extremecommunicator.com

How to Give a Speech Without Dying

Two of the top fears of most people are dying and giving a speech. In fact, there is so much fear of public speaking, you might think that people regularly die while giving speeches. Fortunately, that is not the case. Here are some tips that will help you overcome your fears and give a great speech.

Be prepared. Know what you are going to say. Prepare an outline of your main points and put them on index cards or a sheet of paper. Don't write out your whole speech and read it. There is nothing that will put an audience to sleep faster.

Write your own introduction. Don't rely on the person who will introduce you to come up with a good introduction. Write it yourself. Your introduction should include your credentials and other important points from your bio. Also include a call to action for the audience, such as the fact that you will be selling and autographing your book after the presentation, or a reason for them to visit your web site. Print out the introduction, double-spaced in large type, so it is easy to read. Send it before the event to the person who will introduce you, and take two copies with you on the day of the speech. Your introduction will get your speech off to a good start.

Dress comfortably. If your clothes are too tight, too short or riding up your . . . uh, you don't want to dress in a way that will interfere with movement or breathing.

Check out the room. Arrive a little early so you can become familiar with the layout of the room. Where will you stand while you speak? Is there a microphone? How will the audience be seated? If you are using equipment, such as a projector, try it out to make sure everything is working properly.

Get to know the audience. As audience members arrive, introduce yourself and chat with them. It will reduce your nervousness later. After all, you won't be speaking to a bunch of nameless strangers, you will be speaking to Jeff, Laura, Steve, Diane, and all the other nice people you shook hands with earlier.

Breathe. When you first step up to the podium, take a deep breath then start speaking. If you find yourself speaking too quickly, or inserting fillers such as uh, um, like, you know, slow down and take another breath before you continue.

Remember that the audience is on your side. They came to hear what you have to say. They are spending their time (and perhaps money) to be there, and they are predisposed to like you. Don't assume they are waiting for you to fail. They aren't.

With practice, you can become a confident, polished speaker. Take advantage of opportunities to hone your skills. Join Toastmasters or other organizations that give you the chance to speak in a supportive environment. After you survive your first speeches, you may find yourself looking forward to speaking and even enjoying it. Really.

Copyright Cathy Stucker. As the Idea Lady, Cathy Stucker can help you attract customers and make yourself famous with ideas to market yourself as an expert. Get free tips, articles and more at http://www.IdeaLady.com/.

MORE ARTICLES:

Fear Of Public Speaking? Ease The Tension
You've spent endless hours preparing the perfect speech - enthralling, witty, entertaining and attention grabbing - and the minute you get near a stage or podium you begin to fall apart! Fear of public speaking is all too common amongst the professional and social arenas and tackling your nerves may appear to be an impossible mission. There are however great tips and techniques included with training courses that can really help and overcoming the fear of public speaking can be achieved!

Public Speaking: The Mother Of All Fears
In a much quoted survey of the things people fear most, public speaking came out as the number one fear. Death came third.

Do You Have A Fear Of Public Speaking?
Fear is bound to be an important emotion for the first timer who happens to face a large audience for the first time. A person that is supposed to give a speech or a presentation in front of masses might tend to have fear, but if this fear tends to reduce after every public speech then this kind of fear is said to be a partial fear that occurred due to nervousness because of facing a crowd for the first time. However there are many people that have the fear of public speaking even though they might have given many public speeches in past, if this is the case with you then you tend to be prone to fear of public speaking. This is classified as a problem that many people face. Public speaking anxiety is said to be the worst of fears that a per ...

EFT For Public Speaking ý Get Rid of Your Fear Today!
Do you have nightmares about addressing a crowd and getting humiliated Does your mouth go dry and your hands shake and turn cold when you walk up the podium and see the audience

Public Speaking Anxiety: How To Deal With It
Do you shudder at the thought of being asked to take part in a presentation at work or college? When you speak in public, do you feel that you want the floor to open up and swallow you? Are you more worried about getting the jitters rather than delivering great content in your presentations? Well if so then you may be a victim of one of the most common and most horrid phobias. The fear of public speaking is widely thought of as the worst fear that a person can suffer! In fact on a survey the fear of death was at number seven and the fear of public speak was at number one - this just goes to show how severe it can be for the sufferer.

Best Man Speeches - How to Master the Art of Wedding Speeches
So your best buddy just asked you to be his best man on his wedding day No big deal

Public Speaking Fear to Public Speaking Excellence
Public Speaking fear to Public Speaking excellence by Joseph Clough Imagine speaking with confidence and charisma being free of fear and anxiety of public speaking How would it change your life

EFT For Public Speaking ý Become an Adept and Confident Speaker Today
In the middle of the 1990s, a personal development coach used as reference another coachýs techniques to come up with his own Roger Callahanýs techniques in Thought Field Therapy, or TFT, were studied thoroughly by his trainee Gary Craig, who later simplified said techniques in order to give birth to the now highly popular Emotional Freedom Techniques, or EFT

Fear Of Public Speaking Is Curable
Fear of public speaking is very common; all of us in our entire life experience this at some point in our life. Whatever the reason of fear may be, it is very difficult to overcome fear. Fear of public speaking is commonly seen in a person that is giving a speech for the first time. However well prepared he/she might be yet it can be difficult to avoid it. The reason that we might be put to speak in public could be any, for presentation or about giving some information to the public. A first timer is bound to have fear during a public speaking session but he has to see that this doesn't become a habit, where every time speaking in public might increase fear. On the other hand if your speech goes well you will gain confidence and each subseq ...

Public Speaking Tips: How To Captivate Your Audience!
Public speaking is all about performance, whether this is on an auditorium stage, in a small room or a huge arena. Holding the attention of your audience throughout your presentation or speech is an area well documented in any public speaking course. Once you've learned how to prepare your notes, conquered your fear of public speaking and brushed up your presentation skills, tips on great ways to captivate your audience is the all-important next step!

Shot In The Butt With Fear: Public Speaking Anxiety
Like a taser gun shot to the butt a fear of public speaking can send shockwaves through your body that will make you feel disorientated and out of control! It can affect you even months in advance if you know that you have to speak publicly and nothing seems to help or shift it. You have tried braving it but got nowhere. You have got out of situations of speaking publicly however feel guilty as you have let someone else or yourself down. You have missed many an opportunity to grow and develop because of this most hideous phobia. Don't you owe it to yourself to get this sorted out? If so, read on?

Public Speaking - The Money's in the Template
The best public speakers in the world all agree on one thing. You can't get good at public speaking without practice. That's where some public speaking training seminars fail in teaching people how to do successful presentations. Lecturing someone on how to do a presentation will not make a student learn any faster. If you learn by doing, you'll achieve much higher results!

3 Crucial Public Speaking Lessons
Public Speaking is one of the oldest forms of mass communication known to mankind Since ancient times, it is considered as an effective way to address people

Public Speaking: Plan Your Timing For Maximum Impact!
Timing is everything and public speaking is no exception. Long drawn-out presentations will only result in a bored, distracted audience and you'll lose their attention very quickly! On the other hand, rushing through your material can give an impression of nerves, or your key points could be missed. Public speaking presents huge challenges for many people, but sorting out your timing can be the difference between a great speech and a mediocre or downright appalling presentation.