According to Brian Tracey, the world’s leading marketing, sales and personal development expert: the average person fears public speaking more than death itself!
Yet being able to effectively communicate your ideas to key
decision makers, teammates, potential customers and investors is arguable one
of the most important, skills you need for building a successful career in
business.
Great public speaking is a critical success factor in:
- Pitching
new business ideas
- Organizational
Culture Change
- Effective
Management and Team Leadership
- Giving
Online Presentations and Talks
- Creating
highly effective multimedia, Digital Marketing, Social Media and eLearning
Resources
What’s the good news for beginners when it comes
to become great public speakers? Well it turns out that public speaking
actually boils down to a learnable set of skills.
Most people improve rapidly within just hours of actually
getting started. The best way to accelerate this learning process is to study
and practice the most effective yet simple public speaking tips, tricks and
strategies.
So where do you start?
Here are 18 powerful public speaking tips,
tricks and strategies that will help you quickly become a highly
effective speaker people will really love to watch, listen and learn
from!
1. Act In-Spite of
Yourself - Just Do It!
What’s the number one most important tip for becoming an
amazing public speaker? At first, you simply need to act in-spite of feeling
nervous or afraid. The more you get out there and just do it!
The more quickly you learn to control your emotions and get
into a state of flow and connection with your audience. You may make mistakes
at first, but those are incredibly value learning experiences that are only
going to make you stronger and more confident.
2. Always Build On Your Strengths
Audiences give more attention to a speaker who genuinely
engaged and personally invested in their dialog and their personal
presentation; it’s incredibly energizing and inspiring!
Playing to your strengths means you need to have a heart to
heart with yourself about your speaking and your presenting styles. In other
words, don’t try to have a solemn lecture if you’re itching to crack a joke, or
if you’re definitely not the standup comedian type, you might want to find
other ways to add humor and to capture peoples’ attention.
Let’s take strengths just one step further here. You need to
capitalize on your content expertise. Whether you’re new to public speaking or
a seasoned veteran, it’s really important to stick to topics you know very
well. If you know a lot about something, your audience can tell. If you know
very little about something, your audience will also be able to tell.
It’s also important to share what you’re genuinely
passionate about, because your passion is contagious. Always do those little
extra bits of research to find and share the most inspiring stories facts and
data. If an insight or story you find really wows you, it’s going to really wow
your audience as well.
And while we’re on the topic of audiences, make sure to
always be presenting to an audience who will truly benefit from your expertise.
You don’t want to do a presentation of selling used cars if you’re an
enterprise gamification expert!
Yet even when you have the most likeminded audience your
primary focus must always be on continuously improving the delivery and
effectiveness of your message.
3. Practice with People You Know and Feel Comfortable
With (Including Yourself in The Mirror!)
Can
you imagine being invited to give a major talk, pitch or business presentation
at a major tradeshow or conference? As an absolute beginner, stepping out in
front of a huge audience of people you don’t know can be overwhelming. Rather,
start by giving short practice presentations in front of coworkers, friends,
and even family members; - people you really feel comfortable with.
If you have someone in your network who’s a great public
speaker, invite them to your practice presentations and ask for tips,
suggestions and corrective feedback. Another great tip is to practice in front
of a mirror.
You’ll be surprised at how quickly you public speaking
skills and emotional comfort levels grow within just your first few hours of
dedicated practice. And what’s really great is all of this learning will
transfer so easily from your high comfort speaking environment to the real
presenter’s stage.
4. Record yourself to Train your Voice and Body Language
After you’ve got your speech written, it’s time to
work on delivery. A lot of people hate hearing their own voice, but if you’re
going to talk to an audience you ought to have a plan of action.
Take the time to record your voice and your body language
using whatever tools you have. Audio and video quality doesn’t matter as much
at this point. Using your smartphone with a simple tripod can really do the
trick. From there you can take notes on how you look and sound and make needed
changes and improvements.
Scan your video to watch for excessive arm movement or hair
flipping. It’s also highly recommended that you:
5. Carefully Study and Emulate Your Favorite Public
Speaker(s)
One really effective strategy is to spend some time watching
expert presentations and choosing amazing speakers whom you really connect
with. TedTalks are a great place to start.
- Once
you’ve identified a truly awesome speaker, really watch and listen to
them. Ask yourself:
- What’s
the tone of their voice?
- How do
they convey positive emotions?
- Are
they friendly and conversational?
- Do
they use lots of big words? What about their body language? How do they
stand?
- How do
they use their hands, physical positioning, and body language in general
to emphasize their points?
Revisit step 4 and record yourself practicing
and emulating your favorite public speaker.
6. Become a Serious Armchair Public Speaking and Body
Language Expert
When it comes to becoming a truly amazing public speaker,
knowledge really is power. Put time aside each day to read, watch, listen to
and learn from the world’s leading public speaking and body language experts.
