Many people have never attended a public speaking class, but they dread public speaking. Here are a few tips for overcoming your fears.
The best way to start off your speech is to prepare your material. Prepare as much information as you can about the subject that you will be speaking about. If you already know the subject, this will make the experience much more manageable and easier to face.
The first nervous or anxious moment should be the opening statement. Your opening statement should give your audience the feeling that you are very confident about the topic that you will be addressing. It should make them feel comfortable with you before they have even had a chance to think about what to expect from your speech.
An excellent way to get your audience to feel at ease is to try to use humor at the beginning of your speech. Humor is very effective in overcoming your anxiety and it also makes people feel better about listening to your speech.
A very simple way to calm yourself down before you speak is to visualize a scene or event that you wish to experience. Think of everything that goes along with the scene. This will help you get rid of your anxiety and is a great way to distract yourself from the horrible fear that you may be having.
Most people find that it is best to start practicing your speech at home before they actually go on stage. Once you begin, practice a few times and then practice some more. Make sure that you remain patient and never rush through the practice. Your speech will come along way quicker this way.
It may seem like too much extra time spent is useless, but it actually saves you a lot of unnecessary worries. You may have to devote a few hours of your day during the preparation process. If you feel as though you have practiced enough, go on to the actual speech!
Practicing your speech in front of a mirror may help you see things clearly. See what looks good and what does not when speaking to an audience.
You want to be able to feel comfortable and relaxed when you are reading your whole speech to the audience. No matter how perfect you think your speech may sound, do not tell anyone that you are perfect. Instead, encourage them to tell you if they can improve anything in your speech.
Your speech should begin with a warm-up statement and thank you. You should end the speech with the same warm-up statement. This will help get your listeners to relax and then give them a good sense of relaxation.
Remember that there are many people who do not want to attend public speaking classes because they think that there is no use in attending such a class. That’s completely wrong.
