Public Speaking: Learn to love it!

These days, it’s almost impossible to avoid having to make a speech or presentation in front of an audience at some time or other, and being able to speak confidently in public is one of the most useful skills anyone can acquire.

Public speaking has always been an integral part of many professions. If you’re a politician, a lawyer or a stand-up comedian, for example, you know that addressing a group – or even a crowd – is going to be a large part of what you do. However, more and more, speaking in public is becoming a routine requirement in all sorts of jobs in business and industry. And then there are the social speeches, such as at weddings and parties to celebrate a specific event. (If you're a best man, there's a dedicated page to help you prepare and deliver a speech to be proud of.)

It’s a well known fact that something like ninety percent of the population would rather die than speak in public. If you feel like this, or even just a bit nervous about standing up in front of a group, this website offers you advice and suggestions for how to overcome your worries and learn to love speaking in public.

Common fears about public speaking… and why they are generally unfounded

Why do we get so scared when faced with speaking in public? Perhaps it’s partly because everybody else seems to and we buy into the myth that public speaking is really scary. Actually, it can be fun. What are you afraid of?

I’m afraid of making a fool of myself

As we’ve already established, few people like speaking in public so, since it’s you up there and not them, the audience is likely to be favourably disposed to you. Unless it’s your brief to make them all redundant or something unpleasant like this, it’s easy to get the audience on your side.

You will only come away feeling you’ve made a fool of yourself if you have embarrassed your audience. If you’re not embarrassed, they won’t be embarrassed, so whatever happens, brazen it out!
Read more…

I’m afraid I’ll forget what I want to say

This is easily solved with practice and, if necessary, by using notes.
Read more…

I’m afraid I won’t be able to answer people’s questions

If you’ve prepared for all the questions you can think of and someone bowls you one you weren’t expecting, just be honest and say you don’t know but you’ll find out. If you don’t know, it’ll be obvious anyway, so be open about it. As long as you supply a good answer as soon as possible after the meeting, the audience can’t reasonably ask for more.
Read more…

I’m afraid people will be bored by my speech and get restless

If you learn some simple techniques, you can make your speech both interesting and memorable.
Read more…

I’m afraid people will judge my general competence by how good I am at public speaking

Although it shouldn’t be the case, this one does have an element of truth in it. The best thing you can do is hone your public speaking skills until they match and reflect your other talents.
Read more…