At one point in your life, you will be pushed to speak on the stage, whether it is for a presentation or in a business meeting or to share your opinion.
Public speaking can give chills to most people, but if you shy away from public speaking and hesitant to raise your voice, it can be difficult for you to be successful in your life.
Even in corporates, if you keep mum for a minute, other people will take full credit for your work, and you will have to stay intact to your 9 to 5 job.
One simple rule you always need to remember is what you ask is what you get. You need to brave enough to raise your voice; you need to be brave enough to get on that stage and speak about your opinion.
A well-delivered speech can take you to various heights. Do you know how many people have created strong personal branding just by public speaking? Especially if you are dreaming of being an entrepreneur, it is vital for you to be brave and have strong speaking skills to manage your team.
Still, hiding in the shadows? Not anymore, you need to come out of the bubble and start to pick up yourself, start to be brave, and learn how to face the public without breaking down and strongly stand on the stage and deliver your speech.
Here are some tips to help you overcome the stage fear and ease your public speaking.
Take Time To Prepare
Your whole speaking depends on the level of dedication you put into preparing yourself for the speech.
First: Know your audience; it is important for you to know your audience before you start preparing; there is a different approach for different people; your presentation/speech should be different for students, for business, and for the general public. You need to work on the speech based on your audience group.
Second: Start early; once you have the topic, conduct thorough research on it, gather every possible information, and start preparing ASAP. The sooner, the better; always.
Practice
Practice is the key to success; the more you practice, the better your fluency, and you can rain check on that anxiety. Learn to practice in front of the mirrors, invest hours of your time to practice to perfection, move around the place, be gesticulative, set your tone, have a pace of speaking do not go out of breath trying to speak fast and loud, take your time go at your pace there is nothing wrong with speaking slow.
Once you feel you are confident enough with your solo practice, rehearse in front of people- your family, friends, ask them to sit down for you and give away what you have practice, and once done, ask them for some honest feedback.
This will help you make some changes and be better.
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Have A Backup Plan
Suppose you have included a quote or a poem in your speech. Somewhere in your gut, you know that you are going to mess it up because you found it difficult to remember when you were practicing, remove it out, but if you are keen on learning it and making it work, think twice and maybe come with a backup idea before moving forward.
Write down some other lines that you are comfortable with as backup along with your original verse only in case if anything goes wrong.
Be Confident
Look your best, dress in clean, crisp clothes that are professional enough to capture the gaze of the audience. If you turn up in jeans and a polo shirt at a formal board meeting to give a presentation, people will think you are in the Bahamas, not a board meeting. So, dress accordingly.
Being nervous is a human instinct; having so many pairs of eyes fixated on you can really freak you out but don’t show it on your face. Try to act like you are at your best, be freaking confident because when you are confident, people will think you are right even when you make mistakes. The more confident you are, the more value it adds to your public speaking.
Learn To Breathe
Most often, speakers just want to get things done as soon as possible and get out of the stage in a rush; they just piece the words together like a bead and go in a fast flow rushing down the podium. They wouldn’t even mind if they are out of breath because their only agenda is to finish it and escape.
As I said earlier, there is nothing wrong with slow speech, you can speak at your speed, give a pause every now, and then make small talk with the audience, ask them to raise questions, or you can ask them questions. The more interactive it is, the less nervous and the more involved you will be.
Besides audience will be more than happy to interact than to sit through a boring talk.
Be Early
Always try to reach the venue earlier as possible. Do you want the audience waiting for you? You absolutely do not.
Arrive at the venue early, take a look around the place; if you get a chance, climb up the stage and try to get a bit of rehearsal. Once people start pouring in, you can get the chance to know them, and once you know them, they are no longer a stranger a mere acquaintance which will make you lighter and brighter for your talk.