Learn to Speak Confidently in the Public

Yesterday morning, upon stepping into the lecture room, everyone was busy rehearsing their speech. I can see the faces of some of my fellow classmates being so serious while preparing the speech. It was THE day all of us have to stand in front of our audience (which are our classmates and our trainer Mr. Hisham) and to perform our speech. We were given 3 minutes to present.

As my group was given the topic on social network, I chose to talk on the evolution of social network. I talked about how the transition from blogs and emails, to Friendster, Myspace and Facebook. Other groups were discussing on other topics. Through this public speaking session, I regained my confidence and felt accomplished for being able to present in front of the cream of the crop. Mr. Hisham also gave us his valuable comments and motivated everyone of us, which helped us to enhance our public speaking skills. I felt truly benefited from this BEST program.

Nevertheless, what I noticed was that when it comes to public speaking, some of us will start having butterflies in their stomach. So here I got for some tips from Toastmasters website tips to overcome our fear:

1. Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.

2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud with all equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.

3.Know the audience. Greet some of the audience members as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.

4. Know the room. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

5. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.

6. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.

7. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.

8. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem – the audience probably never noticed it.

9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.

10. Gain experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.

Well, hopefully the tips provided by Toastmasters will benefit those who are going to give a speech in future. Let us regain self-confidence in public speaking! Harness your nervous energy and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm!