Introduction
The greatest fear known to man second only to the fear of death is the act of speaking to an audience. Some people would rather die than attempt it. Be rest assured that once you know how to do it many doors of opportunity hitherto shut on your face, swings wide open.
You become proficient when you practice any thing you do. You fail to try out new things because it is human nature to fear when you have no experience. To master any activity, field or endeavour, you must practice to drive away fear. Within a short time, the experience you acquired through practising will build confidence and mastery. After which you can even be awakened in the middle of the night and still perform without blinking. Let’s begin.
What is public speaking?
It is an art or the skill of making an audience think your thoughts. It is the God given ability to you as a leader to bring and hold followers close to you. It is the power to persuade and hold spellbound. It is the power to sway men and lead them to do whatever you command.
How to create an attitude of fearlessness
Every human being fears something they have never done before. You fear because you take yourself too seriously. You fear because of other numerous reasons below:
* Worrying about audience rating
You are anxious about how the audience will rate you. You are worried about what you are saying, whether you sound right, the pitch of your voice, whether the audience like you or not.
All these are legitimate worries but to be able to deliver a good speech you must expel those negative thoughts and replace them with positive ones. Believe that the audience like you, that they see you as an expert in the subject you are giving a talk on. That they realise you are more knowledgeable in that area hence you are up there and they are part of the audience. So just face your talk.
* Lack of knowledge of the topic
You become afraid where you attempt to talk about what you do not have much knowledge about. It is only natural that you feel overwhelmed. The solution to this problem is preparation. Know the topic in totality.
* Lack of practice
Lack of practice will put you on the spot causing you to break out in cold sweat even when you are knowledgeable in the area you are speaking on. Your mind becomes so jumbled you will wish you never accepted the task of giving the talk. The only cure for this malady is practice. Practice and organise your talk.
* Memorising
When you memorize the topic, be ready for a disaster if in the middle of the talk you loose the train of thought. Never memorise your talk. Though you can memorise some portion of your topic, it is always better to have summary of your speech. List your ideas in bullet points and practice them long enough it becomes easy to speak on each point naturally.
* Self criticism
When you are openly too critical of yourself as if you lack the knowledge and expertise in the topic, you set yourself up for a fall. Don’t belittle your capacity at all. Assume expert knowledge. Moreover you know enough for you to be the one speaking and your audience the ones listening.
* Audience fright
Imagine you are talking to one person at a time. Select a face you like its appearance and address that face. At intervals pan the audience then pick that face again.
Do not be overwhelmed by the sea of heads and eyes. Most of them are on your side. They are not critical of you moreover they cannot cross over to where you are.
To reduce this fright, come early and mingle with the crowd. Pick some faces amongst them you will address when you mount the podium. You can also run to the stage with great speed to increase blood flow in your system or take deep breath hold it and count up to ten before exhaling. Repeat this ten times as you approach the podium to dispel the rush of energy in your system.
* Break Monotony
Speak slowly and increase your pitch and tone as you go along. Modulate your tone to show excitement, question, a pause or sadness. Let your tone and mannerism display what you are saying. Don’t just stand there to deliver a blank lifeless speech. You are an actor. Enter into the speech and demonstrate the import of what you are saying with great zest. Deliver the speech with a blast and make it memorable for the audience.
* Rigidity
Do not stay transfixed in a place. Do not grip the lectern as if your life depended on it. Move about slowly but not far from the audience. As you speak pan their faces. Never turn your back on them.
Cut off unusual speech mannerisms like eh, you know, that is, eh, em, umm, I mean, you know etc. Just act naturally and do not fidget.
Conclusion
Speaking is just like any other vocation if you have the passion and the determination to become a good speaker you can. All you have to do is to practice by speaking at various occasions, birthday parties of friends, family celebrations, joining your local church assembly as a Sunday school teacher. Offer to speak for free in marriage ceremonies, prize giving day in Schools until you become better and feel less self conscious.
If you want to increase your speaking proficiency, you might consider enrolling in a finishing school or speaker’s academy like Toast Masters International for wider exposure.
Whatever you do, once you begin never quit. You will soon become better at delivering speeches and feel less self conscious if you keep practicing.
No comments:
Post a Comment