Public Speaking Tips (2015)

Key Takeaways

fear of public speaking fear not I have got you covered public speaking can be a really intimidating task whether you're making a ma of honor speech at a wedding or you're making a presentation at work nerves are totally normal everybody gets them but there's a way to make your nerves work in your favor and not against you I'm pretty comfortable in front of a camera and I've done a ton of live TV and I've spoken to a whole bunch of different audiences but even I have had those moments where I completely forget what I'm saying I lose track of where I was in my speech and I go into a full body sweat but thank goodness over the years I figured out how to completely eliminate that feeling so this video is all about how to be comfortable and completely confident speaking in public and kill it when you take center stage one of the best lessons I've learned is preparation is the enemy of nerves the more prepared you are the less nervous you will be so no matter what the topic is that you're speaking on even if it's something personal you need to know the subject matter inside and out because let's be honest in a live setting anything can happen so the more confident you are in what you're saying and the better you know your material the less nervous you'll be and the less thrown off you'll be if something goes wrong so prepare prepare prepare research your topic prepare for any questions that might be thrown your way and you will walk in with so much confidence and ease going into your presentation tip number two make key notes only it's really tempting to write a word forword script and that does work for some people but the problem with that is it's much harder to go off script when you're live in front of an audience and if you forget one word it can completely throw you off and throw off your Rhythm so instead what I like to do is write one intro sentence that I know like the back of my hand so it helps me get in and then I have key notes and key points throughout the entire presentation that I know I need to remember and I can reference if I need to and then in the outro I have one key line that I know I'm ending on so I can easily transition into it that way when you're preparing you're not trying to remember something word for word you're actually ad living as you're rehearsing and then when you're live in front of people it's much easier to just roll with the punches tip number three is very important walk and talk I took an acting class when I was younger and this little gem of wisdom has stuck with me and gotten me through every presentation in my life so basically what it means is when you're looking at your script and you're reading through your script don't sit there and hover over it and just stare at the piece of paper and the words move sometimes I'll get on a treadmill and memorize my presentations that way or learn my Keynotes that way um or I'll throw on some music I'll throw on the TV and I'll pace around my apartment looking at my script I look like a crazy person but it works like a charm because like I said earlier anything can happen in a live scenario so you want to be prepared for absolutely any scenario and the best way to do that is to distract yourself as you're going through your script because then it's not just locked in your brain and locked up here it's in your entire body tip number four own the space that area is your house when you're making that presentation and you need to be just as comfortable as you would be in your very own living room so before you get on stage if you have a second go up and feel out the space and if you can't actually get on the stage visualize yourself up there and visualize how you're going to move and interact with the audience another great tip for this is before you even go to present or to the location you're presenting ask if there's going to be a mic stand a Podium if there's a sound system if you'll be controlling the presentation on your laptop for or somebody else will that way you're prepared for anything and you know exactly what you're walking into which helps you also not panic and get nervous at the last minute pick three people in the audience when you get up on stage or just before you get up on stage and make those the three people that you're going to maintain eye contact with of course you want to look around but if you ever feel lost and a little bit jittery you know you can go back to those three people they don't need to know you just need to know so pick one person that's on the far right one that's in the middle and one that's on the leand side and that'll help you kind of own the audience and own the space and final tip is to just breathe so before you step off on stage a lot of people forget to do this and that's where that shaky voice comes in because you're not controlling your breath all you need to do before you you step on stage is take one big deep breath in and then just focus on your breathing so focus on one breath in one breath out before you go up on stage that'll help you completely Center yourself and completely own and control your breathing and in addition to breathing one of my mentors gave me a really amazing tip that I also use every time I present and it's simply to say to yourself right before you go on stage I know I know this and this relates all the way back to tip number one about being prepared if you know your subject matter inside and out you know you're there for a reason you've been asked to speak for a reason you own the space you own the stage and it's your moment and people want you to do well they are rooting for you so just say to yourself I know I know this and walk up there with total confidence knowing that you're going to do an amazing job and one little bonus tip Don't Panic say the teleprompter breaks or say you miss an entire chunk of your presentation you meant to do it that way right that's how you need to act don't let anything rattle you because the audience does not know any better it's your presentation so no matter what happens in the moment just roll with it and you'll be fine if you like this video hit the like button below share it with your friends and be sure to subscribe because I post new video marketing and social media tutorials every single Tuesday thanks so much for watching and I will see you guys next time