound so your audience can hear it without sounding like you're straining or screaming. As an exercise, stand up straight and place your hands on your stomach. Inhale, and exhale. Count to 5 on your inhale and then 10 on your exhale. You will feel comfortable and relaxed on your stomach. Breathe and speak in this relaxed state.
- Set your tone of voice. Find out what is the pitch of your voice, too high? Too low? When talking only animals can hear you? You should relax, stand in a comfortable and upright position and breathe properly, this will help you find a more pleasant and more pleasant tone.
- Avoid throat breathing and upper chest breathing. Both of these methods can increase anxiety and narrow your throat. Because of this, your voice will sound more strained and uncomfortable.
Step 3. Practice pacing back and forth
People talk a lot faster when they're just having a conversation, but this shouldn't be the case when you're speaking in front of a large group of people. The audience should be able to follow what you are saying and give them time to process the content of your speech.
- Try to speak slower and more carefully than the tone of a normal conversation. Make sure that you pause between different ideas, or particularly important themes, so the audience has time to understand and reflect on what you have to say.
- Practice proper articulation and pronunciation. Articulation is when you pronounce a sound. Focus mainly on pronouncing the sounds: b, d, g, dz (j in jelly), p, t, k, ts, (ch in chilly). For pronunciation, you need to know how to pronounce all the words and that you practice pronouncing the more difficult words.
- Eliminate 'um and too many repetitions of conjunctions such as "like." Actually these words are okay to use in casual conversation, but when speaking in public they will make you sound like you don't know what you're talking about.
Step 4. Get to know your speech model
Knowing the type of your speech is just as important as knowing the audience you are speaking to. There are many ways to make a speech, you have to choose the best and most suitable way for you.
- To give a speech, you'll need some sort of note card or outline for your speech. Or you can just make a speech by relying on memory, if you really have a good grasp of the content of your speech (don't try this method if you're not really sure you can do it).
- You don't need to jot down every detail on notes (leave some room for improvisation), but it can also be helpful to include small notes like "pause after this information" or "remember to breathe regularly" so that you actually remember what to do. Thing.
Step 5. Memorize Your Speech
While you don't actually have to memorize one hundred percent of your speech or every talking point, it can be a good way to help you appear confident and make it easier for you. However, make sure that you set aside enough time to practice.
- Write your speech over and over again. This method helps you to remember. The more you write it down, the easier it will be for you to remember. After you've written a few times, please test yourself how well you've memorized it. If there are parts you can't remember, keep writing those parts over and over again.
- Break your speech into smaller parts and memorize each of them. It would be very difficult to memorize the entire speech at once. The best thing to do is to memorize it in small parts (start by memorizing each main point, then move on to each subpoint, etc.)
- Use the loci method. Divide your speech into paragraphs or bullet points. Visualize a picture for each of these points (eg imagine Harry Potter if you are talking about JK Rowling's influence on children's literature). Determine the location for each of the points (such as Hogwarts for Rowling, meadows for Stephenie Meyer, etc.). Now you're going to move on about the location (you fly on a broom from Hogwarts to the prairie, for example). If there are several things you want to explain at any given point, place them in places around the location (e.g. a point discussing the popularity of Harry Potter in the Main Hall, or the effect it had on the development of the genre on the Quidditch pitch).
Step 6. Know your audience
You need to know who you're giving your speech to, because what may be pleasing to one type of audience may not be pleasing to another. For example: you may not be informal during a business presentation, but you will be more casual if you are dealing with a group of students.
- Humor is a great way to melt the tension between you and your audience. There is a certain type of humor that fits most situations in general (but not always!). It's a good idea to start with a little humor to lighten the mood and give a sense of confidence. One humor that you can try is to tell a funny story or experience that you or your friends have experienced.
- Find out what you are trying to convey to the audience. Are you trying to provide new information? Sharpen old information? Or are you trying to persuade them to do something? This will help you focus while speaking and not stray from the main point of your conversation.
