Surveys regularly identify public speaking as the most common fear among adults. While accurate statistics are hard to come by, we can all agree that at some point we have been afraid to speak publicly for fear of risking our reputations. Despite the fear, it is possible to perform well. As an introvert and award-winning public speaker, I know what you need to do to reduce your anxiety and improve your performance during presentations. These 15 secrets are key to successful public speaking.
1. Be prepared
As soon as you know that you will be expected to present a speech, review, presentation, demonstration or the like, you will need to prepare! You may need to write a speech, prepare a PowerPoint (or better yet, Prezi) presentation and make a note of some questions (and their answers) that people might throw at you afterwards. Do yourself a favour and avoid “winging it”. If you want to be seen as a professional, you will need to portray yourself as a professional. Make sure that you understand your content. Thoroughly check your work. Be organised and arrive at the venue early, or at least on time. Preparation is central to success!
2. Bring water
Venues are hot. Nerves can easily get the better of even the best public speakers. Make sure that you bring a bottle of water with you to quench the inevitable desert in your throat. Depending on the length of your presentation, it may not be appropriate to bring your water bottle on “stage”, but you can always have a drink afterwards. Bringing water with you is a small act that can make a big difference to your voice and comfort levels!
3. Stand up straight
Body language says a lot about a person. Bad posture screams that you lack confidence. Even if you are scared to death, never let your audience know it! If you hunch over or slouch against a wall you will quickly start to lose the audience’s interest, and possibly your own credibility. Bad posture also impacts your voice. When you are hunched over, you cannot project your voice in the correct direction or even to the same extent as you could if you were standing up straight. Good posture is vital to a successful presentation!
4. Speak clearly
Everyone thinks they speak with the articulation of a queen, but in truth we speak quickly, slur our words, mumble and use incomplete sentences most of the time. Make a conscious effort to speak slower than you usually would and enunciate each word when presenting. When you speak clearly, everyone should be able to understand you and the full power of your words can reach your audience. If you want to make an impact, speaking clearly is the first and foremost vocal tip I can give you. There is little point in making a presentation if you can’t be understood!
5. Project your voice
The delivery of a presentation can make or break it. Think of Churchill. Your voice can inspire, motivate, move, anger or bore. To do that, the audience will need to be able to hear you! Projecting your voice is not necessarily about the volume at which you are speaking. You can speak loudly, but that doesn’t mean that your voice will travel very far. If you will not be using a microphone, the aim is to speak slightly louder than usual and push your voice outwards as if you are trying to hit the back wall with it. Everyone, even the people in the back row need to be able to hear you. Projecting your voice will take a bit of practice, but it will make a huge difference to the delivery of your presentation!
6. Vary your vocal expression
There is nothing worse than a monotone presenter. Once you’ve got the volume and projection down pat, work on varying your vocal expression. Which words need emphasis? Are there certain sentences that would have more impact if they were spoken quickly or slowly? Remember to add inflection to your voice when reading questions. Sentences that end with a full stop should not end with vocal inflection. Adding expression to what you are saying makes it a lot more interesting to your listeners. Varying your vocal expression is vital to an engaging presentation!
7. Use your hands
There’s a reason sign language is used when one cannot use their voice. Voice is powerful, but so are hands. Hand movements and gestures can help emphasise a point or reinforce what is being said. Do remember to use them naturally, however, and use gestures that make sense! For example, if mentioning a number under six, you could show that number with one hand as you speak. When aiming to build trust with your audience, such as welcoming them, you could use the open palms gesture. To find out what gestures and hand movements to avoid, click here. Using your hands is a subtle way to keep your audience focused!
8. Work with bullet points
When you prepared your presentation, you might have written a full speech. Nice work, but you aren’t going to be bringing that wordy masterpiece with you, my friend. Buy yourself some palm cards. I’m all about the DIY, but I say ‘palm cards’, not ‘bits of paper cut into squares’ for a reason! Palm cards are neat, professional, they don’t bend at the tiniest hint of pressure, and they also are small enough to hold bullet points only. When presenters use fully written speeches, they tend to disconnect from the audience. Have you noticed how these types of speakers make less eye contact and lack enthusiasm? Read your speech and write only the main points on your palm cards. This will force you to talk around the points, which will sound more natural when you are presenting. Palm cards are a small, but crucial element to winning public speaking!
