The Art Of Public Speaking

You're up next.

Your name is called out. Jostled onto the stage, they thrust a microphone into your hands. You stand there helplessly to the anticipation of people ready to latch on to your every word. Sound familiar?

Welcome to the ‘Shit Scared of Public Speaking’ club.Listed below are a few tips to your nightmare into a rewarding experience.

Take it easy

First of all, relax. Public speaking need not be a nerve-wracking prospect. Speaking on stage is almost the same as normal conversation with a friend, except there are more than just one. And they all want to see you do well.

Tell yourself that the audience is rooting for you, and you will be surprised how the positive thought calms your nerves. Public speaking is not a life or death experience, unless you’re speaking to angry shareholders.

Be the smartest in the room

Another way to soothe your nerves is to prepare like nobody’s business. Knowing that no one in the room knows the topic of discussion as well as you do goes a long way to build your confidence. So study the topic inside out and know it so well that you won’t even have to memorise the whole speech. You just remember the information bits and spontaneously expand on each one. Also jot down all the questions that you feel might arise in the listener’s mind and prepare the answers for them.

Get acquainted with the room

You must have noticed how sports persons reach the venue of competition a few days before the event to acclimatise themselves to the surroundings. For a speaker, it’s not much different. Visit the room where you have to speak beforehand and make yourself comfortable with its structure. Check the size of the room to gauge the force with which you will have to speak so that your voice can be clearly heard by even the most distant listeners. Also sit on various seats in the room. This will give you a better idea about how to interact with the whole crowd instead of only the ones on the front rows.

Prepare it right

Aim to get your point across. Frame your sentences minimally, and you'll require minimal effort. Otherwise, you might lose everyone's attention before you reach the crux of your topic.
Another way of holding your audience’s attention is by using examples they can relate to. For instance, even if you’re talking about something as vague as ‘time travel’, bring up examples from Hollywood movies which deal with the issue. It’s a matter of showing instead of just narrating.

Begin with a bang

Before you can hold your audience’s attention, you need to grab their attention. in an attention span of 30 to 90 seconds, it’s imperative that you start right.

Different speakers have different strategies. Some start with a joke. But that doesn’t mean you take the microphone and go, “Two men walk into a bar…”.

Not everyone’s Jay Leno. A tried and tested method is to start with a relevant question. This will definitely engage the audience, and simultaneously gauge what the audience’s knows about the topic.

While you’re at it

Once you get the wheels rolling, it’s just a matter of a few pointers to ease you through the rest of your discussion.

Make a special effort to acknowledging the audience; you are speaking for them. If you can, refer to one or two people in the audience by name. That will immediately make the audience a little more comfortable with your presence, and they'll relate to what you’re saying.

With an audience, you’re not speaking. you’re performing. Use your whole body to express what you have to. Use your hands subtly to express your ideas. It makes the difference between public speaking and reading a speech.

Once you get the listeners interested in your topic, don’t want to throw away the effort by digressing from the topic.

And finally, practice. You may have noticed how experienced speakers seamlessly modulate and change the tone of their voices, raise the intensity to emphasise on some points and even pause… for effect. This is achievable only through practice.