If you’re like me, and you get a little (or a lot) nervous at the prospect of public speaking, I have some fantastic tips for you. Well they’re not actually mine, to be honest. They came from Dr Martina Lipton who passed them on to me when I put out a call for tips and hints after I had agreed to do some public speaking. She very kindly sent me an email that had nine points that I thought were fantastic. I have cut and pasted them below, verbatim, because I don’t think I could articulate it as well as she has.
- Before you speak, take time to look up & survey the room – own the space, feel in control.
- Remember that everyone has come to listen to you – the audience is not an enemy therefore you have no need to feel nervous.
- Speak up & out rather than down to your boots.
- Don’t rush (very common when nervous but resist the temptation to just get through it) – audience needs time to digest & process what you are saying – so give them breaks when you too stop for much needed breath etc between paragraphs or long sentences.
- If using Powerpoint don’t put up too much written text – the problem is you’ll lose your audience when they start reading it as they’ll switch off from listening to you. PowerPoint presentation is there to support you, not the other way around.
- Try to acknowledge your audience by looking up regularly & making eye contact with people.
- If using written notes – staple pages together, print in large print & double spaced, highlight key words & number pages – this all helps if you get lost or drop your notes as I’ve seen happen & then have to scramble to get pages in order etc.
- Most of all ENJOY the opportunity to have your say without anyone interrupting you – it really is a buzz!
- If you get some doozy questions at the end that you don’t know the answer to don’t dig a hole for yourself, instead be honest, acknowledge that you don’t have a ready answer, thank person for question & ask for their details later with promise to get back to them if they are still interested in a response.
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Isn’t that just the best advice you could ever receive if you’re preparing for some public speaking? As soon as I read her email, I knew I had to write a blog using her information because I wanted to share her knowledge. Naturally I asked her permission and she granted it, hence my blog! If you’ve got any other tips you think are worth adding, I’d love to hear them here.
As for my talk, it went extremely well and, whilst I was nervous, I felt quite good about it at the end. I met some gorgeous people this morning and I’m so glad I said yes to present at this networking breakfast. It’s nice when people take the time afterwards to come and thank you. Some even suggested I do more, and perhaps I will. Life is always more interesting when you say ‘yes’, don’t you think? Until next time, stay engaged, be present and have fun!
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