Public speaking is an art. Mastering this art requires some practice and effort. Many people fail to do true justice to their talents because of the inability to speak in public. It is common for many students or professionals who are hugely talented otherwise, but stutter while speaking in public. What this does is one, restricts the career growth and second, person suffering from this problem has clear issues of low self confidence. So how to tackle this impediment?
Remember, body is used to two responses of fight or flight. So either, you handle the butterflies in your stomach or you just hide in a flight mode. While we go on stage to address a large gathering, the rush of adrenaline is more than usual. We keep assuming, what people will be thinking of, what if I make a mockery of myself, what if I start stammering, what if I forget what I was to say and the ‘what if’ phenomenon goes on..
First thing first. Nobody knows you and everybody is conscious of the fact that its ‘you’ who is on the stage and speaking. Don’t assume how people will be reacting. You are what you are and you definitely have your own style of speaking. You must establish eye contacts with the audiences. This helps in communicating the message clearly and shows you are very much confident about what you are saying.
You should also use appropriate body language. Proper movement of hands makes a lot of difference. Before you begin, it will also help if you could communicate a clear set of ground rules from public speaking engagement aspect. Few speakers love to interact with audiences during the speech whereas few others invite questions only when they end the program. Finally, try to master the art of telling stories. All these suggestions will help you in improving your public speaking and if it works for you, don’t hesitate in sharing your experience.
