Tip #318: 5 Tips To Overcome Your Public Speaking Jitters

Overcoming Your Public Speaking Fear Will Enhance Your Career.

Though very many people shudder at the thought of public speaking, it is one of the best ways to enhance your career. And, in the business world, something every businessperson will have to deal with at some point or another. Instead of spending all your time sweating bullets, try taking your mind off the stress and worry by focusing on the five tips listed below.

5 Tips For Conquering The Fear Of Public Speaking:

Tip #1. Know Your Topic - The first thing you should do when approaching a public speaking presentation is get excited about your topic. Enthusiasm can be a powerful, driving force. What helps build enthusiasm, as well as a great deal of confidence, is learning about your topic until you know it inside and out. Enthusiasm, confidence and knowledge are the keys to combating public speaking fears.

Tip #2. Outline Your Speech - Even if you know all there is to know about your presentation topic, effectively communicating that information with good order, structure and flow might not be easy to do on the fly. Take the time to prepare accordingly. Draw out an outline with bulleted items to use as a loose guideline for your presentation's structure. Make sure all its components fit together nicely and logically.

Tip #3. Strike A Balance - In this case, a balance between having memorized your presentation and using bullet points as a jumping off point. On one hand, you do not want to come off sounding pre-recorded or overly rehearsed. But on the other hand, you do not want to struggle and stumble reaching for bits and pieces of information.

Tip #4. Get In Some Practice - Do a dry run of your presentation to help iron out any wrinkles. Use a friend, a family member or a peer as a test audience. It also helps to record yourself and listen to the recording later. Keep a pen handy, as you may want to note use of speech disfluencies - "ums," "likes" and "ahs." These are notorious credibility killers. Awareness will help minimize their appearances.

Tip #5. Engage The Audience - 50% of all presentations fall flat because a speakers just stands before their audience and runs through the presentation at full speed. Loosen up and have fun. Be conversational. Be natural. Speak slowly, articulate yourself, use emphasis and stress certain words. Remember, public speaking is just another form of conversation.

Executive Summary: The best weapon in your arsenal to combat the fear of public speaking is confidence. And really, confidence isn't all that hard to build up. The smartest thing you can do to help build confidence in preparation for public speaking is do your homework - research your topic until you are a relative expert. From there, just try to practice public speaking a handful of times to get used to how it feels to talk about your topic.