Public Speaking Confidence
At some point we all have to speak in public. You may have to introduce yourself at a training event during the dreaded ice breaker, the best-man will have to give a 5 minutes best-man speech and some will have to present ideas at working during staff meetings.
Even having to introduce yourself at parties can bring on someones anxieties, and we have all felt our stomachs turning when we build up the courage to ask the person we fancy the most, out on a date.
Today I will share we you a couple of techniques to improve your confidence when speaking in public.
Confidence Tips For Speaking in Public.
As a member of International Toastmasters and a Trainer, I have felt the fear of stepping onto stage in front of large crowds. Over the years my confidence has grown as I have implemented the techniques I will share with you today, to help you boost your confidence when speaking in public.
Public Speaking Confidence Tip One – Practice, Practice, Practice
This first tip is so obvious and so underused. “Repetition is the key to mastering any skill – Anthony Robbins” I worked with a gentlemen called Andrew who had to deliver 4-5 presentations a year at work. He was an expert in his job sector, highly knowledgeable about his subject and confident in delivering team meetings to small groups.
What you will often find when someone is confident in one area of their life but lacks confidence in another area, is that the person uses different strategies for the different situations.
Andrew would always prepare for his staff meetings. He would write an agenda, have written notes for each agenda item and even questions to ask certain members of staff. He would also visualize the meeting, and imagine questions his staff would ask him, with this in mind he would prepare resources such as statistical reports to use when answering these predicted questions.
The preparation gave him confidence. When it came down to preparing for his quarterly presentations, Andrew would shy away from it. His original experience, where his lack of confidence got the better of him, is a memory that had stayed with him. When Andrew thought about the forthcoming presentation, he’d let procrastination take over, putting the preparation off. On the day of the presentation his lack of preparation would increase his anxiety and dramatically reducing his confidence.
Public Speaking Confidence Tip Two – Capture The Audiences Attention
The speech can be broken down into 3 sections; The Opening, The Body and The Conclusion.
The Opening – with the opening section, use this to capture the audiences attention “Today I will teach you a secret technique for capturing the audiences attention” you can even use this same technique, when asking someone out on a date “there is an amazing new place that everyone has been talking about, do you know about it?” now the potential date is intrigue, and will carry on the conversation, at the right point you offer the date.
Intrigue is powerful because the audience wants to listen to what you have to say. But from a confidence point of view, intrigue is shown on the audiences faces, when you can see that the audience wants to listen to you, your confidence will start to grow.
The Body – Delver 3 key points “there are 3 key things you need to know about capturing the audiences attention, the first is…” This also gives your speech a structure, you will know when to end. Nervous people often waffle, allowing their speech to go off into random and pointless directions. When you set yourself only 3 key points to discuss your speech is more focused, and you feel more confident.
When delivering large speeches, again, use the rule of three. But this time use 3 sub-points for every point you will be discussing (3 x 3 = 9 points to discuss)
The final part is to conclude the speech “to summaries, to become more confident at public speaking you need to…” By having an intriguing opening, the rule of 3 body and a conclusion you have a structure to your speech that you can follow (again, as with the rule of 3 body, the overall speech structure is split into 3 sections)
If you realize in the speech conclusion that you have missed a vital piece of information that you need to share, you can also add after the conclusion “before I go I want to give you one last thing to think about..add missed information..” This is a great technique to create intrigue even if you planned this into the speech, as the audience think “were getting something extra for free…I must listen to this”
You can also use this trick if your speech is delivered under the assigned time.
Always remember the audience have no idea what you are going to say. If you have missed anything or say the points in the wrong order, no-one will ever know apart from you.
Public Speaking Confidence Tip Three – Don’t Say Anything
When you talk to fast, even if your subject is interesting to the listener, they will often forget what you said as their mind becomes overloaded. After each key sentences leave a gap, I will often count to 3 or 5 in mind before saying the next point.
The gap will allow the audience to think about and digest what you have said. You can even end your point with a question to the audience, this way the gap (which can be longer then normal) is given to allow the audience to answer the question to themselves.
Leaving a gap is important for public speaking confidence. One because you have a chance to breath, if you talk to fast you cant breath which affects your state of relaxation. Two you have a chance to think about the next point you want to make, often when you keep talking you will forget the order of your script which increase anxiety. Three, I like to look at my audience and the gap gives you time for this, as you will see the people are finding you interesting, and when you see the smiles and nods this can only increase your confidence.
Before I go I want to give you one last thing to think about. These techniques are highly powerful, but if you can just enjoy yourself when you are on stage, if you can just delete any negative self talk, if you can just be yourself (remember as a public speaker you are generally talking about a subject you know well) your confidence will keep increasing.
Chris Delaney NLP Life Coach, Hypnotherapist and Career Advisor is available for booking for One to One Private Sessions, Group Training Sessions and Public Speaking Events
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Chris Delaney NLP Life Coach, Hypnotherapist and Career Advisor is available for booking for One to One Private Sessions, Group Training Sessions and Public Speaking Events
Chris Delaney 