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A great number of Americans admit to fearing public speaking more than they fear death. Do you have a speech or presentation coming up? Whether for a large or small group; for work, school, or at a social event, here are some tips for a successful public-speaking outing.
Join a group
The group Toastmasters International aims to help people become comfortable with public speaking. Many groups meet weekly, and take turns giving prepared or impromptu speeches, or giving feedback on presentation, structure and grammar. Join a Toastmasters group in your community to gain confidence in your public speaking skills.
Know your material
Whether or not speaking in public actually makes you nervous, the best advice is still to come over-prepared. If you don't easily think on your feet when you're up in front of a crowd, you may want to write out your speech word for word.
Practice run-throughs are even more important if your speech is for academic purposes, and is timed. Make sure that have your most important points memorized, and that you know what you want to communicate about each of them.
Practicing your speech in front of a mirror can help you gauge your facial expressions and demeanor. Even if public speaking makes you nervous, you can use these practice sessions to relax your posture and adopt a friendly smile.
Utilize test subjects
While practicing on your own and in front of a mirror will help you recall your material and coach your body language, you may wish to engage a family member or two to act as audience members who can give you feedback on your presentation and your demeanor.
Practice making eye-contact with your test audience, even if it makes you feel silly. Give your speech enough times so that you are comfortable with the timing, and the material. Once you are finally up in front of your real audience, try to recall the relaxed feeling you had when presenting in your more comfortable setting.
Speak, don't read
You were engaged as a speaker, not a reader, so when your big moment arrives, don't read exclusively off your cue cards. One of the reasons you've practiced your speech so many times is that once you're in the big, intimidating setting that robs your brain of it's ability to process quickly, you can rely on rote memory to carry you through.
If the setting allows, bring cue cards or prompts on a sheet of paper to keep you on track, but try to rely on them as little as possible.
Find a friendly face
Now that you are force to look not at your paper or at the podium, where should you look? The crowd that is so intimidating as a whole can be taken one at a time. Pick out a few people in the crowd who are paying attention and alternate your attention between those individual people. Act as if you were delivering your presentation exclusively to the person with whom you are making eye-contact.
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