People fear various things for one reason or another. Most fears come from childhood or appear as a result of a stressful situation. However, there are ones without reasonable grounds. Thus, according to statistics, the fear of public speaking is on the list of the top five most common fears people suffer from. So, your palms might also start getting sweaty at the mere thought of making a presentation in front of a big audience. You want to hide because of huge stress and an increased level of adrenaline. It is a stress test for your nervous system, and you subconsciously try to avoid it under any pretext. Well, people don’t like to be assessed by others. And perhaps only people whose profession is somehow connected with the stage and rhetoric can afford to worry less than people with a non-public job. The latter are not used to being in the spotlight; that’s why they feel uncomfortable. What can be done about that?
Preparation For The Performance
Some people say that only Western people spend time preparing for a presentation, while Eastern people prefer improvisation and don’t take the upcoming performance so seriously. However, if you fear public speaking, it is worth adhering to the Western approach. In fact, embracing the Western approach to presentation preparation can greatly benefit anyone, regardless of their cultural background. By taking the time to meticulously plan and rehearse your speech, you not only boost your confidence but also ensure your message is clear and impactful. So, if you ever aspire to become a TEDx speaker or simply want to excel in public speaking, adopting this method could be your key to success.
Make A Plan
Firstly, sort it all out and get the purpose of your performance. Often, speakers do not realize this important point. Any speech has the final desired result: passing the exam, convincing someone, selling an advertised product, changing the audience’s outlook, answering the question, “Is writers per hour legit?,” etc. Concentrate on this goal and build the entire core of your performance around it.
By the way, Steve Jobs made a detailed plan of his speeches, and even when he seemed to drop a pencil accidentally or forget something, he did it deliberately to attract attention. You can come up with your performance features.
Think through the stages, divide them into small steps, think structurally. You can pick up a summary of each stage, choose key phrases, and learn them. Such preparation will help your brain calm down and experience no anxiety.
Run Lines
By repeating a process, you get used to it, and it becomes “familiar” and recognizable, so it becomes much easier to reproduce it again when necessary. You can also record how you are running lines and look at yourself from the outside, analyze your behavior, eliminate filler-words, excessive gesticulation, and too fast speech, observe breathing, diction, facial expressions. Change all moments you don’t like.
Study Your Target Audience
It doesn’t matter what you will talk about, whether it will be a financial report, a fashion presentation, or an answer to the query, “Is essayhave legit?”. Whatever topic you have chosen, it can be discussed from different perspectives. You can describe it using different metaphors and colors, go into details, or mention only key points. Thus, you should know your target audience, their professional level in the discussed area, their expectations, etc. In other words, create an image of your average listener.
Get To Know Yourself Better
It is worth analyzing yourself to understand your strong and weak spots. It will make your reactions and overall behavior more expected. Accept the fact that if you are indecisive and insecure, it will be harder for you to answer questions. If this is the case, try to think through potential questions and answers in advance. Put a red cross on the piece of paper to remind yourself to control your thoughts if you often switch fast between the topics. If you have some strong sides, for example, you can create an awesome slideshow, do it. Thus, you will catch your audience’s attention and make them listen to you.
Performance
When the stage of preparation is left behind, it is time to proceed to the crucial part. If you want to win people over, you should adhere to certain rules.
Start Right
Exchange a few words with the public on an abstract topic. For example, you can say something about the weather, how you got there, the latest news, etc. It will incredibly defuse the situation, and you will take one step closer to the audience. You can come up with an icebreaker beforehand to make people feel comfortable. Don’t forget about self-determination because representation is one of the key points. Pronounce your first and last name, tell a little about yourself but don’t go deep.
Maintain Connection With People
You should engage with your audience proactively through body language and eye contact. Don’t make eye contact only with one or two people. Devote attention to different audience parts. If you tell a story, connect it with a real-life situation, and do not exaggerate. You can find storytelling courses on the Internet, so if your public speaking leaves much to be desired, it may not be superfluous to arrange a more serious preparation.
Intonation
An intonation is a powerful tool for any speaker. You can manipulate information and play with it by changing the volume of phrases, slowing down or increasing its speed, and making the voice’s ups and downs. Adapt the material of your speech to the necessary intonation, highlight the more essential and minor points and present them correctly. Besides, intonation is a transmitter of the speaker’s emotions, so make sure your audience reads your feelings accurately. But don’t overdo it. Do not forget about the golden mean.
