Time to Deliver! Tips to Delivering a Great Speech
Welcome back to the “Success in 12 Months” blog series. We’re moving into the last week of Month 9, and our topic of communication and public speaking.
Over the course of the month, you were asked to create an outline for a 5-minute speech you were going to give; once the outline was done, you were to write the speech; and then you were to practice presenting the speech in front of a mirror.
As I mentioned a couple of times this month, public speaking is often a huge fear of people. It’s fairly well known that people fear public speaking more than almost anything else in the world. In one of our previous months, we talked about the importance of facing our fears and operating in the face of fear or even just doing things scared if we had to.
And for that reason, I wanted to offer some tips to conquer presentation qualms.
5 Tips to Help Move Through the Fear of Public Speaking
It is my hope and intention that the following tips help you:
1. Don’t worry about being perfect. Audiences relate better when you seem more “human” — more natural rather than completely polished.
In fact, you might want to make a mistake early – on purpose! If you can, say something funny that helps to break the ice with your audience and you’ll immediately relax, too.
2. Put your past behind you. A bad delivery in the past doesn’t equal a bad delivery in the future. Believe that you can and will give a good speech, and you probably will.
3. Practice, practice, practice — the more familiar you are with making your speech, the more comfortable you’ll be.
4. Know your topic. The more you feel like an expert, the more relaxed you will be.
5. Find one or two friendly faces in the audience and concentrate on them. They will make you feel more relaxed, and it will show in a more natural delivery.
And Now Is the Time…
Now it’s TIME. Give your speech to real live people. While they are great listeners, stuffed animals and/or your family pets will not do. Practice in front of a significant other, family or a friend. If you can’t find someone to practice in front of, record yourself and upload the video to Youtube (make sure it is public!).
This will be far more empowering than you might assume.
Next week, we’ll be starting a new month and topic, and doing exercises that go along with that topic.
How are you doing? Are you making progress on the goal you chose for the program? What challenges are you experiencing? As always, I’m here for you! You can share your thoughts, concerns, and insights by leaving a comment below or by sending me an e-mail–let me know what’s going on!
Your support as you plan in advance for success,
James