Most people are scared when speaking out in public as they lack peak confidence. Immediately it comes to expressing themself in public, it is impossible to keep their cool, and it inevitably turns into a nightmare. But, do you know that you can speak confidently without feeling awkward or losing sight of your audience? If you want to become a charismatic speaker or peak confidence in front of your audience, there are techniques, tips, and tricks that can make all the difference.
What is Public Speaking
Fear of public speaking can be worse than fear of death for some people. That may sound severe, but it really makes sense. They see life and death as dependent on social approval or rejection. For them, speaking in front of an audience is one of the most common ways of facing rejection by a large number of people. That is why so many people find it frightful. Despite this, public speaking is a vital talent in today’s job environment.
Public speaking is basically a live presentation in front of an audience, and it can cover a wide variety of different topics. The purpose of the speech can be to educate, entertain or influence listeners. Because public speaking is done in front of an audience, there are special factors that you must take into account. One of such is your confidence during your presentation. Most audiences are completely lost or confused when their speaker does not peak confidence when presenting.
Ways to Improve your Public Speaking
It has been shown that effective communication is a vital ingredient for any career or business. This is because the need always to communicate or address people, or giving a presentation to your team or speaking at a conference will always arise. In such cases, you need strong oral communication skills. Here are some ways to peak confidence when speaking publicly;
Know your audience:
Learn about the nature of your audience, their level of knowledge, the type of organization, the context, and the audience’s expectations. Knowing who your message is targeted to allows you to choose your language level, degree of information, and calls to action/motivation. Another advantage of knowing your audience is that it helps you prepare well in advance, especially for conferences.
Prepare your speech:
Public speaking is an exercise that requires a minimum of preparation. Just like an athlete who needs to warm up before a game, you need to train, repeat and know your text. Preparing your speech is a way to feel more comfortable when the time comes. You may not need to learn everything by heart or repeat your speech like a robot. Nevertheless, knowing the outline and only the key points are necessary. Make sure to say what you think by speaking as naturally as possible.
Take care of your introduction:
It is important to take care of the first impression you will give to the audience. That is why it is advised to use highlights, figures, or current events to start your speech. It will be effective if it appeals to your audience and makes them want to follow your speech. You are expected to be captivating from the beginning until the public presentation’s end.
Plan your goal:
Create the framework for your speech: subject, objective, angle, main idea, and a maximum of three points with numbers and examples. Ensure you capture the audience’s attention from the first 10 seconds to have effective and clear communication. When you plan your goal or the content you are to speak about, it creates some form of calmness within you; thus, you can peak confidence.
Send the Right Body Language:
Non-verbal communication sends 80% of the message to your interlocutor. In particular, understanding your body language will help you convey an aligned and consistent message between your speech and your attitude. Stand up straight, adopt gestures of openness, a serene expression. Identify and then banish your nervous tics and parasitic gestures to transmit your ideas clearly and without distraction.
Stay positive:
One way to peak confidence is not to let yourself be won over by your emotions. It is advisable to appear relaxed when you arrive and to try to start, before your intervention, a beginning the conversation with the public. Turning your nervousness into enthusiasm will be of great help to you afterward. In the person of Apostle Paul, one of the greatest public speakers in ancient times, said, “Let every word you speak be drenched with grace and tempered with truth and clarity. For then, you will be prepared to give a respectful answer to anyone who asks about your faith.” (Colossians 4:6 TPT)
Stay focused:
To peak confidence when speaking, you must master your speech and do not let yourself be destabilized by possible external parasites. Focus on what you have to say only, do not let yourself be disturbed by a person coughing in the room, for example. Thus, focusing totally on your speech will allow you to convey your message to your audience better.
Speak clearly and loudly
Why would you want to rush and talk at full speed? Instead, take your time to express yourself; the public should have no trouble following you. In addition, be careful, you will probably not always have to deal with the same kind of audience, so it is essential that anyone can understand your speech. To do this, adopt a relatively moderate speech rate so that your audience can capture a maximum of what you address to them. The rhythm of your speech is essential, as is the volume of your voice; you must manage to be audible in any circumstance so that no external noise comes to cover what you are saying.
Be Pragmatic:
Don’t have a purely theoretical discourse. What will make the difference in your speech are the practicalities that you will be able to bring to it. Build a reasoned discourse that combines both theory and practical facts. Illustrating your words will allow you to effectively engage your audience, who will be able to identify themselves in some of your examples.
Interact with your audience:
During your speech, look for accomplices in the audience. Some people will indeed follow your speech carefully, so take the opportunity to get them involved. In particular, by asking them questions or personifying the examples with them. A pleasant speech is a speech in which you have involved your audience, and they will not only feel like a spectator.
Take care of your conclusion:
Just like your introduction, your conclusion must be carefully crafted. The conclusion is of paramount importance. This is the moment when all the logical arguments you have presented previously will crystallize into a simple and concise message. This is the last image your audience will keep. Just talk about the essential things that the audience needs to remember.
In conclusion, public speaking is not easy; talk more of adding peak confidence. So before working on your speech, you have to work on yourself to succeed in believing in your own abilities. It is a complex job that you can do by being accompanied by the step by step guide on ways to peak confidence in your public speaking.
