CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – OCTOBER 28, 2020

CHAMPION STRATEGIES – PUBLIC SPEAKING WORKSHOP – OCTOBER 28, 2020

Public Speaking Tips (PT.1)

What is public speaking and why do you need it? To explain it shortly, it is speaking to audience in order to persuade them or simply present your thoughts to them. Delivering public speeches is necessary both in your academic career and your professional career, when you have to present your projects to other people, as well as in court or in course of some public activities.

If you wonder how to improve public speaking skills, the answer is you should invest your time and effort into public speaking practice – the more the better. Reading all kinds of tips, guides, famous speeches, public speaking articles about other people is also important, but without practice, it won’t work.

Not everyone is a natural born public speaker. In fact, for most of us, the mere mention of having to speak in front of an audience of any size causes an immediate increase in heartrate and sweat to drip from our foreheads. As humans, we are conditioned for self-preservation. We want to protect ourselves from failure, humiliation and anything that may fall outside of the realm of our ‘comfort zone.’ Public speaking is no different – especially if there is a risk that we might embarrass ourselves.

However, in most instances, the risk of tripping and falling on your face, only to be met by an auditorium of roaring laughter is small – or practically impossible. The trick to success that is going to help with public speaking is acting like it is impossible to fail, and the only way to ensure that it is truly impossible to fail is to come prepared.

Being prepared to speak in public means not only knowing your audience and carefully preparing yourself and your materials. It also means practicing – and practicing often!

There are really many situations offering a solution of the problem how to practice public speaking. Give yourself every opportunity you can to step outside of your comfort zone and engage with people, from all levels and walks of life, in many different forums. Join the debate club, audition for a play, enter a public speaking contest, do everything you can to change your perception of speaking in public and mold yourself into a better version of you – a you that can entertain and lead an audience simply by speaking to them. You can even participate in a public speaking organization – due to the fact that many people are afraid to speak publicly, there are public speaking groups in almost every town, and in every large city.

Now, this is not to say that you need to rival the speeches of Tony Robbins, Martin Luther King or a great political leader, but you do need to develop confidence, strength, body language and poise.