The fear of public speaking is a fear shared by many people. Many people avoid it at all costs. Many of today's top speakers have suffered from nerves but have overcome it to become confident public speakers. Speaking with confidence is important to success in most fields of human endeavour. A few well chosen words confidently spoken can achieve more than 5 years hard work.
Proper planning of a speech contributes greatly to speaking with confidence. Self confidence comes as a natural consequence of thorough preparation. Following a step by step method of preparation helps with the pre-speaking jitters as well as the delivery "nerves". The speaker has something to focus on other than the end result.
1) Know Your Audience
The first step in preparation is to understand your audience. Ask yourself "who are they?" Find out as much as you can about the demographics, the size of the audience etc. Ascertain the reason for the meeting. Getting to know your audience will help you when selecting your topic and the style of delivery. It is necessary to tailor the speech to the audience, a speech that appropriate at a sales conference may not be appropriate for a group of expectant mums.
2) Selecting Your Topic
Your topic selection will be bounded by your knowledge and experience. Choose a topic you are interested in and are enthusiastic about. In this way you are merely extending the conversation. Your confidence will be higher with topic you are familiar with than one you know little about. When selecting the topic, the ultimate test is not only that you are interested in the topic but you are able to make it interesting for the audience.
3) Learn All You Can About Your Subject
Knowledge is power. Once you have mastered your subject you can then master your audience. An audience can sense when you do not know your material and this can turn them off. Alternatively if you have mastered your subject and can talk about it earnestly and sincerely, your speech can be better received that that of a professional speaker who has little of substance to say.
4) Writing Your Speech
The type of speech you present depends on the topic and purpose of your speech. There are 2 main types of speeches to choose from - informative (descriptive or narrative) and argumentative (persuasive or motivational). If you are "telling" it will be an informative speech and if "selling" the argumentative type is best.
Next, determine the best way to organize your speech. Normally the choice is determined by the way people usually think about a topic. Common ways to organize a speech are chronological, cause and effect or problem then solution.
Follow this by preparing a working outline of the speech with heading and subheadings. In this way you will be able to "see" your speech and review it for duplication, contradiction and missing information.
And now you are ready to write your speech. When you are relatively inexperienced in public speaking it is a good idea to write out your speech word for word. In this way you can get an idea of how long it will take to deliver and also you it gives the chance to think through your ideas fully. Write the speech in a conversational tone. The language used in writing is difficult to follow for the listeners.
5) How will you deliver your speech?
Depending on your level of confidence and the circumstance of the speech will determine how you will deliver your speech. In following the process discussed here, your choices are;
- Read aloud (makes it difficult to connect with the audience)
- Memorize it word for word (can lead to a robotic delivery)
- Memorize the ideas only and form the words as you speak (the most effective way to speak with confidence)
Whichever way you decide to deliver your speech, this is the way you should practice. Practice you speech a number of times until you have mastered it and can speak it naturally as in day to day conversation.
Thorough preparation leads naturally to self confidence. Carefully planning and practicing a speech that is worthwhile to your audience will increase your poise so you can speak with confidence and be a more effective public speaker.
Disclaimer: All information on this site is provided for informational purposes only! By no means is any
information presented herein intended to substitute for the advice provided to you by any health care or other professional
or organization.
tweet this!