Public speaking is an art of presenting an idea, a product or a service to the crowd or to the public. It’s a challenging art to master since it will require the speaker to persuade the crowd or at least carefully educate the listeners about the topic discussed. Public speaking is more than just talking in front of many people – a person has to educate, persuade and even entertain at the same time. This is difficult since the public has varying and even conflicting mindsets.
But a difficult undertaking is not an impossible task. Letting the people know what you think through public speaking could be done with efficiency and clarity. There are actually ways on how you should prepare and execute your speech in order to achieve the goal of educating the public and possibly push to act through your speech.
The Absolute Importance of Practice
There is no substitute in practicing your speech. Although you don’t have to memorize what you have to say, it is important that you deliver your speech calmly. This can only be done when you constantly practice your speech. It is possible that you can still deliver your speech without actual practice but what you will most likely achieve is to let people know only the facts. Information dissemination alone will never be sufficient especially in sales presentation.
Practice will give you more than just familiarity with the data you need to present. You can practice your gestures, the things you have to say at certain moments and even anticipate reactions during the speech. You can ask your friend to provide a feedback about your speech so improvement is still possible.
Audience and Your Material
Information is king when it comes to efficient public speaking. You could be the best salesman or public speaker in the world but that skill would be nothing if you do not know anything about the product.
One of the biggest mistakes you would have during preparation is to know only the things you would need in your speech. Limiting what you know could save time on research but you will not be able to properly explain your topic well especially when questions arise during the speech. Always research beyond what you need to discuss. The additional information will even boost your confidence since you are armed with enough knowledge regarding the topic.
While researching on the topic, take note of your audience. Make sure that your information during your public speech could be considered as something new or at least a different point of view to what they believe. Telling your audience what they already know will easily bore your audience.
Confidence and Concentration
On the day of the speech, your efficiency will be dictated by your confidence and the ability to concentrate on your topic. Confidence is probably the most important trait on the day of the speech. Any self doubt will ultimately be detected in your speech. You could stutter most of the time, use too many “ums” during the speech or even forget what you have to say because of the lack of confidence. You have to believe that you can do the speech well. Think about it: no one will ask you to speak in front of everyone if they know that you can’t deliver the speech well.
Concentration, on the other hand, is simply focusing on what you need to tell your audience. You can easily stray off topic especially when you are trying to explain a point to your audience. Your confidence and knowledge of the subject could easily let you talk about too many things which do not provide any helpful point to your subject.
Concentration and confidence could be achieved by one simple action: be familiar where you talk takes place. This will give you a familiar feel once you arrive in the room even if it is already filled with audience. As much as possible, arrive before half of the group arrives so that you can be familiar with your audience once your talk starts.
Effective public speaking requires careful planning and practice. Be sure to research well on the topic and know the place well before the speech to gain full confidence.
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