CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – DECEMBER 26, 2020
How to speak with confidence in public
Focus on your message
When you’re presenting focus on what you’re saying and why this message needs to be delivered to the audience. This will keep you connected with your speech and will prevent you from being distracted by, for example, an audience member falling asleep or your evaluation of how the presentation is going. Instead you’ll be connecting to the listeners who finding your presentation valuable.
Create a stage persona
It can be tempting to imitate favored public speakers but it’s better to work out what your characteristics as a speaker are and then amplify these. To develop a confident stage persona ask yourself:
- What are my best characteristics as a speaker? E.g. Am I empathetic? Humorous? etc.
- What are my features as a speaker? E.g. Do I gesticulate a lot? Am I energetic? Do I stick to the script or do I improvise? etc.
Humor
More experienced and confident public speakers use humor in their presentations. The audience will be incredibly engaged if you make them laugh and it lightens the mood which will make you feel more comfortable. But caution must be exercised when using humor because a joke can be misinterpreted and even offend the audience.
Only use jokes if you’re confident with this technique and it’s suitable for the situation. Making fun of yourself is usually a safe way of using humor and it cultivates trust because it’s more relatable to the audience.
Be prepared for mistakes
Mistakes happen all the time but reacting awkwardly can make the audience feel uncomfortable. It’s better to laugh at yourself so consider preparing one-liners to fall back on if you do make a mistake. Having this back-up can make you feel more secure.
Recognize the positives afterwards
After delivering a presentation it’s typical of some people to only focus on the negatives of the presentation. By doing this you’re ignoring the positives even though there were probably more of these compared to the amount of negatives. Acknowledge these positives and write them down so you can remind yourself in the future and challenge your negative predictions.
It’s important to accept that you’re probably going to be nervous when you present but most people experience this feeling and it doesn’t ruin presentations. Have confidence in what you’re saying and convert your nerves into something helpful.
You won’t develop your confidence if you don’t push yourself and if you avoid uncomfortable situations.
Make It A Champion Day!
