Speak with confidence and influence audiences

The ability to give a speech is one of the most valued business skills today. And yet, most managers say that giving a speech is their greatest fear. So, if you are nervous or worried about your speaking skills, you are not alone. However, once you are fully aware of how to prepare for a talk, how to sound good, and how to look professional, you will become less nervous and will start to appreciate the art of public speaking. Add confidence factor to the mix, you need never fear a speech or a media interview again.

Is public speaking a gift that you’re born with? Personally, I do not think so. It is the skill of expressing your thoughts, convictions and ideas in an orderly manner, to an audience, so as to interest and convince them about a particular subject.

Notice first of all, that it is a skill. This means that it can be acquired and with practice, it can be improved. Practice is the key activity here. Can you imagine reading every book you can about swimming and then expecting to represent your country at the Olympics? Well you can’t read about speaking to an audience and expect to be good at it either. You have to acquire and practice the skill.

Do you have to be brilliant to succeed as a public speaker? Not necessarily. The essence of making presentations is that your audience walks away with something of value. You don’t necessarily have to be brilliant, witty or perfect to deliver a presentation. Admittedly, these qualities might help, especially if you want to make a career of speaking to people. Essentially what you

Murray Walker, a wellknown commentator used to run on the spot as fast as he could just before he went on air. You could try that, or run up and down the stairs. Wave your arms about like a lunatic and get lots of oxygen into your system. Obviously it’s better to do this when no one is looking!

need is to be clear on your purpose for speaking and that it adds value to your audience.

Tips to overcome nervousness

Let me give you a few tips to get over your nervousness and to develop confidence while speaking.

Listen

Strangely, the first step to being a good speaker is to start by being a good listener. Before you meet your audience, do your research and rehearse what you are going to say. Play the content of your speech over in your head, write it down, or say it aloud to people whose opinion you trust.

Next, learn about your audience. Understand their backgrounds and why they are here to listen to you. While you are addressing them, watch them and look out for their body language. Are they attentive or bored? Engage the audience by asking questions and interact with them. Be judicious with eye contact – do not stare too long at a particular member of the audience because it can make some listeners uncomfortable and distracted.

Be sincere

There’s a saying among the Toastmasters community: “Say what you mean and mean what you say.” It means ‘tell the truth’ and ‘keep your word’. Have something to say and believe in what you are saying. When you take your place before your audience, make a commitment to yourself that the next 10 or 20 minutes will make a difference to them, and to you. Your content, form and articulation must reflect this commitment.

Keep it brief

Brevity is more than the soul of wit. Being brief means more than keeping your speech short – it extends to keeping the components of your speech digestible. Use shorter words and words with fewer syllables. Speak in a language everyone can understand and yet don’t sacrifice the beauty of the language.

Be confident

If you are carrying notes to aid your memory, make sure you read them well before you get up to the lectern. Your audience will be distracted if you stop and peer at your notes, or if you look distractedly at your watch. Your body language should reflect confidence and poise. If your speech requires the use of a slide-show or a Powerpoint deck, make sure your audience focuses on you – the presenter – and not the screen – the presentation aid. Your presentation aid should enhance your speech and not the other way round.

Display and describe

Illustrate your points by telling your audience stories. However, don’t stop at just telling your listeners what you think. Show them. Illustrate your points with anecdotes (or, if you are using presentation aids, charts and pictures). Use concrete images, not abstract ones. Relate to your audience and use terms of reference that it is familiar with. Martin Luther King’s famous ‘I had a dream’ speech was simple, free-flowing and easy to understand. Yet, it was rich in metaphor and packed with power to rouse people to action. No wonder it is richly quotable today.

Develop your own style

As a speaker, you must train yourself to develop originality and panache. Watch a lot of speakers in action, emulate their best practices and assimilate them into your repertoire. Adopt an open, welcoming and friendly posture. Sprinkle a generous sense of humour but stay within the boundaries of context, relevance and good taste. If you are uncomfortable with certain words or phrases, conquer them first. Learn to say them correctly and make use of them more often in your speeches. It’s a matter of time before you are bubbling with confidence and ready to make speeches impromptu.

Be sparing with gestures

I would not place great emphasis on hand gestures. If gestures feel natural to you they will quite probably look natural. If you are going to use hand gestures they must be an integral part of your thought processes and relate to what you are saying.

Gestures should not distract from what you are saying: They should be used to emphasise the importance of what you are saying or to let your audience know how you feel about what you have to say. My advice is to be sparing with gestures and examine if they are actually connected with what you are thinking and feeling.

Holding your hands together can often defuse the awkwardness you may sometimes feel.

Getting a prop can also help – a sheet of paper, your glasses if you wear them or a pen (but (for goodness sake) don’t click the pen! That will irritate your audience.)

The walk to success

In today’s world, effective public speaking skills are treasures to behold. They can pave the way for you to gain recognition and success, especially in sales and business. Whether it be a sales pitch to a group of executives, a speech to hundreds of your own employees, or a talk at a conference, public speaking is part of the walk to success.

Public speaking is still one of our greatest fears; it turns grown men and women into nervous wrecks. Nervousness is vital, you need nerves. Nerves release a cocktail of chemicals into your blood stream, one of which is adrenaline. This in turn releases glucose into the blood stream. This gives you more energy and your mind becomes sharper. The thing is, not to overdose on these stress chemicals or you’ll start to shake like a jelly and overheat.

Murray Walker, a well-known commentator used to run on the spot as fast as he could just before he went on air. You could try that, or run up and down the stairs. Wave your arms about like a lunatic and get lots of oxygen into your system. Obviously it’s better to do this when no one is looking!

Of course, the most critical factor in facing your audience is to ‘Act confident’. People won’t see how nervous you are. (They can’t tell if your palms are sweating or your knees are knocking or your heart is pounding.) So, don’t tell them. Smile. Stick your chest out. Look confident, even if you don’t feel it. Within minutes, you’ll begin to sail smooth.