Afraid to Give a Speech? Don’t Be! Take Charge.

Posted on April 16, 2007
Filed Under Media Advice, Public Appearances & Conduct, Publicity |

Many of you, from time to time, may be called upon to give a speech . . . to a civic group, perhaps . . . or, at a business convention. And, if you are like many people, you’d rather be eaten by a Great White than be thrown to the sharks in the audience.

It need not be that way. In fact, with a little practice and some helpful hints that professionals use all the time, you’ll be giving speeches like President Bush in no time. Well, okay, you should probably aim much higher.

9 Steps To Giving a Successful Public Speech

  1. Find out in advance exactly how many people are likely to be in your audience. It makes a big difference. I was once told by the pr department for the company I worked for that I would be giving a speech for 500. But, when I got to the convention hall, I asked my hosts why they picked such a large room for just 500 people? “500?” they chuckled. “It’s more like 5,000!” Needless to say, I had to make a quick adjustment in attitude as well as volume in order to deal with such a large group. But, here’s one hint: Forget there are 5,000 or 10,000 or 20,000 thousand in the room, as soon as you can, pick out four or five friendly,attentive faces in your audience and basically talk to them!Make sure they are scatttered about the room so as to create the illussion that you are talking to everyone.
  2. If at all possible, try to keep the room as cold as possible . . . even to the point where people are slightly uncomfortable. People are responsive in colder environments than warm ones…which is why both David Letterman and Jay Leno and Johnny Carson before them kept their studios cold enough to hang meat. Cold people laugh. Warm people sleep.
  3. Of course, before you even get to the place you are giving the speech at, you have to know what to do with your speech: Should you write the whole thing out? Should you try and committ the entire text to memory? No to both! People who read speeches directly from the written page almost always are boring. Being a bore is the kiss of death for a speech. And, people who try to memorize trip themselves up because they fail to remember–or do not know–that professional actors take lots of time to memorize lines and they do it for a living. If you try, you’ll spend lots of time trying to remember the exact word you rehearsed, and totally screw it up.
  4. What to do: Think of your speech as a story, with a beginning, middle and end. It has a natural arc. It is fine to memorize how you intend to begin your speech and end it . . . the rest, just fill in as if you are talking to a bunch of friends. When was the last time a friend of yours looked down at notes when they were telling you a story?
  5. Use a few small index cards to jot down some key speaking points you want to make in your speech. Hold the cards in your hand or keep them on a lectern. Glance down every now and then to make sure you are hitting your points and staying on message for your speech.
  6. Try NOT to stand still behind a podium. Most people end up leaning forward as they grasp the sides of the podium and look like they are passengers on the Titanic holding on for dear life as it sinks beneath the waves. Move around…within reason…but move around. It will keep you and your audience awake. And, it’s great excercise.
  7. If at all possible, use a microphone. The days of “projecting” to the rear of the room using only the human voice are long gone, even at professional Broadway theatres. Your speech is no good if people are having difficulty hearing it.
  8. DON’T TRY TO BE FUNNY! DON’Y TRY TO BE FUNNY! DON’Y TRY TO BE FUNNY! Now, you may get the idea that this is an important point and it is. It is okay to open your speech with a short, human interest type story which can be amusing or even sad . . . BUT, people who are not pros at delivering funny lines or funny stories usually end up falling on their face..maybe the only thing funny about the whole process.
  9. Lastly . . .and most important: Don’t be afraid of your audience. They are NOT better than you…YOU are better than them! I mean, if they were all so damn smart, they’d be up there giving a speech and not you. You rock! They will listen.

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