Ten Tips for Successful Public Speaking

Nervousness before giving a speech is normal and healthy even for someone who has done it many times before. Nervousness shows that you care about performing well and doing your best. The following are some tips for delivering a successful speech from www.toastmasters.com:

1. Know the Room - Be familiar with the area in which you will be speaking. Arrive early and walk around the room. Practice using the microphone and any visual aids ahead of time.
2. Know the Audience – Greet some of the audience as they arrive. It is far easier to speak to a group of friends than a group of total strangers.
3. Know Your Material – If you are not familiar enough with your subject matter or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your speech and revise it if necessary.
4. Relax – Ease tension by doing exercises.
5. Visualize Yourself Giving Your Speech – Imagine yourself speaking- your voice loud, clear, and assured. When you visualize yourself as successful, you will be successful.
6. Realize the People Want You to Succeed – Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative, and entertaining. They don’t want you to fail.
7. Don’t Apologize – If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your speech, you might be calling the audience’s attention to something they hadn’t noticed. Keep silent.
8. Concentrate on the message, not the medium – Focus your attention away from your own anxieties, and outwardly toward your message and your audience. Your nervousness will dissipate.
9. Turn Nervousness into Positive Energy – Harness your nervous energy and turn it into vitality and enthusiasm.
10. Gain Experience – Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking.