Public Speaking Tips: Dos and Don’ts To Be An Effective Speaker
Here is a quick checklist to start you on your journey to be an effective speaker.
Do:
Know your material. Believe in your expertise and your message.
Practice your presentation until you own it and it becomes part of you.
Know where you are speaking – the venue and the layout. Are you speaking from a stage or is at a boardroom or meeting room.
Make time to get to know your audience – turn them into a room of friends rather than strangers.
Use positive self-talk – believe that everyone in the room wants you to succeed. Tell yourself and believe that you are energetic, enthusiastic, awesome, in control and confident and you will be.
Be passionate about your subject. If you are passionate and real and share that passion then your audience will go with you on your journey.
Involve the audience in your presentation – engage with the audience and your audience will engage with you. The same holds true when speaking to clients and to your staff.
Use the Power of Silence – a pause to allow the audience to process the highlights of your presentation is powerful. Give the audience time to reflect when you ask a question.
Use every opportunity to step up and speak – the more you speak the more familiar you become with speaking the more confidence and clarity you will have about your message, your business and you.
Remember to add body language to enhance your verbal message. Remember people will often believe the non-verbal over the verbal if there is disconnect between them. Make sure what you do with your hands, how you walk, your eye contact is congruent with your message.
Don’t:
Let limiting beliefs stop you from speaking up about your message, your business, your book, your product.
Listen to those negative voices that say You can’t, You aren’t, No-one will, What makes you, Who are you.
Apologise when presenting – if you leave out something in presentation or you forget your words. The audience doesn’t know what you are going to say or what order you are going to say it. When you apologise you are bringing their attention to an issue they probably never even noticed. Just smile and continue.
Miss an opportunity because you haven’t prepared by getting speaking skills. When you have speaking skills you are ready to reach for those opportunities.
Learn your presentation word for word – as soon as you forget that next word you will forget the rest of the presentation that follows. Prepare your presentation and then reduce to dot points or concepts that you can then speak to.
Speak overtime – you know the timing for your presentation keep to it. Going over is a lack of respect for your audience, fellow speakers and the organisers.
