TIPS FOR EFFECTIVE PUBLIC SPEAKING

Public speaking is the process of speaking to group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence or entertain the listeners. It is closely allied to ‘presenting’ although the latter has more of a commercial connotation. In public speaking, as in any form of communication, there are five basic elements, often expressed as ‘who is saying what to whom using what medium with what effects?’ The purpose of public speaking can range from simply transmitting information, to motivating people to act to simply telling a story. Good orators should be able to change the emotions of their listeners, not just inform them. Public speaking can also be considered a discourse community. Interpersonal communication and public speaking have several components that embrace such things as motivational speaking, leadership/personal development, business, customer service, large group communication and mass communication. Public speaking can be a powerful tool to use for purposes such as motivation, influence, persuasion, informing, translation or simply entertaining.

Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations.

1. Know your material: Pick a topic you are interested in. know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language-that way you won’t easily forget what to say.

 2. Practice: Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected. 

3. Know the audience: Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.

 4. Know the room: arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

 5. Relax: begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. transform nervous energy into enthusiasm. 

6. Visualize yourself giving your speech: Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping-it will boost your confidence. 

7. Realize that people want you to succeed: Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They are rooting for you. 

8. Don’t apologize: Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem-the audience probably never noticed it. 

9. Concentrate on the message-not the medium: Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience 

10. Gain experience: Mainly, your speech should represent you-as an authority and as a person. 

Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs.

Know your material thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention. Practice and rehearse your speech at home or where you can be at ease and comfortable, in front of a mirror, your family, friends or colleagues. Use a tape-recorder and listen to yourself. Videotape your presentation and analyze it. Know what tour strong and weak points are. 

Emphasize your strong points during your presentation. When you are presenting in front of an audience, you are performing as an actor is on stage. How you are being perceived is very important. Dress appropriately for the occasion. Be solemn if your topic is serious. Present the desired image to your audience. Look pleasant, enthusiastic, confident, proud, but not arrogant. Remain calm. Appear relaxed, even if you feel nervous. Speak slowly, enunciate clearly and show appropriate emotion and feeling relating to your topic. 

Establish rapport with your audience. Speak to the person farthest away from you to ensure your voice is loud enough to project to the back of the room. Vary the tone of your voice and dramatize if necessary. If a microphone is available, adjust and adapt your voice accordingly. Body language is important. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary. Master the use of presentation software such as power point well before your presentation. Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them. Speak with conviction as if you really believe in what you are saying. Persuade your audience effectively. The material you present orally should have the same ingredients as that which are required for a written research paper, i.e. a logical progression from INTRODUCTION (Thesis statement) to BODY (strong supporting arguments, accurate and up-to-date information) to CONCLUSION (restate thesis and logical conclusion). 

Do not read from notes for any extended length of time although it is quite acceptable to glance at your notes infrequently. Speak loudly and clearly. Sound confident. Do not mumble. If you made an error, correct it, and continue. No need to make excuses or apologize profusely. Maintain sincere eye contact with your audience. Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking.

 Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved. Speak to your audience, listen to their questions, respond to their reactions, adjust and adapt. If what you have prepared is obviously not getting across to your audience change your strategy mid-stream if you are well prepared to do so. Remember that communication is the key to a successful presentation. If you are short of time, know what can be safely left out. If you have extra time, know what could be effectively added. Always be prepared for the unexpected. Pause, allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think.

 Don’t race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath. Add humor whenever appropriate and possible. Keep audience interested throughout your entire presentation. Remember that an interesting speech makes time fly, but a boring speech is always too long to endure even if the presentation time is the same. When using audio-visual aids to enhance your presentation, be sure all necessary equipment is set up and in good working order prior to the presentation. If possible, have an emergency backup system readily available.

 Check out the location ahead of time to ensure seating arrangements for audience, whiteboard, lighting, location of projection screen, sound system, etc are suitable for your presentation. Have handouts ready and give them out at the appropriate time. Tell audience ahead of time that you will be giving out an outline of your presentation so that they will not waste time taking unnecessary notes during your presentation. Know when to STOP talking. Use a timer to time your presentation when preparing it at home. Just as you don’t use unnecessary words in our written paper, you don’t bore your audience with repetitious or unnecessary words in your oral presentation.

 To end your presentation, summarize your main points in the same way as you normally do in the CONCLUSION of a written paper. Remember, however that there is a difference between spoken words appropriate for the ear and formally written words intended for reading. Terminate your presentation with an interesting remark or an appropriate punch line. Leave your listeners with a positive impression and a sense of completion. Do not belabor your closing remarks. Thank you audience and sit down.