Management Toolkit

Ten tips to help improve your public speaking

Tags:
Public Speaking,
Voice,
Speech

Jack Wallen Tech Republic

Published: 10 Jul 2009 09:00 BST

Ten tips to help improve your public speaking

In the business world, speaking effectively is a must, but for many the thought of speaking in public makes their blood run cold. Long-time actor Jack Wallen shares some tried-and-true techniques to take the edge off your nerves and make your delivery smooth and self-assured.

Whether you are going on an interview, asking your boss for a raise or a bigger budget, selling your product to bidders/purchasers, speaking with clients, giving a presentation or rallying the troops for a network upgrade, you will need to be at your best when speaking publicly. The problem is, most people have never had training for public speaking — so here are 10 simple ways to make the nightmare more of a dream.

1. Be prepared
You must know your material — not just memorise the words and facts. You cannot predict what is going to cause you to get sidetracked, but Murphy's Law dictates that something will happen and, when it does, it's best to know where you are. That's when a little acting trick will come in handy.

When you have a large script to memorise, the best way to do it is in chunks of related material. For example, if you are giving a presentation on why your company should migrate to open-source software, you might have five different 'chunks' to your speech: introduction to open source, cost savings, security, reliability and ease of use. Within each chunk, you'll have certain bits of information to know.

You should always know the names of the chunks, so if you get lost, at least you'll know which chunk you are on. And if you know the information within that chunk well enough, you can get back on track.

2. Rehearse correctly
Most people don't realise that nerves can have a serious effect on how you speak in front of people. Nearly everyone who gets nervous when speaking in front of others will speak faster than they normally would. This can lead to you not being understood and most certainly seeming nervous.

To avoid this pitfall, rehearse your speech more slowly than normal, so you will be more at ease and relaxed when you rehearse. That way, when the nerves do kick in, you will most likely be speaking at a normal pace.

3. Rehydrate yourself
Most would think this a crazy thing to do before speaking. But many speakers keep water with them when they speak, because nerves dry your mouth. And when your mouth dries up, you will have a harder time articulating your thoughts.

To that end, make sure you sip plenty of water before and during your speech.

Don't drink too much, though, as you don't want to have to pause in the middle of your speech to dash to the toilet!

4. Relax before you go on
This is another one of those tactics most people think won't work — but it does. So how does one relax? By not obsessing over what you are about to do. If you go over your speech again and again before you go on, you will be in a constant state of reminding yourself that you are about to make yourself nervous.

Instead, do something to take your mind off what you are about to do, such as reading a book or playing a video game. It is pretty easy these days to pack a PSP, DS, Kindle or paperback with you. Do this and take advantage of the time before you go on. Your heart rate will thank you for it.

5. Rest well
The night before your big speech, don't go out and paint the town the colour of the hangover you'll have the next morning. Instead, relax, go to the gym, catch a movie, read, or do anything else that will...