Never Feel Shy Anymore To Speak Publicly
Do These To Gain Confidence
If confidence could make you successful, everyone would be a successful speaker. Confidence is the key ingredient for many speakers who want to impact and connect deeply with their audience.
Confidence is a trait of character, but what does that mean? You can feel confident; you can speak with confidence, but what does that mean? Confidence is not a feeling so much as it is a state of mind. It is a combination of mental preparation and practice. You can feel confident with only a little amount of preparation. If you are shy naturally, try to read this article to get some tips to overcome shyness.
While some people may indeed be born with a natural sense of confidence, and some will have their confidence boosted by a successful experience, the majority of us must learn to develop it. There are several things to keep in mind that will help you become more confident in public speaking.
Practice
The key to doing anything well is practice. Practice your speech until it becomes second nature. The more often you say the speech in front of other people, the easier it will become. It may be annoying to have a room full of friends, family, and co-workers listening to you practice over and over again, but so what? It will pay off when you need it most.
When you’re nervous, you tend to repeat the same words over and over again. This is why speakers try to memorize their speeches. The more you know your speech by heart, the more confident you’ll feel when speaking. If you’re using an outline, practice saying each point, then expand upon it each time you re-read the text.
This may sound like a lot of work, but once a speech becomes second nature, it can be delivered without notes or any memorization at all. A well-practised speech will feel natural in front of an audience, and your confidence will show through as a result.
Recording yourself is also a good way to make sure you’re confident in your delivery. You can also watch the recordings to see if your eye contact needs work or any other areas you could work on.
Slow Down
The ideal rate of speech for public speaking is 190 words per minute. Try to speak at that pace without consciously thinking about it. It will help reduce tension in your body and will help you relax your voice more easily.
Slow down the rate of words you speak by counting the number of breaths in the sentence before you start speaking, then count the number of breaths in your response. At this speed, your audience will be able to hear your words easily, but not so easily that they will miss any part of what you say.
If you speak too fast, it is difficult to convey the meaning of your message. The audience can’t usually follow the message when you speak too quickly, especially for complex messages. If you slow down, as we have suggested, your audience will be able to understand everything that you say.
Insert Smile In Your Speech
Have you heard the adage that smiles are contagious? Well, that’s true for speakers as well. If you smile and your audience smiles, they will be more receptive to what you have to say. You’ll feel more like a leader, and people will gravitate towards you.
Try smiling the next time you speak in public. You might think it is awkward or false, but it will help relax your body and improve your delivery. Smiling can help reduce the stress levels in your body, making it easier for you to concentrate on what you’re saying instead of worrying about every word that comes out of your mouth. The smile also helps put your audience at ease, creating an atmosphere of cooperation and lessens defensiveness.
You will appear friendly, approachable, and composed. Your audience will begin to trust you almost immediately. They will find themselves paying closer attention to your message and will be much more likely to follow your ideas. Your body language will help you appear relaxed and confident.
That’s more than enough reason to make smiling part of your public speaking arsenal. You’ll feel more comfortable, your audience will feel more comfortable, and you’ll both benefit from the experience.
Use Silence As Your Advantage
What’s your biggest fear? Is it getting up in front of people to speak and holding their attention for a long period? Whatever your fear, try to remember that silence can be your biggest ally. Standing up in front of an audience and speaking is the terrifying thing they can imagine for many people. To them, the silence is terrifying because they don’t know what to say next. They feel like they have to fill the silence with idle chitchat or nervous laughter.
But, when you allow the silence to happen, you have a much greater chance of connecting with your audience. When you fill the silence with nervous chitchat, you have no idea what you’re saying, so your audience won’t either. Instead, pause a few beats. A brief moment of silence will allow the tension to melt away and give your words more credibility.
Speakers who try to impress their audience with their words are often the worst. They talk quickly, exaggerate to make themselves appear smarter and more knowledgeable than they are. The effect of this is that their audience loses interest and feels frustrated. Of course, this isn’t a conscious effort on the part of these speakers. They have never thought through what they are doing, so they don’t know how to stop it themselves.
But silence isn’t just for making you seem more intelligent. It can also help you become relaxed enough actually to connect with the audience. After all, when you’re nervous or excited, your voice will rise and fall with it, so it will be hard for the audience to understand you.
Final Thoughts
The key to success and becoming confident is not just knowing what to say but also knowing how to say it. Knowing how to get your audience to listen, and listen, is one of the most important ways to become confident in public speaking.
I hope this article was helpful.