20 tips for public speaking and presentation skills

Whether it is your first time speaking in public or your 100th, a lecture at a university study day or a school project, if list of speakers included some very successful people in the field whom you admire or if it’s just you, well-prepared or not, public speaking can be daunting. Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are 20 proven tips for public speaking that teach you how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:

1. Watch The Masters

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If you are going to present a speech or presentation in the future, get started to refer what make successful public speakers so successful and what you can learn from them. Take note their styles, habits, and small postures, movements and keep them in mind as good examples!

2. Fix Up, Look Sharp

If you have to perform a formal presentation, then need to handle on the importance of personal grooming. The better you look, the more professional and ready you will feel. There are a lot of people who are looking at you, so make sure that you will look your best.  tips for public speaking for girls

3. Hello, Room. Nice To Meet You

If possible, you can check the space of the room that you are going to present in. Whether it is a large football stadium or a big conference room? Go to the facility early to make sure you are comfortable in the surroundings. Check the microphone, lighting, audio/visual equipment, and any other factors that may affect your performance. Meet the audience members as they arrive, this is a great way to build rapport and a captive audience.

4. Know Your Material

This is considered as one of the main tips for public speaking that decides the success of your presentation. If you present about the topic that you had good preparation, then you can take control of your presentation well. While going with the flow and being flexible is smart, trusting yourself to be brilliant without any prior preparation is something even the pros do not attempt. Just research about your topic and what you are going to say about it and how you will say it. The more you prepare, the more confident you will be up there.

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5. Practice, Practice, Practice

Practicing plays an important role presentation. “Practice makes perfect!” You simply cannot be a confident, compelling speaker without practice. If you present once, just try to go through the speech. Then read it again, and again. Practice in front of a mirror. You can practice to a friend or family member, or even to your dog. Whoever and whatever you can do to make your presentation better. Every time you go through your presentation, you are improving your presenting skills

6. Think Positive

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In fact, negative thinking will get you nowhere but down in the dumps. If you actually think that you can do it and even do it well, you will be. If not, you probably fail. It is as simple as that.

7. Define Your Audience

Before presenting, you should determine what kind of your audience is. It means that if they are colleagues, they might need to learn something from you. If they are your friends, they need something fun. And, if it is a judge, well, he or she wants to be convinced by you. Just define who your audience is and modify your speech as the suitable way. Give them what they want!

8. Telling Stories

Tell stories. Paint word pictures that create images in the listeners’ minds. If they can see it they are more likely to understand and remember your message. The best public speakers are storytellers Use stories and anecdotes to illustrate and reinforce the main points of your presentation. Learn to master the skill of storytelling. Listen to newscasters, entertainers and other speakers.

9. Relax!

We are usually our own worst critics. If you meet trouble with your notes, it is doubtful anyone will know. If you skip forward to the next image on the projector by mistake, no one is going to run you out of town. Do not worry. It is not life or death; it is just a speech. If you want to find a great way to relax easily, check the guide of sculptations and the re-awakening book out.

10. Do Not Read Your Speech  

Look your audience in the eye. Write down key points or statements so you can refer to them, but deliver the rest of it spontaneously making eye contact. Practice with a tape recorder or in front of friends and family. After every point, ask yourself, “Who cares?” If no one does, omit it. If you want to enhance your social confidence fast, do not overlook this e-book of social confidence secrets tips for public speaking and presentation skills

11. Slow Your Roll

You should absolutely not speak like a lightning-fast talker because it is one of the biggest indicators of nervousness. If you master in some field or have the best speech that you have ever written, people cannot understand what you are saying if you speak too fast. You should try to speak at a normal, even slightly slower pace once you are speaking in public.

12. Go On, Be Funny!

Who does not like to laugh a little? You do not need to be a comedian, but a few lighthearted comments can help humanize you to your audience. Win them over with a smile and a well-timed clever remark, if you can. But be advised, too many jokes can weaken the validity of a presentation

If you want to discover secrets on how to improve public speaking & presentation skills, you should read The Art of Public Speaking book

13. Your Errors Are Okay

Every public speaker makes mistakes! If you hate that reality (and even if you don’t), You will slip up while speaking. You will mis-pronounce a word, give the incorrect number to an item in a list, say uhm, or do any of a dozen other things that are considered faults. Whenever they happen, ignore them. Do not pause in response, do not apologize for them, do not correct yourself. If you keep going without acknowledging a mistake, you minimize the amount of time the audience has to recognize it, process it as a mistake, and make a judgment based on it. Get ready to recover. You should refer the guide of easy calm to learn how to keep calm when meeting troubles while presenting.

14. Keep It Short, Please

Even the president’s State of the Union Address is only around an hour. Know what’s expected of you and deliver that – and no more. We have all been tortured by a speaker who goes on and on, caring little for the audience’s interest or comfort level. Do not be one of those speakers – always leave them wanting more.

15. Decide Whether An Icebreaker Is Appropriate  

Ice-breakers work for some and not for others. Unless you are exceptionally charming, it’s important that any attention-grabbing anecdotes are relevant to the talk. Any offbeat attention-getters need to vary if there is a chance of audience overlap tips for public speaking for women

16. Fake It ‘Til You Make It

The old saying “fake it ’til you make it” is really quite good advice in this case. Even if you have no confidence or experience, try acting like you do. The longer you fake it, the more comfortable it will feel.

17. Keep The Visuals Simple

If you are showing something on a screen, one idea per slide or overhead is about right. Avoid complicated slides/overheads. Do not show pictures of things you do not intend to explain. Lead your audience through diagrams, even if you think they are simple.

18. Body Language 

This is a key factor in presenting. You must combine this with above tips for public speaking if you want to be a master of presenting. Standing, walking or moving about with appropriate hand gesture or facial expression is preferred to sitting down or standing still with head down and reading from a prepared speech. Use audio-visual aids or props for enhancement if appropriate and necessary. Master the use of presentation software such as PowerPoint well before your presentation. Do not over-dazzle your audience with excessive use of animation, sound clips, or gaudy colors which are inappropriate for your topic. Do not torture your audience by putting a lengthy document in tiny print on an overhead and reading it out to them. You can refer the book of quantum confidence with tmm, the ultimate self esteem formula, and social anxiety solutions to get more tips for creating a successful presentation.

19. Maintain Sincere Eye Contact

Use the 3-second method, e.g. look straight into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. Have direct eye contact with a number of people in the audience, and every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved. tips for public speaking nervousness

20. Gain Experience

Mainly, your speech should represent you – as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment. If you are a woman, you can learn this guide of your feminine voice to make your voice more attractive to audience. Well, the process of learning tips for public speaking might require from you much effort, time as well as patience. I hope that you the tips for public speaking introduced in this article will be useful to you. If you are interested in the post, we are open to welcome any discussion or debate about this subject. Leave your comments at the end of this post to let us know what you think. We appreciate your contribution and will answer all as soon as possible.

If you want to discover secrets on how to improve public speaking & presentation skills, you should read The Art of Public Speaking book

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