For many people, public speaking is super scary. Those people need to know how to say confidently when delivering their speech in front of many people. There are two ways to overcome your public speaking fear. The first one is following many helpful tips on this page.
And the second way is to keep practicing. Public speaking itself is talking in front of so many people to entertain, persuade, or educate the listeners. Many things are included in formal public speeches and informal public speeches. No matter what kind of speech you are going to deliver, learn some tips here.
Tips On How To Say A Speech Confidently
For so many people, public speaking is something to struggle with. If you are one of those people, then you need to start small. You must gain experience in various situations with low pressure like speaking in front of a smaller group. If you want some more tips, below are some things that will help you.
1. Know the audience first
To gain confidence, you need to finish your preparation. Many people who are able to embrace the stage and deliver a great speech have several predetermined points to say. In large part, the way you deliver your points should be determined by the audience.
Before outlining the speech, you need to ask yourself what the members of your audience want to know. This way, you’ll attract them and make them focus on you.
2. Visualize your success
You may worry about failure even before public speaking starts. It is okay, this is natural. But keep in mind that negative thoughts will increase your nerves. The best way to outsmart this is by visualizing yourself in a quiet park.
This is going to help you feel relaxed and ready to deliver your speech. Don’t think about your audience and the number of the audience before you step onto the stage.
3. Prepare a visual aid
In many formal speaking situations, some public speakers usually use visual aids that will help them deliver a presentation that is much more effective. You can also highlight some key points in the PowerPoint slideshow. This is an excellent way to help the audience remember the points.
Some other visual aids such as photos, videos, graphs, and charts are also excellent ways to add extra context to your speech’s information.
4. Add some personal anecdotes
Another way to say confidently is by communicating effectively, especially during the speech. This means you need to engage your audience. You can do this by inserting yourself into the talking points. This way, you will let the audience see that you mean everything you say.
5. Look at your audience
If you are speaking in front of a super large crowd, it is crucial to look over the eye line of the crowd. This way, your audience will believe that you’re looking at everyone. Moreover, you will also get personal comfort since you don’t have to remember the daunting size of the crowd.
If you are speaking in front of a smaller crowd, find some persons who make direct eye contact and hang on to every word you say. Speak to those people and you will feel more confident in delivering your speech. Ignore some people who look at their phones since they will distract you too.
6. Write down the bullet points only
Don’t write down every single word of your speech and read the prepared script. This will make your speech doesn’t sound genuine. It is much better to address your audience directly. Even though you won’t read the speech from a paper, you won’t speak confidently if you deliver a memorized speech.
The best way to deliver your speech confidently is by preparing index cards with some bullet points. Those cards will be the most effective tools that can help you remember some big ideas of the speech.
7. Keep your speech simple
There is no need to impress many people with extraordinary sentence structure. Keep your audience engaged by using short phrases as well as quick and snappy stories. Your audiences always have attention spans that are super limited. A short speech allows your audience to catch the points.
8. Try to eliminate verbal tics
Some people use filler phrases and words like um, like, and you know. You need to pay attention to the speech patterns you are going to deliver. Film yourself practicing your speech and you will see which verbal tendencies you don’t want to bring to the stage.
Perfect your enunciation and dictions by keep practicing. It is going to be worth it when you stand on the stage and start speaking for the audience.
9. Use body language
A friendly smile and good posture will work wonderfully to engage the audience. Instead of hiding behind your podium, try to move when you start speaking. Walking around while using hand gestures will create energy and hold the attention of your audience.
If you keep practicing and following the nine tips above, you will be able to say confidently and deliver your speech in a much better way.