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How to Prepare For Public Speaking

Friday, April 19, 2013 9:16
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Every one of us can do some online research on a subject and argue a point with our friends, maybe even convince several people at a party that our point of view is correct. Some are more relaxed than others and feel fine even when discussing something with complete strangers, but as soon as you put a spotlight on someone and have them stand alone, speaking to a bunch of people suddenly becomes an insurmountable problem. Half the battle is knowing how to prepare, and if you are well-prepared you will perform better. On the day when you are supposed to give your speech you should only be concerned with relaxing your body, calming your mind and speaking clearly, all the other concerns need to be taken care of well before D-day. Let’s look at some of the most important aspects of preparing for speaking in public.

  1. Writing your speech

This is going to be the most important thing – writing a precise, interesting and memorable speech. The best advice is to break up your core idea into several related ideas and then focus on listing several facts that prove your point. At first your speech will be a collection of bullet points, a few sentences that will point you in the right direction. As you work on it you will be able to expand the arguments, link the ideas and develop a personal style. Generally, a section of the speech will look like this:

  • Presenting the main idea and the related concepts
  • Explaining a concept related to the main idea
  • Listing points that prove that concept to be valid
  • Explaining each point and providing facts that verify those points
  • Moving on to the other concepts and working through the points
  • Making a full circle and giving a summary, restating your main idea and the concepts

This is just a basic format to help you get the general idea. Your speech should branch out from the main idea, but you can also make it more fluid and tailor it to your character and the nature of the event at which you are about to speak.

presentation in front of a crowd

  1. Working on your presentation skills

This is an extensive subject – books have been written on it and there are public speaking courses that devote a great deal of time to presentation skills – so we can’t even scratch the surface in a brief article, but I will try to give you some ideas on getting better at the physical side of public speaking. You will need to have a clear idea how your speech should be read. Think about the long and short pauses, faster and slower parts, emphasizing certain points by changing the tone of your voice or raising your voice, maybe have a little smile while reading a certain part or switching to a more serious tone in some parts. And of course read the speech many times so you can be fluid and not trip up on some words or lose your rhythm. Once you know how it should sound, focus on how it should look – stand up, walk around the room while reading the speech out loud, move your hands to emphasize the point you are making, stand in front of the mirror and work on your body language and facial expressions. It helps to imagine that you are an actor preparing for a role. Try to memorize the speech, or at least the most important parts, so that you can keep a steady rhythm without looking at the paper too much.

emotions control

  1. Learning to control your emotions

You will have the shakes before going in front of your audience, you may also sweat, experience a dry mouth, have very negative thoughts, feel sick and you will want to run away and hide from the world. This is normal, and some people have it worse than others. You will need to counter every negative thought with a positive one, and focus on success. Once you have dealt with the negativity, you’ll need to lower your heart rate and relax. You can do this by breathing deeply for several minutes, thinking of something that makes you happy, having your favorite snack, having a drink, listening to relaxing music etc.

If you can manage to go over these points and do a decent job of writing a speech, practicing your presentation skills and creating a relaxation routine then you have won half the battle. Make sure you prepare diligently and you will be surprised how the words just flow from your mouth once you have gotten those first few sentences out.

http://www.ivandimitrijevic.com/blog/



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