Public speaking is a highly resourceful skill that very few individuals possess. At its root, public speaking is a communication skills at the end of the day. People who are able to communicate with a large group of people in an effective manner are considered to be good public speakers. If you are a student looking for study help then you should check out the online course takers available at various online platforms.
Public speaking is almost a basic necessity at offices across the globe. Since it’s such an important part of professional life, students are prepared for public speaking at their academic institutes. If you are a student then one of the finest skills to develop at college/university is public speaking. This skill can make you go a long way and can by all means significantly improve your academic performance. Here are ten ways through which you can significantly improve your public speaking skills.
1- Prepare Well
As is the case with any task that one wants to perform well, make sure that you are doing the right preparations. When it comes to preparation for public speaking, one can highlight various types of preparations in this section. Although, at the most basic level you should make sure that you have developed a good grasp over all the ideas that you will be sharing in the talk. The worst thing you can do that will definitely sabotage a public speaking session is the act of preparing halfheartedly. Your talk will end up becoming extremely unconvincing for the audience if you have not prepared well.
2- Know Your Audience
A public speaking session belongs to the audience first and foremost. No matter how much fun the speaker might be having, it is the audience’s reaction that decides a speech’s success or failure. You can analyze the process of stand-up comedians for this matter. Stand-up comedians are always quite aware of the crowd they are performing for. Since a crowd of middle-class Americans will react in a different way in comparison to let’s say a crowd of British elites. Make sure that you are aware of your crowd/audience and their collective attributes.
3- Fear is Your Friend
The most common mistakes a lot of people make when it comes to public speaking are that they cave-in at the very last moments due to the fear. Fear or nervousness is only going to sabotage your performance if you let it do that. You have to treat fear as a friend because it is a scientifically proven fact that fear is a necessary human emotion that helps us survive. However, the catch is that fear can get seriously irrational if not taken under control. You have to realize how to turn your fear into constructive energy rather than a destructive one.
4- Keep a positive mindset
When we expect good things to happen, they generally end up happening. Why is that? Keeping a positive mindset provides our psyche with a sense of conviction that is quite appealing. You can practice keeping a positive mindset by keeping a journal in which you can jot down your thoughts. Some other ways to trigger a positive mindset are exercising, meditating, and conversing with friends. Make sure that you are keeping a positive mindset because doing that will instantly make things easier for you.
5- Be Yourself
This one is easier said than done since it requires a leap of faith from the speaker. If you are trying to emulate some successful public speaker’s style then your audience will see right through it and you will come up as pretentious. One has to take a leap of faith to just be who they are so that they can come up as authentic and real in front of the audience. This requires some good years of practice to get great at, however applying this attitude will lead to immediate betterment.
6- Tell Stories
One thing that the everlasting popularity of books, movies, and theatre can teach us is this – people love stories. Stories excite us and they inspire us in countless types of ways. If you want to be a good public speaker then you have to become a good storyteller. People have a natural instinct to gauge if a story is being told well or not. We have the story structure deeply embedded in our psyches and telling uneventful arbitrary tales will make your audiences get bored. Boring the audience is the last thing you want as a public speaker. Therefore, make sure that you are using the great art of storytelling for your advantage.
7- Use Visual Aid
It is a fact that for the human brain, visual information is much easier to comprehend than the written information. If you are only going to talk, talk, and talk then your audience will eventually lose their attention. A lot of public speakers use presentation slides to solve this problem but their slides are filled with text which is an even worse approach than just talking. How to hold the audience’s attention then? Use visual imagery to make your concepts easier for the audience to grasp. Visual language is universal, the image of an apple installs the same information in all our brains irrespective of the language we speak and read. Make sure that you are using visual aid for your benefit.
8- Check Your Body Language
Our body language speaks volumes about us. It is just shocking to see how many public speakers simply ignore the importance of body language while speaking. If you are well prepared to give the speech in all different ways but you are slouching, then the speech will get hampered immediately. As a public speaker, you have to ensure that your body language oozes confidence and conviction. Stand upright and do not move too much while speaking. Similarly, the use of hand gestures to emphasize the points is a great way to command attention. There are various intricacies that create good body language. Start practicing this skill since it will deliver great results.
9- Analyze the Performance
Once you have given a public speech, then do not think that your job is over. We live in a time where we have great audiovisual technology. Record your public speaking sessions, and also try recording your practice sessions. Once you have done that than sit and watch yourself giving the session and make notes about things that you were doing wrong. This will have a dramatic impact on the betterment of your public speaking skills.
10- Prepare For The Next Time
One thing that you will find common among all the people that are great at their craft is that they never give up. If you had a bad public speaking session then remember that it is not the end of the world. Get ready for the next day since you can only improve at a skills by practicing it constantly. Students should make sure to work on their public speaking skills since college is a great learning ground for them for this skill. In case you are wondering if online course takers can help you out with your studies then there are various platforms available today that offer impeccable services.
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