If you are wondering how a lecturer can become a speaker at seminar, or how a businessman can deliver a presentation to their clients, well it’s because they have good public speaking skills. Public speaking is a must-have skill for various job roles and industries, enabling effective communication and engagement with people. How can they achieve that?
In this article, you will gain a deep understanding of effective public speaking. Start from the definition, why is it important, how to overcome your fear, and 7 techniques for effective public speaking. Now, let’s dive in!
Definition Of Public Speaking
Public speaking is the process of delivering a speech in front of the audience. The speech consists of three components: style, substance, and impact. The goals are to give information, persuade, and entertain them. Depending on which goal you choose, you must adjust your speech style and pattern to captivate them.
Informative speech usually tells about objects, people, events, concepts, processes, or issues. The key is to focus on delivering valuable information rather than attempting to persuade the audience. On the other hand, persuasive speech aims to make the audience do some action or believe something. However, It is a little bit tricky. Persuasive speeches can range from genuine persuasion to manipulation. It can lead the audience to lose trust. Furthermore, an entertainment speech can be both informative or persuasive but the primary goal is to captivate and amuse the audience.
Why Public Speaking Is Important?
Mastering public speaking skills is important to be a competent individual in the workplace. When you meet your clients or colleagues you can clearly and effectively communicate with them. Public speaking will give you benefits such as:
- Develops critical thinking skills
- Develops leadership qualities
- Ensures career advancement
- Builds social connections
- Ensures personal development
- Help you become aware of how others perceive you
How To Overcome Your Fear Of Public Speaking?
Certain people, especially introverts, will say big no to public speaking. They feel scared to perform in front of the audience. Nervous will kill them softly. However, this is normal. There are a lot of psychological reactions when you become the center of attention. Mostly because you’re not used to it. Building confidence, enthusiasm, self-awareness, authenticity, and adaptability is a must to fix this. Developing these traits will help you overcome your fear. If you’re feeling anxious before your speech, the first thing you need to do is to take a breath. Breathe slowly through your nose and focus. Repeat this action until you feel relaxed. Remember all of the practice you have done.
7 Techniques For Effective Public Speaking
Here are 7 techniques for effective public speaking skills:
Plan Accordingly
First, plan your public speech. Do research on the topic you choose, set the goal of your speech, create an outline, and start writing a strong and impactful message.
Master Your Topic
Second, you need to master what topic you will deliver to the audience. This will make your speech more convincing. It can’t be that when they ask you about something, you can answer nothing. Such a situation would be a significant failure.
Focus On Vocal Delivery
Third, It is important to focus on your vocal delivery. There are four components you need to practice: articulation, pronunciation, intonation, and word emphasis. Articulation is how you can produce vocal and consonant words using articulators (tongue, teeth, and lips). While pronunciation is when you speak one complete word correctly. Next, you need to pay attention to intonation. The variation in pitch is used to indicate your attitudes and emotions. You can’t use a monotone voice. In addition, word emphasis is the extra force given to a word, especially in order to show that the word is important. All of these components will help you speak clearly so the audience can grasp what you are talking about.
Use Metaphors And Analogies
Fourth, Bringing a metaphor to your speech is a good way to express your idea or concept. While using analogies can strengthen your arguments and help convey the information you will deliver to the audience.
Body Language
Fifth, body language is the most important thing in public speaking. Keep maintaining eye contact with your audience, move around the floor, use hand gestures to demonstrate your points, and pay attention to facial expressions.
Engage With The Audience
Sixth, a good speech is not one-sided. It is important to get your audience engaged. Then, the audience would be able to feel your power and presence. Give them some questions so they can focus on following the speech you are giving.
Practice Makes Perfect
Last but not least, practice, practice, and practice. It will take days to practice public speaking so you can be ready to deliver your speech. You can practice in front of the mirror or family. Ask them for feedback for better performance.
That’s all for the secret of successful public speaking and overcoming your fear. Keep learning to achieve better performance!
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