Roland Millward

Archive for March, 2010

Does the very thought of standing before an audience cause you to break out in a sweat, for your legs to shake, your stomach to churn and your mind to go blank?

Don’t worry!

This is a normal reaction for nearly every person on earth when they are asked to speak in public.

How can you control your nerves so that you are able to speak to an audience no matter how large or small? Firstly note that I did not say ‘how to overcome your nerves or how not to have any nerves’. Being nervous is natural and we must be realistic that even the most experienced and proficient speakers can be nervous. This is never a bad thing because being nervous will prevent you from becoming complacent, nerves will keep you sharp and help you focus on doing a good job.

Here are some tips to help you to take control of your nerves and enjoy public speaking.

Preparation

When ever you have a talk to give make sure that you are well prepared. Know your material and understand every aspect of it even on matters that you are not necessarily going to talk about. Presumably you are giving the talk because you know more about the subject than your audience and therefore you must display confidence. A lack of preparation can leave you feeling nervous before you start so do not skimp on getting the knowledge right.

Practice

Once you have prepared what you are going to say you need to practice it. When you practice imagine that you are at the actual venue and that you have an audience if front of you. Some people find it helpful to practice before a mirror. If it helps once you are ready to deliver your talk deliver it to some friends or family members to give you that real audience feel. As you practice be sure to correct any errors that you have noticed or be prepared to lengthen or shorten the talk as required.

Breathing

Proper controlled breathing will help you be in control of your nerves. Take deep breaths and breathe out slowly. Practice breathing deeply in right to the bottom of your lungs and count slowly as you breathe out, gradually increasing the amount that you can count. Do this every day and you will find this really helpful in speaking.

Use Notes

Do not try to memorize a talk as if you forget a word or sentence you will find that you may lose control and disaster will strike. It is far better to have key thoughts and ideas only. Have a few brief notes to remind you what you want to talk about rather than individual words to use. This will also sound far more natural to your audience and as you have prepared your subject well you will have no difficulty in talking about it. You may find it helpful though to have the first sentence of two of your talk written down just to get you off the starting blocks, however don’t read them just look at them before you speak.

The Introduction

Smile! Always, unless you are talking on something very sombre smile at the audience. They will usually smile back and this relaxes you.

When you are likely to be nervous design your introduction so that you can speak slowly and in a relaxed way. If you start off fast it can encourage your nerves to rise up and you may continue speaking too fast! Use slow deliberate expressions with some good pauses for effect.

Eye Contact

Nervous speakers often believe that if they don’t look at the audience they will be more relaxed. This is a myth! Find a friendly face and look at that person for just a sentence of two and then move on to another working your way all around the audience. Don’t stare at anyone or look for too long as that may make them feel uncomfortable. Always believe that you are only speaking to one person at a time. Even if there are hundreds in attendance your talk should be to each individual and you will find that your audience will be more drawn to you and you in turn will be more relaxed as it will be like speaking to one friend at a time.

Gestures

A good technique to use is to gesture to express yourself and enhance your talk. Gesturing will also help you to relax so do practice gestures so that they become natural and move your body a little to help you feel that your muscles are not tight.

Just do it!

You will never control your nerves or become a good public speaker unless you do it! When you have the opportunity to speak take advantage and do so. In the meantime why not learn how to become a good speaker by attending a speakers course and reading books on the subject. With good coaching, encouragement and practice you will find that you are able to speak to an audience and control your nerves.

Please feel free to comment and let everyone know how you control your nerves.

Enthusiasm really is the life of a talk.

If you are not enthusiastic about your talk you have to ask ‘why should your audience be?’ How can you be enthusiastic? The first thing  is that you must be convinced that the subject you are speaking on is of value to your audience. If you aren’t then do not give the talk. When you prepare the talk select points that you will know are going to be appreciated by those to whom you are speaking. This quite often means that you may deliver a talk on the same subject in different ways to suit various audiences.

Showing Enthusiasm

How can you demonstrate your enthusiasm? One way is by being animated. You need to be alive in your facial expressions and your voice. Let your face do the talking with smiles, scowls and other expressions that will show that you are enthusiastic about your subject.

Your voice too should reflect your enthusiasm. Use pitch, power and pace to reflect that enthusiasm and keep in mind that enthusiasm is not simply about jumping around like a mad man! You will express yourself with words and feelings that give conviction, which can be serious, humourous, even sad.

With gestures and body movements you will also display your enthusiasm. A speaker standing still with his or her arms stuck by their side does little to generate enthusiasm even if their voice and face are animated. In a larger auditorium you may have to over emphasize your gestures a little so that they carry to the back row of the audience.

Appropriate Enthusiasm

Your level of enthusiasm needs to reflect your subject and audience. Some speakers go ‘over the top’ and appear to be full of themselves and hype. You want your enthusiasm to be both genuine and appear genuine and not like an actor fulfilling a role as a TV evangelist! Make sure that your talk contains peaks and troughs so that the audience can identify which points you are delivering and are most important. Your enthusiastic rises and falls in tempo will help them to listen to and retain what you are telling them.