7 Public Speaking Survival Tips
Copyright 2005 Mark Tyrrell
I used to be terrified of public speaking - now it's natural and
fun.
Dry mouth, fast heart, sweaty palms, blank mind - yeah I've been
there! It's easy to fear public speaking. But I was never just
content with overcoming fear. I wanted to be a great speaker.
What I needed was a way of calming down and applying simple
techniques and strategies to talk like a pro.
When I'd learned to relax (more of that later) I learned and
applied the following four steps.
1 Reassure your audience - they need to know you know your stuff
and you are human! 2 Hook them by being interesting and
relevant. Tell them why what you are saying is relevant to them.
3 Inspire them by giving them information and ways of seeing
that are new and applicable. 4 Leave them on a high by telling a
story them encapsulates your central message . How do you become
confident enough to apply the four steps?
Here's some tips some of which are practical some of which are
to do with the way you think about your public presentations and
also how you can start to change the way you feel about them.
Tip One
Breath your way to calm. When you breath out you relax that's
why people sigh when they're stressed.
Breathing in without breathing out causes hyperventilation and
worsens anxiety. Just before your speech take five minutes
breathing in to the count of seven and out to the count of
eleven (quick count-not seconds!). On the out breath hold it a
second before breathing in again. This will produce quick and
lasting calm. Remember extending the out breath calms you down.
Tip Two
You have a responsibility as the presenter but relax you don't
carry all the responsibility. Presenting is a team effort.
Audiences are responsible for politeness, extending their
attention and attempting to learn. It's not all you-it's a
meeting of two halves. Never mind how they judge you. How do you
judge them?
Tip Three
Use metaphor and stories. We all experience life metaphorically.
The most technical logical person spends at least two hours a
night dreaming! Talk detail if necessary but present patterns
with metaphors. Folk from 4 to 104 love stories. Use em.
Tip four
Captivate attention by using words that evoke all the senses.
Describe how things look, sound, feel, smell and taste. Paint
pictures and sensations in their minds with your words.
Tip Five
Vary your voice tonality and speed of delivery. Keep them alert
and engaged. Convey energy when need be and slow down when you
need to 'draw them in close.' You are the conductor to their
orchestra. And pepper your talk with humour. Your willingness to
be funny shows personal confidence and confidence is contagious.
Tip Six
Tell them what they are going to get. What they are currently
getting and then what they have got from you. Sell your sizzle!
Tip Seven
Watch and learn from other great speakers until compelling,
relaxed speaking is a part of you.
Rehearse positively. You need to rehearse how your going to feel
as well as what you are going to present. Don't think about your
forthcoming presentation whilst feeling nervous as this creates
an instinctive association between fear and presenting. This
natural negative self-hypnosis is very common with nervous
speakers.
Hypnotically rehearse your speech whilst feeling relaxed. This
produces the right 'blueprint' in your mind. In fact when you do
this enough times it actually becomes hard to be nervous!
All great speakers know how to use great self-hypnotic
rehearsal. Hypnosis changes attitudes and can bring emotion
under control. I used hypnosis, to change my instincts around
public speaking. Now I just can't get nervous whether it's 50 or
500 people. The world needs great communicators. Go for it!