The fear of public speaking has caused more than a few people to get headaches, nausea, heartburn, and/or sweaty palms. Many would rather face a root canal at the dentist than stand in front of a group and give a speech. Here are some tips on how you can overcome this nervousness and anxiety:
1. Be Prepared
One of the surest ways to make yourself more confident before a presentation is to be thoroughly prepared. Do your homework. Deepen your knowledge about the topic at hand, so much that you speak only a portion of what you actually know.
Author David McCullough, for instance, said that he left enough material out of his bestselling (and Pulitzer winning) John Adams biography that he could have written a second book on Adams and his family without any further research. That's preparation!
Of course, don't forget notes. If the circumstances allow for it (and, except in rare situations, they will), have a thorough and easy-to-read outline to follow as you make your presentation.
2. Be Passionate
The great political orator William Jennings Bryan once defined eloquence as "thought on fire." To become a truly confident and effective speaker, you want to put yourself on fire for what you believe in!
Admittedly, this is easier if you're delivering a sermon, Sunday School lesson, or political speech at a fundraiser. Nevertheless, even if you're just recommending a new sales strategy for toilet seats, be passionate about it!
Preparation will lead to passion. The more you know about the subject, the stronger will be your perspective and position. If you've done your homework, for example, on sales statistics and projections, that will lead you to make your points more effectively.
3. Act Confident
A skill learned in collegiate debate is to project confidence even when your opponent is demolishing your case. An even better example would be White House press secretaries or presidential candidates being grilled on national television!
If you act confident, you will project confidence. If you project confidence, your audience will respond by seeing you that way. Thus, even if you are dying on the inside, the audience will never know it.
4. Focus on your Goals
This is very much related to Tip #2: Be Passionate. Know what action you want your audience to take. Do you want them to adopt your proposal, buy your product, agree with your position? Know your objective and pursue that objective. Don't drift. Stay focused.
5. Repeat Back the Questions (in your own words)
If the presentation you are giving requires you to take questions, that is good. This makes the speech more conversational, and should allow you to relax a little. Why? Because, in most cases, people asking questions were impressed enough with your remarks to want to engage you further. This is a good thing.
When asked a question, pause, take a calm and deep breath, and then re-state the question in your own words. You can preface the repeat with "In case some of you didn't hear...." or "If I understand your question correctly, you're asking..." Something along those lines.
Why restate the question? It buys you a little time to get your thoughts together AND it reinforces the fact that YOU are in control of the situation.
If you've done your homework (see Tip #1), you should have little problem fielding any well-meaning questions from your audience.
If you would like additional information on conquering your fears, try the article "Achieving Public Speaking Calm" by Jeanette Kavanagh and the blog site "How to Vanquish Fear & Insecurity."