Step 7. Practice
This is very important if you want your career as a public speaker to run smoothly. Knowing the material is not enough if you want to give a good speech. You need to repeat and practice quite a bit until all the information is easy and you are immersed in it. It's like wearing new shoes. At first your feet may be a little scratchy, but after a while the shoes will feel comfortable and fit you.
- Try to practice in the actual place where you will be speaking later. This will give you greater confidence because you are comfortable with your performance location.
- Record and video your practice earlier and try to notice your strengths and weaknesses. While it's not very comfortable sometimes to watch yourself, it's a powerful way to see where your strengths and weaknesses are. You may notice adverse habits, reflexes and expressions (e.g. standing unsteadily or unsteadily, frequently fixing hair while speaking, etc.). Then you can try to get rid of the habit or try to minimize it.
Part 2 of 3: Sharpening Your Message
Step 1. Choose the right type of speech
There are 3 types of speech: informative, persuasive, entertaining. Although several types of speech sometimes intersect with each other, each has a specific and special function.
- The main purpose of an informative speech is to provide facts, details, and examples of information. Even if you are trying to persuade an audience, you should still focus on the facts and basic information.
- Persuasive speech is anything that has to do with persuading an audience. You will use facts, but also your own emotions, logic, experience, etc
- The purpose of an entertainment speech is to meet a social need, but it often includes some aspect of an informative speech (such as at a wedding, or a congratulatory speech).
Step 2. Avoid long-winded openings
You must have heard speeches open with the words "When I was asked to give a speech, I didn't know what to say…" Don't do this! This is one of the most boring ways to start a speech. Usually these openings ramble on and on about the speaker's personal life, and are often not as entertaining as the speaker hopes.
- Begin your speech by presenting the main idea, the overarching idea, and the three (or more) main points that support your speech and explain later. Audiences will remember the opening and closing more than any other part of a speech.
- Open your speech in an engaging way to grab the audience's attention from the start. It can start by presenting surprising facts or statistics, or asking questions and playing with a mindset that is beyond the audience's expectations.
Step 3. Create a clear structure
To avoid speech that has no end/climax, you need to design a clear format. Remember not to overwhelm your audience with too many facts and ideas.
- Master your ideas thoroughly. Ask yourself what are you trying to convey to the audience? What message do they want to take from your speech? Why should they agree with what you say? For example: if you are giving a talk about national trends in literature, consider why your audience wants to know, what is important to them. You don't want to just flaunt the facts without directing/thinking your audience's interest in mind.
- You need a few key points that support the overall idea. Usually consists of 3 main points. For example: If your idea is about the diversity of national children's literature, then there will be one point that shows the latest trends, then another point that shows the public's acceptance of this new diversity, and another point talks about why the above is important and how the effect.
Step 4. Use the right language
Language is very important in writing and speaking. Avoid superfluous words that are too scientific and heavy, because no matter how smart your audience is, they can lose interest if you shower them with words they only find in dictionaries.
- Use flashy and catchy adjectives. Make your speech and audience more lively and vibrant. For example: instead of saying "children's literature offers a wide variety of new perspectives" say "children's literature offers a variety of interesting and varied new perspectives."
- Use images to make your audience feel at home and pay attention. Winston Churchill used the expression "iron curtain" to describe the secrecy of the Soviet Union. A striking image will linger and linger in the consciousness of your audience (such as the phrase "iron curtain" which is still used today and has become a household phrase).
- Repetition is also a great way to remind the audience that your speech is important (such as Martin Luther King Jr's "I have a dream…"). These words are deeply embedded in the memory of the audience and make them unable to forget the theme of the speech.
Step 5. Deliver a simple speech
Of course you hope that the audience can easily follow your speech and they will easily remember it later. This not only means focusing on striking pictures and surprising facts, but it should also be simple and straightforward. If you talk here and there with complicated discussions, you will lose your audience.
- Use short sentences and short phrases. It can be used for dramatic effect. For example the sentence "never again." This phrase is short, direct and has a clear meaning.
- You can also use short, in-depth quotes. Many famous people make funny or powerful statements in very short sentences. You can try making your own statement or quoting some well-known words of wisdom. For example: Franklin D. Roosevelt said "Be sincere; be brief; be seated."
