You’re probably feeling a little nervous about your upcoming speech or presentation. It’s okay! Public speaking can be daunting, but taking some time to prepare and knowing what to expect will help you feel more confident as you address your audience.
Preparation is key tom public speaking.
Knowing the audience is important, but it’s not enough. You also need to know what they want to hear. If you are giving a presentation or speech, find out if there are any assigned topics that should be covered in your talk. If not, consider what would be of most interest to them based on their industry and role within it (e.g., executives vs employees).
Know the format of your event and venue before arriving at it–this will help you prepare for any unexpected changes during your time on stage or in front of an audience
Prepare your speech in advance.
The most important thing to do is to prepare your speech in advance. If you have time to plan out what you want to say and practice it, then that’s great! You can also ask someone else who will be listening (like a friend or family member) if they would mind hearing their feedback on the content of your presentation. If they are willing to help out with this, it will make them feel like part of the process and encourage them not only because they are helping but also because they’ll know that what they say will matter when it comes time for finalizing decisions about how things should go down during public speaking events.
If possible, record yourself while rehearsing so that later on when reviewing content from past presentations/speeches/etc., there won’t be any surprises regarding how well-thought out everything sounds coming from inside one person’s head instead two ears being able hear exactly how confident another person sounds before actually presenting themselves publicly.”
Research your topic.
Before you start, it’s important to understand the topic from a variety of angles. You should know what the topic is about, but also why it matters to your audience.
Knowing your audience will help you tailor your speech to their needs and interests. For example: if you are speaking at an innovation conference, then it would make sense to talk more about how innovation has shaped society in recent years and less about how innovation can help people succeed at work.
Know your audience.
There are many ways to prepare for a public speaking engagement. One of the most important is knowing your audience. Before you present, take time to learn as much as possible about the people who will be listening.
- What do they know? What can they relate to?
- Are they familiar with your topic or subject matter? If not, how can you make it more accessible and interesting for them? For example: If I’m speaking at an event where most attendees have no background in technology but are interested in learning more about it–a typical scenario for me–I might spend time explaining what coding is before diving into my presentation on “How To Write Code.”
- What do they want from this presentation or topic area? Do they expect something specific from the speaker(s) at hand (e.g., information/data) or would they rather hear stories/anecdotes related back through experience rather than facts alone (e.,g., “I used X tool when working on Y project”).
Have a plan for questions.
Questions are a part of every presentation. You should be prepared for them and have answers ready in case someone asks you something difficult or unexpected.
- Know who you’re talking to: The audience is not a monolithic group, but rather a collection of individuals with different interests, knowledge levels and personalities. Some people may be more interested in the technical aspects of what you’re saying; others may just want to know how they can apply it in their lives outside work; still others might have no idea what “cloud computing” even means! For example, if I’m presenting on cloud computing at an IT conference where most attendees are software engineers who use large-scale systems every day, then I would spend some time explaining basic concepts like virtualization first before diving into details about security concerns or performance issues related specifically with cloud infrastructure deployments (which might seem obvious if you’ve worked with these technologies before). On the other hand if I were giving my talk at Salesforce World Tour where everyone works as salespeople selling CRM solutions from companies like Microsoft Dynamics 365 then maybe instead focus more on showing demos than explaining how things work behind scenes.
Practice your speech aloud and visualize success.
Practicing your speech aloud will help you to develop a rhythm, tone and flow. It will also give you the opportunity to make sure that the content of your presentation is easy for people to understand. Additionally, practicing in front of others can be an excellent way to build confidence because it allows us all to see how well (or not) we are doing at speaking publicly.
You might want some feedback on how well your speech is going so far as well as advice on how best improve it before presenting it at an event or conference. You could ask someone who has experience giving presentations or public speaking whether they would be willing help out by listening through their own ears rather than yours – this way they can give objective advice based purely on what they hear rather than personal opinions about what works best for them personally when delivering speeches themselves!
Don’t hide behind notes; use them as a guide, not crutches.
Notes are a useful tool to help you remember the main points of your speech. However, they should not be used as crutches; instead, use them as a guide for what to say and how to say it.
If you need to use notes during your presentation, make sure they are neat and easy to read!
Speak slowly and intentionally, pausing before and after main points will improve your public speaking.
Speaking slowly and deliberately is the best way to ensure that you’re speaking with confidence. When you speak quickly, it’s easy for your mind to wander off track; when you slow down, you have time to consider what you want to say next, which helps keep your thoughts organized.
It’s also important to pause after each main point in order for listeners’ brains time process what they just heard and prepare themselves for what comes next. This will help them pay more attention when listening rather than getting distracted by other things going on around them (or even their own thoughts).
Use eye contact with audience members to show them you’re speaking to them directly, not at them in general. This can help you connect with the audience on a personal level and make them feel more engaged in what you’re saying!
Eye contact with audience members is a powerful way to connect with them on a personal level and make them feel engaged in what you’re saying.
This is especially true if you’re presenting in front of an audience who doesn’t know each other very well or hasn’t met before, such as at a networking event or conference.
Being nervous about public speaking is okay but there are things you can do to help yourself become more confident before giving a speech or presentation
It’s okay to feel nervous. In fact, it’s normal! But there are things you can do before your speech or presentation that will help you feel more confident and less anxious.
- Don’t be afraid to be nervous: It’s normal for people who are giving a speech or presenting something in public for the first time to feel nervous about doing so. You don’t need to hide this from others or pretend that everything is fine when it isn’t because everyone gets butterflies in their stomachs sometimes and no one expects perfection from anyone else either (including yourself).
- Don’t think about what could go wrong: When we’re stressed out, our brains tend towards negative thoughts–that’s just how our brains work! So instead of worrying about what might go wrong during your presentation/speech, try focusing on all the good things that could happen instead like getting great feedback from attendees afterwards and having fun while talking with them afterward too? That way even if something does go wrong (and let me tell ya…), at least there was still some good stuff mixed into those moments as well!”
If you can follow these tips and get a little practice under your belt, then you’ll be well on your way to becoming a confident speaker and have another skill ticked off your professional development.