PUBLIC SPEAKING AND MAKING SPEECHES
Most people find making a speech or presentation daunting. Find out how you can tame those butterflies before you speak.
You are waiting your turn to make a speech, when suddenly you realise that your stomach is doing strange things and your mind is rapidly going blank. How do you handle this critical time period? You need to anticipate your speech mentally, physically and logistically.
Mentally
Start by understanding that you will spend a lot more time preparing than you will be speaking.
As a general rule, invest three hours of preparation for a half-hour speech: a 6:1 ratio. When you have become a highly experienced speaker, you may be able to cut preparation time considerably in some cases, but until then, do not skimp. Part of your preparation will be to memorise your opening and closing speech - three or four sentences each. Even if you cover your key points from notes, knowing your opening and closing by heart lets you start and end fluently, connecting with your audience when you are most nervous.
Logistically
Go to the room where you will be speaking as early as possible so you can get comfortable in the environment. If you are speaking from a stage, go early in the morning when no one is there and familiarise yourself with the stage.
Walk around the area where you will be speaking, so the first time you are there is not when you deliver your speech. Then, during your presentation, you can concentrate on your audience, and not on your environment.
Physically
A wonderful preparation technique for small meetings is to go around shaking hands and making eye contact with everybody beforehand. For larger meetings, meet and shake hands with people in the front row at least, and some of the people as they are coming through the door. Connect with them personally, so they will be rooting for your success. Once you have met the audience or at least some of them, it becomes less scary. It is totally natural to be nervous. Try this acting technique. Find a private spot, and wave your hands in the air. Relax your jaw, and shake your head from side to side. Then shake your legs one at a time. Physically shake the tension out of your body.Try not to sit down too much while you are waiting to speak. If you are scheduled to go on an hour into the programme, try to sit at the back of the room so that you can stand up occasionally. It is hard to jump up and be dynamic when you have been relaxing in a chair for an hour. (Comedian Robin Williams is well known for doing "jumping jacks" to raise his energy level before going on stage.) Sitting in the back also gives you easy access to the bathroom and drinking fountain. There is nothing worse than being stuck at the front and being distracted by urgent bodily sensations.
How to sound smart, polished and confident in your presentation speech
To sound more intelligent-Speak just a bit slower to allow yourself to select the most appropriate words and
to give the impression of thoughtfulness.
To sound more powerful-Use short, simple declarative sentences. Say what you mean and mean what you say. Cut out any useless connectors, adjectives, adverbs and superlatives.
To sound more polished-Never answer a question with a blunt "yes" or "no". Append a short phrase of clarification. For example, "No, I did not see that" or "Yes, I know, Mary".
To sound more articulate-Make a special effort to pronounce the final sound in a word and use its energy to carry over to the following word. Pay special attention to final "t" and "ng".
To make your speech sound more confident-Carry your body up. Hold your head as if you had a crown on it. Do not let your arms and legs have a side-to-side-motion when you move. Keep your elbows and knees close to the midline of your body.
