How To Be A Confident Public Speaker – Part Five
Professional life coach Steve Roche has been taking us through a series of preparations to help you get ready for your speech. For previous parts have a look here or enjoy the final installment below…
Fake It Till you Make It
Do you want to look confident or to feel confident? It’s a useful distinction. You may not fully achieve the second, but if you follow all of these tips you probably will achieve the first – and that’s the more important bit. You’ll also be doing what the professionals do.
So long as you‘re entertaining, sound good and look like you know what you are doing, then what does it matter if you’re a ball of jelly inside? You can’t fool all the people etc. but you can fool enough of the people enough of the time to make it. So forget about what’s going on for you, and focus on them.
Handling Nerves
There are plenty of stories of famous actors who get dreadful attacks of nerves, even regularly throwing up in the wings before they go on. But they learn to welcome the feelings and the physical reactions, knowing it’s all part of their essential preparation for getting into the performance state, in the zone. What’s more, they know that if they ever lost those nerves, they would have lost the ‘edge’, the very thing that makes them great performers.
Rarely, you may find that the prospect of public speaking provokes a real anxiety, that goes deeper than just ‘nerves’ or ‘butterflies’. In that case, it’s time to work on it with a specialist who will have techniques to help you.
Warming Up!
Professional performers all know the importance of this. No sportsman or athlete would dream of going out there without a thorough warm-up. Nor would any singer or dancer. Neither does a professional actor, comedian or speaker. So why would you?
Do some deep breathing, and move about, to get your body warmed up. Your voice will sound better if you are physically relaxed with an open posture – which is much easier if you’re not all tense and scrunched up.
Learn a few tongue-twisters to practise before you start speaking. You know the sort of thing: Sister Suzie Sewing Shirts for Sailors… How Much Wood Would a Woodchuck Chuck (Just Google ‘tongue twisters’ and you’ll find hundreds). Doing these will loosen up your face and jaw and help you project better, so you are louder and sound more confident.
What if it Goes Pear-Shaped?
Suppose, despite all your careful preparation, you grind to a halt, losing your nerve for a moment and forgetting what’s coming next. The best thing is just to admit it cheerfully (‘whoops, forget what I was going to say then’), which gives you a moment to pause and get back on track.
You could even have a line ready to cover it. Here’s a couple that work well… ‘I heard this speech so many times I got bored with it’, “They’re not paying me for this, so I didn’t bother to learn it”.
Best Gig
And finally, remember this – the very best thing about giving a speech at a wedding is that the audience is completely on your side. Imagine doing your first stand-up gig at a noisy club, where people are bored, drunk, hostile, heckling you and wanting you to get off. Whereas you have the luxury of a captive audience who are totally with you, wanting you to succeed, wanting to be entertained. It’s the best gig you’ll ever get, so enjoy it!
Steve Roche
Professional Life Coach
www.higher-evolution.co.uk
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