Public Speaking Tweaking Tips

 Public speaking can be a fearsome episode, dreaded by even the most talkative amongst us. The aura of fear that surrounds public speaking can be overcome by developing adequate public speaking skills. It is a fact that pronounced communication skills can bring wonders to our professional as well as personal lives. Speaking to a group of two to two hundred essentially require two fundamental characteristics: self-confidence and subject competence. Interestingly, both these can be developed and groomed to perfection with practice and training. 

Developing self confidence again can be broken down to two main components – recognizing and controlling one’s inner emotions and feelings which sometimes interfere with our thought and speech processes and developing a water-tight message content to be delivered to the group, which can sink in or be rejected by them. It is important to remember that we normally speak well if we think constructively and logically. So it is essential that we develop a public speaking content, which is well-thought out. You will find that speaking comes naturally on a topic which is very close to your heart – that is because you have thought a lot about it and worked on it. 

To overcome the fear that surrounds the concept of public speaking try and go deeper to understand the rationale of the phobia. Is it the fear of rejection? Fear of the unknown? Fear that you will be judged? It is important to remember that fear fears knowledge and light of wisdom. The more you ‘know’ about the cause of fear, the lighter you will feel. The more self-esteem you have the lesser chances of fear attacking you. Try and focus more on achieving personal and professional goals by becoming a good public speaker – and you will find that fear is taking a back seat. Even if you are not completely fearless, you will need to put fear under control. Remember Winston Churchill who fell through a weak podium while making a public speech. All that he said as he got back his composure was that the weight of his argument was big enough to bring the stage down!

So self-confidence coupled with a tremendous presence of mind can make any of us a good public speaker. 

Since public speaking skills improve with practice, one of the exercises to be pursued is to practice it as often as one can. The more proficient you can become facing an audience the more adept you will be to address them effectively. Public speaking training classes usually give the students a random topic and give them two minutes to think about it. The students are then asked to talk extempore about the subject. While pulses race, the stressful situation gradually fades and towards the end of the training program, students can actually get up and talk meaningfully in front of a large group.

To get your share of opportunities to practice public speaking, take a couple of classes at your local community programs. Better still video tape your speech. You would then get a chance to see for yourself, how many areas you need improvement. Go through your talk all over again, make notes and practice standing in front of the mirror. It is a fact that we shine in something we are good at. With practice and through regular trial and error methods, you will be surprised that you are the next chosen key-note speaker in your company’s next function.