Does the thought of speaking in front of a group make you sweat, get your heart hammering or loop your stomach into knots? Do you feel afraid or awkward when you see everyone is looking at you and expect you to say something?
If you ever come across that experience I can tell you that you are not alone. As a matter of fact, researches show that on an average 74% of people are scared to get in front of an audience. According to The Chapman University Survey of American Fears nearly 30% of the adults in the U.S. rate the fear of public speaking more than the fear of floods, earthquakes, loneliness, ghosts or even death.
Yes, the fear of public speaking is very real but the truth is this fear could be hurting your personal or professional life. So, if you’ve got a story to tell, a business to run or even asking your boss for a promotion it’s time to face the fear and pep up the power of public speaking.
And the nice thing is that you really don’t need to depend on painful trial and error or any heroic effort to manage your fear and become a prolific public speaker. You simply need to know how to practice public speaking effectively so that you can overcome your stage fear and prove your audience that you’re knowledgeable, charismatic, open and therefore someone they want to know, someone they want to rely on with their dreams and hopes… and may be even their house, their money or their votes.
Look, public speaking is a learnable skill, not a talent. And surely it’s a good news because we can’t do much with our genes we were born with but can do something to improve this vital skill. There are few techniques that can help you to develop your this skill and ultimately support you to lift your career or promote your business. And the practicing techniques I am going to tell you today are quite simple but can provide great results.
Before getting into the detail of how to practice public speaking, I want to make an important note here that it may not be possible to completely overthrow the fear when you are speaking in front of a group. As a matter of fact, I believe a little bit of a nervous energy is good. The adrenaline flow that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and helps you to give your best performance. However, I do believe it’s possible to learn to knock your fear down to a controllable level. In the last fifteen years, I’ve spoken at hundreds of events and still I get butterflies in my stomach but it’s gotten enormously easier now. Here is how I did it, and how you can too.
A little bit of practice every day matters a lot
To make the practice of public speaking a daily habit, firstly you need to decide how much time you can consistently and practically put in.
Two minutes a day? Ten? Twenty? One minute, twice a day?
In fact, it matters a little how much time you can spend but what matters most is that you devote to spare even one minute per day practicing your public speaking skills. Most of the things that will progressively develop your capacity are finite, small and easy to focus on during the course of your day. Whether you’re going it alone or working with a speaker coach, you can do much better practicing for few minutes a day than practicing for few hours a week. And certainly it is not difficult for anyone to manage few minutes a day when the benefits are pretty amazing.
Indeed, in just few minutes, you can practice:
● Holding a smile while you speak
● Focusing on the group you’re talking to
● Speaking more slowly but articulating every word slowly
● “Being in” your public speaking attitude
● Delivering a key message
Obviously this list could go on and on.
And none of these things are very challenging. What is challenging is getting so comfortable with them, so familiar with them, that they turn into a part of your “public speaking DNA” – automatic and effortless habits that are there for you when you need them under pressure.
How to practice public speaking
Practice your attitude
In our speech what we actually say is only a part of our communication package. There is no doubt that for an unbeaten performance you need to prepare your speech well; however, having the “right words” and well organized presentation won’t matter if you can’t connect with your audience, and that connection vastly depends on your attitude.
Researches show that between the choices of trusting visual and spoken words or vocal cues, audience normally believe the nonverbal message. To become a good speaker your non-verbal communication (while speaking what you do with your body) needs to complement your speech as it should be. In plain English, they need to be well-matched each other. If your attitude shows the comfort and connection, audience will respond spontaneously. So, some practice to get that attitude can make the deal for you.
If you gaze out the window or frequently shuffle your feet, you can’t send your message effectively. You may think you’re being open, but you’re actually creating a barrier if your back is turned or your arms are crossed. The same holds true for your delivery; you need to be aware of being monotonous and mumbling. You have to know how to use hands and facial or vocal expressions to liven things up.
Active non-verbal communication includes:
Enthusiasm and energy
Proper eye contact
Purposeful movement
Natural gestures
Good posture
Proper attire
To sound and look confident, practice standing tall, on both feet, in a high-power” pose (your arms and legs are spread-out). Let your shoulder relax. If you’re holding your stomach in, release it. Breathe in fully through your nose and breathe out to your mouth to the count of 3. Count slowly: 1-2-3. Practice several times inhaling and exhaling to a 3 count but make sure you keep up your legs, shoulders and stomach relaxed.
You can practice this exercise at anywhere – in a queue at a theatre, at work or at home. Sense the difference it makes. Feel how energizing it is to be standing on both feet, to have your shoulders relaxed, to have your head held high. As soon as you realize how strong and good that feels, you can easily use it to feel more confident and to avoid catching yourself hunching or slumping in the presentation. This one of the easiest public speaking exercises can surely benefit you to be in yourself in front of the audience.