It’s great that you’ve started with this blog post! But I
strongly recommend that once you’ve finished reading and sharing this post, you
scroll down to the clickable “references” I put together to write this article.
I’ve linked to some of this year’s most highly read and
shared public speaking articles and infographics! If you have the budget, it’s
also well worth investing in working with an expert public speaking coach.
Taking a great public speaking course is also a great investment.
7. Work on Ditching The Notes
You really need to prioritize becoming less and less
dependent on notes or written speeches.
As you start to really pay attention to the top public
speakers, you’ll notice that they use notes sparingly if at all. Rather they
use their presentation materials (i.e. Powtoon Slides or Prezi’s or
PowerPoints) as cues to spark and informally structure a friendly and upbeat
conversational tone and flow.
8. Have Plans for the Unexpected
No matter how well you have things planned, problems can
arise. Take a moment to list your worst “unexpected things” fears. Afterward,
write out a quick action plan for what you’d do in case any of these situations
actually happen.
Few issues will cause audience unhappiness and disengagement
more than a speaker who loses their cool or technical control in the middle of
a speech or presentation, - especially if the projector fails or the laptop
freezes.
9. Do Pre-Event Promotion
What’s the best way to find an audience willing to be
engaged? Promote yourself and what you’ll be speaking about! Invite coworkers,
family members email contacts, and social media followers weeks if not months
in advance of your presentation. Let them know when you’ll be presenting and
where along with a short but clear description of the unique benefits they’ll
get if they attend.
It’s always best to send individualized invitations tailored
to the interests of each potential attendee. But it’s also important to share
frequent and increasing reminders via social media, especially in the days just
before you present.
Not just that, but the people hosting your presentation will
be grateful. The more people that promote the event, the larger the reach. Put
yourself out there for interviews, write a blog post, tweet about it, or create
your own event hashtag. Any of these will help you and your hosts get the event
or presentation noticed.
10. Add Social Sites to your Actual Presentation –
Especially Twitter!
Whatever presentation tech you’re using, whether it’s
PowerPoint or Prezi - put something like a Twitter handle at the bottom of
every slide. Of course, keep it small enough so that it doesn’t detract from
your information, but big enough that people can see it.
Bonus Tip: I strongly recommend Slidebean as an
incredibly powerful yet extremely simple to use alternative to PowerPoint.
They've got amazing ready to populate templates. You can add your own images
and video content as well. And they've got great animated data visualization
tools that you just plug-in your own number to bring those numbers alive.
Twitter is
arguably your most effective platform for real-time events promotion and
personal and business branding.
At the start of your speech, point it out and give a
#hashtag that people can live-tweet to during the event. A lot of people will
be checking their phones regardless of how engaging your presentation.
Integrating a live #TwitterChat is a great way to take advantage of that.
You can offer affordable prizes and rewards to the people
who engage the most and spread the word on Twitter best during your
presentation. For example, offer gift certificates for a specialty coffee or
other items you know people will love, for sharing video tweeting, and RTing
your content via your custom #hashtag.
First, it spreads the word about your event. Second,
it spread the word about you. Third, it fosters conversation surrounding your
talk and also works to provide you live feedback at the same time. You can even
respond to people after the event and clarify any questions or thank them for
comments.
11. Establish a Pre-Speaking Routine
Having a rabbit’s foot won’t change your performance
on stage (let alone anything else). What will make a critical positive
difference is developing and implementing a pre-routine for your talks and
presentations. That means:
- Sound
checks,
- Mic
checks,
- Projector
checks.
- Making
sure your chair is set up
- Going
over your speech,
- Becoming
familiar with the venue, and
- Making
sure you have drinking water (warm or room temperature is actually best) .
- Looking
over your public speaking behavior development goals
- Exercising
and deep breathing
Not only will each individual task help ensure a smooth
presentation, but so will the sensation of going through a routine. Routines
are very grounding and give you a newfound sense of confidence and control.
12. Exercise and Breath before Your Speech
There are two huge reasons for doing a little bit of
light exercise before you go up on stage and speak. Why? Because it
gets your blood circulating. This brings oxygen to the brain, allowing you to
think clearer. Doing some simple relaxation breathing exercises is also a
great idea.
Light exercise is wonderful because it burns the
cortisol out of your system. Cortisol, a major stress chemical is made by your
body when you’re anxious and stressed. It impedes your creative and
process-related thinking. It can also tighten your voice and interfere
with your ability to conveying positive body language. And as you know: all
these things are critical to audience engagement.
13. Thank Your Audience When You’re Done!
You did it! You gave a great speech. The audience is
clapping. They’re happy with your performance. You wowed your story and your
content. You solved some of their most immediate business problems and pain
points. Do you just walk off stage without saying a thing?
No. You turn around and you thank them. You thank them for
expressing their appreciation for your speech. You thank them for listening
intently. You thank them for coming. It’s important to remember that, though
you are the presenter, you would not be getting this applause (or maybe even
this venue!) if they weren’t there for you. let your audience know how to:
- Contact
you, and,
- Let
them know they can call you,
- Email
you or,
- Connect
with you on social media with any questions that may develop during or
after the event.
14. Analyze Your Performance For Next Time
Now that you’re finished with your speech it’s time to
really go over the content and the style of your presentation again. It’s time
to analyze your performance! Take this time to think back on what you said, how
you said it, and how you might improve.
Ask people you know and who attended, for honest feedback on
your public speaking skills. For example, ask them to rate your presentation on
a scale of 1-10. If you score a 6 or 7 in their view, ask clear and
behaviorally descriptive things you can start doing, stop doing, or improve to
bring you’re your score up to an 8-9 level.
Ideally, you’ve recorded your presentation too so that you
can really assess your performance based on growing armchair expertise in
public speaking. Always remember to take note of and build on the things you
did well! If you only look back on the negatives, you’ll forget the positives
and that can’t help you or your future audience.
Jot down the changes and improvements you’re going to make
in your presentation style, and review these notes as part of your
pre-presentation routine before your next public speaking engagement.
Now let’s explore some of the most valuable tips and
strategies for actually delivering your next speech. For example:
You’re going to need to know proven and specific public
speaking strategies for keeping people deeply-engaged through your
presentation. For starters:
15. Don’t Talk Right Away
Have you ever noticed how the best speakers often take
a few seconds of silence to set the tone for their talk? I have.
If you start talking right away, it’s likely you’ll talk too
fast or trip over some words. It’s good to take a deep breath at the beginning
and take a moment to become comfortable in your surroundings. Don’t worry about
pausing for too long before saying anything, your audience will definitely
wait.
When the right moment arrives to start your speech, you’ll
know it and your audience will start really tuning in. That’s when it’s time to
make your critical first impression, by sharing a carefully crafted story or
asking one or two deeply thought-provoking questions that you know your
audience can’t wait to hear the answers to.
16. Never Start with An Apology!
One of the best ways to actively disengage your
audience is to go up on stage and instantly give an excuse. “Hey, I’m new” is
an excuse. Unless of course it’s followed up by “and so it’s really exciting
for me to be here because….” Again, It’s much better to start with an
attention-grabbing story or question though.
Don’t apologize for speaking too slow or too fast, having a
stutter, being terrible at jokes. You prepared your speech, you created your
presentation, and it is your job to own and to really share it.
Inviting your audience into a shared state of flow, through
sharing the latest industry-leading stats, business stories, and anecdotes guarantees
people will listen and really connect with you. But if you start making excuses
at the slightest error, you’ll sound unprepared and people will wonder why
you’re even on stage in the first place.
17. Show up to Give, Rather than Take
The idea that an audience can tell or sense “what’s
really going on” is true in most situations. They can tell when you’re nervous,
they can tell when you’re bluffing, and they can most definitely tell when
you’re only there to sell them something.
Why would they trust and therefore pay attention to you if
you’re not there with a genuine heartfelt passion to create real and immediate
value in their lives?
If you want to seriously capture audience-attention and
sustain their deepest engagement levels: show up to give. Show up and give them
true added value.
Give your audience your very best advice tips and
strategies as free gifts. Treat them like top-paying customers and raging
fans and that's just what they'll become!
Without true added value (the what’s in it for me?), nobody
really wants to listen. If they can get more value looking at funny pet
pictures on their smartphones, then you’re not doing your job as a highly
effective public speaker. And they will look at funny pet pictures for your
entire presentation.
18. Choose to Turn Your Nervous Energy into Contagious
Excitement!
Have you ever been so nervous that you freeze? It’s
possible, and it’s happened to many people. It’s important to get your
nervousness “under control” before that happens.
What’s the best way to do this? Flip your fear into
excitement by changing your thinking! The audience wants to see you riled up in
a positive way anyhow. They want to see you energetic.
So just decide that this reaction you’re feeling is not
actually nervousness. No, you ARE excited! You’re so excited that you get to do
this, you’re excited to spread your message, and you’re excited that you get to
share it with this particular audience! And they’re going to love your
presentation because you genuinely do!
It’s actually surprisingly simple because nervousness is a
kind of adrenaline, as is excitement. They use the same fuel; you just have to
mentally re-label your feelings in a positive way.
Have you ever seen an amazing business or marketing
presentation? Haven’t you noticed that even the world’s most amazing public
speakers often start out with a couple of seconds of seeming nervousness?
That’s the key decision moment for to fear into inspiration and really connect
with your audience!
With a simple change in how you think about the situation,
you can actually turn beginner’s public speaking anxiety into highly contagious
positive emotions that will keep your audience wide-eyed and hungry for more,
right from start to finish! That way, they’ll never forget you, the value you
created in their lives, or the stories you shared with them!