9. Make eye contact
We present to inform or convince others of what we are saying. Without making a connection with the audience, such as through eye contact, you will struggle to win them over to your way of thinking. When you make eye contact with someone, you are effectively showing them interest and respect. You are acknowledging that they are there. Everyone wants to feel noticed, so make sure that you look up and look at different people in the room throughout your presentation. Presenting is pointless without connection, so make sure to make regular eye contact with your audience!
10. Avoid fillers
Sentence fillers like ‘um’, ‘like’ and ‘uh’ are a big no-no when it comes to professional presentations. While it’s natural to use fillers when you’re a little nervous, try your best not to use them! Don’t be afraid to pause. The silence may be scary, but what’s scarier is how habits like fillers reduce your credibility. Avoiding fillers altogether may sound impossible now, but I promise it will get easier with practice. A professional presentation without sentence fillers will take it from high school level to TED talk level instantly!
11. Practice
They say practice makes perfect, and I couldn’t agree more. Since you’ve only got bullet points to rely on during your presentation and nerves will probably slow down your memory a little, you’ve got to practice, practice, practice until you know your content inside out. Aim to know your speech off by heart, if you can. When you’re confident about your content, it will show in your presentation. The best way to identify and resolve any issues before you hit the “stage” is to record yourself. You could record your voice, but a video recording is even better if you want a complete review of your verbal and non-verbal skills. The more you practice, the better chance you give yourself of making a great presentation!
12. Slow down
This point was touched upon in #4, but I think it deserves its own point. When nervous, we all have a tendency to speak quickly in order to get the thing over with, but is this going to do your content justice? Will your words have the same impact if they were presented at a slower, more even pace? I don’t think so. To help you slow down, breathe more. Use your pauses effectively. A pause can even add dramatic effect to your words. If your voice is a bit shaky, speaking slower will make you seem more confident. Slowing down will improve the impact of your speech, if only because it allows everyone to hear all of your points!
13. Use your face
If you’ve ever watched a presentation, you will know that the best speakers vary their facial expressions to reinforce what they are saying and to maintain the audience’s attention. Those whose facial expressions are fixed can seem uninteresting or nervous. If you seem overly nervous, your audience will pick up on this and believe that you aren’t confident in what you are saying. To them, it may appear that you don’t know what you are talking about or that you don’t believe in what you’re “selling”. If they think this, you’ve lost them! To avoid this, think about how you would naturally express yourself. As an example, when asking a question, you may raise your eyebrows. If you tell a joke, you may smile when you reach the punchline. If you would like more information, click here. Make this your Oscar-winning performance. It doesn’t have to be dramatic, but it does have to make an impact. Your facial expressions are part of what makes a powerful presentation!
14. Wear something that is comfortable and boosts your confidence
How do you feel when you stand up in front of others? I think I can imagine. Physically, you’ll probably sweat more, redden and feel a tightness, particularly in your throat or stomach. Psychologically, you may feel hyperaware of everyone’s eyes on you. You may feel like people are judging you or what you’re wearing, which could lead to self-doubt and zap your confidence. To combat this, I suggest wearing something that makes you feel confident, professional and comfortable. Avoid clothing that is tight or heavy. You will probably feel uncomfortable to begin with and sweat a little more than usual simply due to nerves. Don’t enhance this with heavy or uncomfortable clothing. Wearing something that makes you feel good should enhance your confidence and lead to a more successful presentation!
15. Inject personality into your presentation
What you say is important, but how you appear to others is equally important. Humans are more likely to say they like someone because they are nice, rather than because they are smart. You aren’t a robot. Connections are built when you show a little of your true self to others, so to truly connect, add a little bit of your unique personality to your presentation. Try adding a joke, a personal anecdote or even a unique demonstration. The options are limitless. Give the audience a taste of who you are and you will be remembered. Let your personality shine through to make your presentation stand out!
While public speaking may be your greatest fear, it is possible to conquer your fear and improve your skills. Successful public speaking does not have to perfect, nor does it have to be nerve-free. The key is to be thoroughly prepared, to control your verbal and non-verbal signals, to make your presentation unique and to practice as much as possible. Putting these secrets into practice will help you to deliver the best presentation that you can.
What will you be focusing on to improve your next presentation? Let me know in the comments below. Want to stay connected? Subscribe and get sent new blog posts by email. For even more inspiration and advice, follow @empoweredmillennialgirl on Instagram.
Best of luck!
Grace x