To learn more about body languages and how to interpret and use it click here.
Practice your transitions
Make it sure that you have idea what’s coming next and how to lead people into your next point. That mean you need to know how to make vocal variation to deliver your opening, closing, key messages as well as any complicated points or stories in a concise and effective way.
Try to practice saying your opening sentences as if you are: mocking, teasing, bitter, angry, sad, or happy. Here the goal is to recognize how you say the words, and how you feel them with meaning.
You also need to find out the best speech rate for a specific part of your dialogue. And a good way to do that is record your speech so that you can repeatedly listen how you’re saying and fine-tune the speed accordingly. A recording will let you know what is the quality of your voice and how does it come across. You’ll hear those ums and ahs, rising enunciations and whether or not you’re racing your words or muttering.
At least for a few minutes every day, try to practice and record at varying speeds – from very fast to very slow. And then find out the results: which speed is more applicable – slow, medium or fast? Are you giving your audience enough time to hear and understand what you’re trying to convey in your message?
You also need to be aware using the power of pauses to clearly emphasize your key points. Yes, another key thing that expert public speakers do is use many pauses in their dialogue so that audience get a chance to listen one phrase before the speaker goes on to his or her next point.
Keep in mind that too slow or too much speed can turn your listeners away. You need to use a flexible speaking rate and timely pauses not only to get your point thru but also to keep all of your audience on their toes and actively engaged.
Sometimes, you can practice public speaking in front of a mirror to see what you do while you speak and what to change in your gestures. It is even better if sometimes you use a video camera or smart phone to record your voice and image together because this will allow you to hear and see yourself as others do. And practicing this way shouldn’t be problem for you. After all we are living in a tech world. Isn’t it?
When you practice your speech don’t always start from the beginning and go through straight to the end. Try to mix things up. Practice the toughest part first. Sometime, start with the last part or pick something from the middle. This will help you to keep your practice dynamic and make you more confident and comfortable for the entire presentation.
Remember, anything beats nothing by a mile. So, to practice public speaking, don’t wait for the perfect mood, setting or time. Simply pick anything from a message or speech that you’re going to present soon, and practice.
Click the links if you want to learn more about public speaking exercises for vocal variety or flexible speaking rate or power of the pause.
Practice your articulation
People won’t understand what you’re saying if you are a mumble merchant. Running your words or muddling them together creates a block in communication and you may confuse or lose the attention of even the most devoted listeners.
To stop making a barrier in your presentation, you need to articulate or enunciate clearly. When you articulate, try to pronounce your words more distinctly by:
Putting more energy into the way of your mouth (using the tip of your tongue, leaps and the teeth) to shape the sounds of a word clearly.
Pronouncing every consonant strongly – in other words, instead of being glossed over, make it sure that your consonants (all letters in the alphabet excluding A, E, I, O, and U) sound out loud. Such as, say the word Im…por…tant so that people can hear the “t” sound at the end.
When I deliver a speech, lead a workshop or take a class I make it sure that EVH…ree SIN…gall SILL…uh…ble I ahr…TIH…cue…lay…et is CLEER…ly pro…NOUNCE…ed (have you noticed that “t” and “d” in “articulate” and “pronounced”?). But hardly any people notice what I am doing, because I don’t sound like artificial, I simply sound clear.
The best way to start sounding clearer without anyone even knowing what you’re doing is to practice with this a little every day. Start slowly and make it sure each word is articulated clearly and then practice going faster and faster. And, if you make it into a game, that will work even better. Here’s the game part:
Can you add some more articulation into a conversation with a friend or colleague?
Can you add some pauses in the conversation?
Can you do it without making them aware that something is different?
How long can you do this before they notice?
You’ll win the game if no one looks at you funny or comment anything on it. And if you go too far, and people look suspicious you still win the game because you showed something important to someone about how to be a natural public speaker. If you want to learn more about diction practice, click here.
Take a few minutes once or twice a day to play with these practices. Try to make a little change to the way you usually speak. And then gradually increase the amount of change.
Finally, remember that “Practice makes perfect”. With practice you can polish your techniques and grow your own style because there is always room for upgrading. You can do it alone or if you want to improve your performance fast you can also choose a formal public speaking course, free public speaking meet up or Toastmasters.
But the time is now. Don’t wait to start practicing any of these public speaking exercises until you need to give a speech. Because they’ll provide benefits in all areas of your life making you more confident over how you present yourself.
Thank you for your attention, and keep pace with the good work.