Public Speaking Understood

The first time I had to speak in public my heart pounded. The blood rushed to my head and I was sure I was going to faint. I have no idea what I said because my ears were ringing so loudly that I couldn’t hear my own voice. My knees and my voice shook to the same beat. When that endless three minutes was over, everyone in my class commented on how calm and relaxed I appeared!



Fear of speaking in front of a crowd is the thing most feared by people—greater than snakes, spiders or being shot at! The very idea of standing up in front of a room full of people leaves most of us speechless.

Before I conducted my first workshop I went to the bathroom and threw up. However, there are ways to allay those fears. With practice you can even become confident and relaxed at public speaking.



The following activities will help you gain the confidence you need to speak in public.

Practice, practice, practice. Public speaking gets easier every time you do it. Each opportunity helps build your confidence. That’s why we encourage children to become involved in public speaking from an early age.



Know what you are going to say. Have brief notes just to remind you. Choose topics you know something about. Research your topic so you feel confident that you know what you are saying. Being prepared will cut nervousness in half!



Don’t over-complicate the activity. If you try to make your speech too involved, you will lose yourself and your audience. Keep it short and sweet. If your topic is very wide e.g., gardening, shorten it to a specific focus: e.g., growing tomatoes in patio planters.

Find an audience: your mirror, your parents, your kids, the neighbors, colleagues at work. Use notes but don’t memorize. You don’t want to sound like a recording. You want your speech to be natural. You need to show your audience that you are interested and enthusiastic about your topic. Try videotaping yourself and looking at the tape. Do you look and sound natural?



Try to relax and infuse a little humor into your speech. This will relax both you and your audience. It’s okay to say, "Boy, am I nervous. There are so many of you and you all look so serious." If you make a mistake, admit it and laugh about it. Your audience will relax and laugh with you. Your audience wants you to do well!



Be positive. You are going to survive this experience. You are prepared. You have interesting things to share with the audience. They are going to love you!

Public speaking is the number one fear of people but it need not be. It’s never too late to build your confidence and slay the public speaking dragon.



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