Confidence in Public Speaking for Presentations, Work, and School

You can become confident in your public speaking abilities. With specific steps and preparation, you can become ready to speak up and shine.

Having the ability to confidently publicly speak can make you stand out in any situation. Whether you're presenting, at work, school, or an event, your words can make an impact. There are many tips and tricks that can help you conquer center stage. In this blog, we'll list out these tricks and delve into what makes them special.

Tips & Tricks

• Have a Structure

• Know Your Audience

• Show Your Personality

• Have Your Information Memorized

• Practice

• Have an Intro

• Give a Brief Summary/Rundown

• Know How to Transition Topics

• Have Examples/Data

• Make Eye Contact With The Crowd

• Move Around

• Be Prepared & Able to Answer Questions

• Have a Closing

• Have a Way to Get In Contact

Have a Structure

When planning on what you are going to say, think about how you are going to structure what you are going to talk about. What topic comes first and how it blends into the next is important with keeping the flow going. Structure can also help you remember what topic comes next.

Know Your Audience

Know what type of crowd you are going to be speaking in front of. Knowing whether it is formal, informal, work, school, educational etc, is important in knowing tone. You can determine the appropriate amount of commentary, jokes, examples, and data. It can help you deliver your speech and reach the audience.

Show Your Personality

Don't be afraid to let your personality shine through! It helps your audience have trust and credibility in your content. It helps them see you as a person outside of the information that you are presenting. Along with knowing your audience, you can let your personality through further in an informal setting.

Have Your Information Memorized

Before presenting, have your information, structure, data, and points memorized. Memorization can help you confidently deliver your speech without getting lost. It can help you move from point to point and avoid unnecessary pauses. Your audience will be able to tell you have mastered your knowledge over your topic through what you know.

Practice

We all have heard "Practice makes perfect," but it is true. Practice, practice, practice. Before hand you can practice your speech in front of a mirror, staring at an object, or in front of friends. It helps you gain confidence of what you are going to say. It can pinpoint errors or awkward breaks to edit before you present in person. This is an especially important step for those who find themselves nervous in talking in front of a crowd.

Have an Intro

When people come to see you present it is vital that they know what you are going to be talking about. You can say your name and the tile of what you are going to be speaking about. The title can include your company, keywords, and a short phrase. It grasps the audiences attention. Make sure it is specific as possible.

Give a Brief Summary/Rundown

After your intro, have a brief summary/rundown planned so the audience knows what you are going to cover in your speech. This should be short and concise nearing a couple sentences. It gives the audience a deeper understanding of what you will be discussing, look forward to certain points, and know the speakers objective.

Know How to Transition Topics

Transitions are how you go from one topic to another. In having a speech/presentation structure, knowing how to transition topics helps you maintain flow. It helps avoid unnecessary pauses or awkward topic transitions. You can think about how one topic can relate to another and think of one or two sentences to switch topics. It also helps the audience know when you have moved topics.

Have Examples/Data

With your speech, having examples and data to support your information gives you credibility. You need to be able to back up what you are speaking about. It instills further trust in your presentation and individual. You don't need to bombard the audience with facts and stats, but with each topic you should be able to show how and why it is important.

Make Eye Contact With The Crowd

Eye contact with the crowd helps you connect with your audience. It helps them feel as if you are speaking to them individually and not at them. It helps maintain a connection with the audience. It is important to scan the crowd with eye contact to include as many people as possible. Eye contact is also an easy way to monitor the responses of the crowd. Their responses can help you determine if you need to adjust your tonality, energy, or personality.

Move Around

Movement helps you create energy within your speech. Whether you are walking around the stage or making hand gestures it can grasp audiences attention. Movement can also help you put emphasis on certain words or transitions and help with the flow of your speech.

Pe Prepared & Able to Answer Questions

More than likely your audience will have questions about what you've talked about, especially if you've done a good job. Be ready to be able to back up your information, have secondary sources, or extra dialogue. It showcases your expertise of the topic being able to come back with an answer. You can give yourself a second to think and prepare for an answer by saying "That was a great question." If you forget the question you can say "Can you repeat the question for me one more time." If you need further clarification you can say "Could you clarify the question a little bit for me please."

Have a Closing

When finishing up your speech have a short closing. It can be a synopsis and a thank you. You want your audience to know that the speech is wrapping up. It avoids confusing the audience with an abrupt end.

Have a Way to Get In Contact

At the very end explain to the audience how to get in contact. This can be through social media, email, workplace, and pamphlets. You want to be able to continue the dialogue from your speech after the presentation. It also helps you grow your network connections, potential customers, and people interested in your content. When you give out your information, make sure that you are checking your contact sources. Be available to respond after the fact when an audience member reaches out.

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