Taking Your Public Speaking to the Next Level
Dislike public speaking? Hate talking to big groups? Ever give one of those talks and it was all a big blur?
Keep reading my friend…
Public speaking and giving an effective presentation is hard, so why get good at it?
Giving an effective presentation is a crucial skill to be successful. To not only be comfortable but also convincing, charismatic and engaging allows:
-What you have to say be communicated to the audience
-You to NOT nervous
-People are not bored while you are talking
Here are some ideas on how to have this happen:
Speak Slow and Loud
To make it easy for people to hear and understand what you have to say, talk loud and slowly. More so that you think you need to.
Be Related
Look at the audience, not the ceiling, walls or a paper. Relate to the audience as people on your side, NOT here to judge you. Everybody wants the same thing- you want to do a good job and they want you to do a good job. You want to give a good presentation and they want to listen to a good one.
Be Inspiring
Before you talk, think a little about what is the overall larger purpose, vision or commitment that your talk is fulfilling? Make sure this is about other people, not something like your bank account or me-me-focused. Is it to prevent global warming? To forge leaders? Create your company as a team of one? Empower your staff?
The way to be inspiring during a talk is to think what inspires you while giving your presentation and the words you are saying are the tools to fulfill on that purpose. The key it has to be inspiring to you. You have to BE inspired first to inspire others.
Be Self Expressed
Being self-expressed is going to have people pay more attention and make it more fun for you.
This means not being restrained, stiff, tight. Be excited and alive. Have fun, and lighten up. Yes, you are allowed to do this. What is the worst that can happen? You get embarrassed? So what, by the end of the day, chances are you will be the only one who remembers anyway.
Be Interested
Get interested in what you are saying. If you are not interested, nobody else will be either. The more interested in what you are saying, the more interested the audience will be, regardless of how dry the topic is to you or you think it is to others. This is the way you be an interesting speaker.
Physical Presentation
Move around if can, stand up straight, speak to the people, not your paper. Simple.
To have these happen, there are a few things to give up/let go of:
Let go of having your attention on:
1) Looking good/cool and avoiding looking silly
2) Not messing up
3) Doing it the “right” way
4) Attention on yourself or how you are doing
5) Attachment to a certain outcome, result or the way you think it should look
Lastly, public speaking and giving effective presentations is not something you will get good at over night. You have to practice and really employ these principles.