When it comes to public speaking, there are a lot of factors that are considered to be roadblocks along the way or things that we can’t seem to overcome. Public speaking concerns can range from a generalized worry over not being prepared to being downright terrified before stepping on stage.
Public speaking is undoubtedly a daunting and intimidating experience. There are very few natural born speakers that have the charisma to captivate audiences no matter the subject or the context. For most of us, it requires a lot of practice and experience to get to a level that we can comfortably stand in front of anyone to talk about a subject. Eventually, public speaking could be turned into something exciting and fulfilling both for the speaker and the audience. The key to overcome most of these is preparation and awareness. Experience also plays part because the more you do it the more chances are that you’ll come across odd situations and the only way to come out successful is to just do it and go with the flow. Because things will go WRONG!
Everyone has to start somewhere but it helps knowing where and how to get started. So, here are some basic tips :
Start Small, An Audience of 3 is still an Audience.
If you learn early on that the size of the crowd doesn’t matter, you will not be intimidated at 1 person or presenting to 1,000. Reach out to your local groups that might be slightly interested in the subject matter you are an expert on. This could be a group of high school students, an association, a business group, you name it.
It’s All About Them, Not You.
You need to show up to give, not to take. People get this wrong and want to speak to sell. Those presenters are never the type of speakers that really impact or help people. Our goal should be to teach, share, spark ideas and enlighten. The following points need to be understood :
- The goal is COMPREHENSION.
- People listen better to people they like — find a way to be “liked” in the opening 60 seconds (story, humor, emotion).
- Understand the audience and speak to their level, not yours — no need to sound smart.
- Stories and humor connect, find the places to best use one or both.
- Speak slow, clear, loud.
- Make eye contact around the room, be engaging.
Pick your topic wisely.
You should only choose topics where you can speak with a good degree of confidence, and that your audience will want to hear about. Beware of events that would require you to drop one of these requirements. Confidence usually comes from both research and experience. For folks early in their career this means deep talks on specific areas, rather than broad “state of the nation” type talks that require a lot more credibility to pull off. For example, if you’re an engineer early in your career don’t try to give a TED style talk about “How software engineering is changing the world”.
Public speaking isn’t about slides.
There is a broken assumption that public speaking means a deck of 20 slides and a glowing screen behind you. Many times you don’t need any slides at all, you might just need one image or some bullet points on a piece of paper. In fact, an over-reliance on slides will take the power from your message.
So, these were some of the suggestions, tips or advises , whatever you may call it, but, ultimately, it’s only YOU, who will make it happen.