Part 3 of 3: Public Speaking
Step 1. Face your anxiety
Most people feel a bit anxious before they have to speak in public/others. The hope is that you are ready to deliver your speech and already know how to present it. Fortunately, there are several ways to deal with your anxiety.
- Before starting and giving your speech, clench and relax your hands a few times to get your adrenaline flowing. Take a deep breath slowly for 3 times. This will calm you down and make it easier for you to breathe as you speak later.
- Stand confidently in a relaxed and upright position, with your feet shoulder-width apart. This position will influence your brain to think that you are very confident and make it easier for you to speak.
Step 2. Smile at the audience
Smile when your audience comes into the room (if you're outside) or smile when you get up in front of them. This will give the impression that you are confident and lighten the mood between you and the audience.
Smile even if you feel like you're being challenged (especially if you really feel like being challenged). This will help trick your brain into feeling comfortable and confident
Step 3. Deliver the speech in an interesting way
Public speaking, in any form, should be interesting. Your speech can be interesting or boring depending on how you look and how you deliver it. You need to have a stage persona that you should use when giving a speech.
- To speak is to tell a story. Part of your presentation is giving a speech like you're telling a story. People love stories and it will be easier for them to relate to your speech, even if you are talking about something that is based on facts. Use a theme or subject as the basis of the story. Why do viewers care about your topic? What's the point?
- Try to strike a balance between pre-rehearsed speech and spontaneity. People don't want to sit across from you and watch you mumble reading notes. It is recommended that you have room to expand your subject free from notes and add side stories to make it more interesting.
- Use your hands when talking about your points. Do not let you just stand stiff while speaking or to pound the stage when giving a speech. It's a good idea to use adequate hand and body movements when discussing your points.
- Vary your voice while speaking. Your audience will fall asleep in 10 seconds if you just speak flatly in a long monotone voice. You have to be passionate about your own discussion and show it to the audience.
Step 4. Engage the audience
You have to make sure the audience is in your control, which means engaging them in whatever material is going to happen. This will make you an interesting speaker more than just bringing up an interesting topic.
- Look at your audience. Divide the imaginary room in your mind into sections and make eye contact with one person in each section on a rotational basis.
- Ask the audience when giving a speech. You can open each session of the speech with a question for the audience to try to answer, before you show them the information behind the question. This will make them feel a part of your speech.
Step 5. Speak more slowly
One of the things that most people fail when trying to speak in public is that they speak too fast. Normal conversation is much faster than the speed you would use for speech. If you think you're talking too slowly, it probably means you're at the right pace.
- Drink water if you start to choke while giving a speech. This will give the audience time to catch up and give you a moment to adjust the tempo.
- If you have friends or family members in the audience, agree on certain signals with them so they can let them know if you're going too fast. Take occasional glances at them throughout your speech so you know if your speech is appropriate or not.
Step 6. Prepare a good closing
People remember the beginning and the end of a speech more, they rarely remember the middle. Because of this, you need to make sure that your closing is memorable so the audience will remember it afterwards.
- Make sure your audience knows why this is important and why they should know this information. If you can, end with a call to do something. For example: if you're giving a speech about the importance of art classes at school, end by giving the audience something the audience can do about the fact that art choices are being reduced.
- End with a story that describes your main idea. Again, people love a story. Tell someone how this information could be useful to someone, or the dangers of not having this information, or relate it specifically to your audience (people will be more interested in things that relate to them personally).
Tips
- Listen and watch public speakers who have become big and famous and then try to analyze what made them successful.
- Don't be ashamed of your mistakes. Demosthenes was a prominent orator in ancient Athens although he suffered from speech difficulties. A good public speaker can overcome these difficulties.
- Try bringing some people you know in the audience. It's even better if he or she is the one who accompanies you to practice. This will help you feel more comfortable and familiar with the audience.
- When you ask your audience to get involved, try to ask something they can easily answer, and then reaffirm their answer by explaining your opinion or thoughts.
