How to Control Your Fear of Public Speaking
Even the most experienced public speakers experience nervousness before delivering a presentation. Even a small amount of anxiety is a signal that you should spend some extra time checking and double-checking your material. You always want to leave your audience with two thoughts. The first is the principle message from your content and the second is a positive impression of you. A successful presentation is based on both of these elements. To control your presentation jitters, remember the acronym S.P.E.A.K.
S. Size-up your audience. Be the first to arrive at the venue so that you can spend a few minutes with each person. Introduce yourself, welcome the person to the presentation and make him/her feel at ease. This is your chance to learn why your presentation is important to each individual.
P. Prepare your equipment and materials beforehand. This is another reason for you to arrive early to the venue. Once the room is set the way you want it and everything is in working order, you no longer need to worry about technical issues sabotaging your presentation.
E. Engage the audience at the beginning of your presentation. Always begin you presentation with a quote, story, anecdote, question or statistic that grabs their attention. Open your presentation with the conclusions that you want them to remember and then speak to that content. Leave your audience with the same conclusion.
A. Address your audience’s most important concerns. Prepare your presentation by asking yourself, “What is the most important question my audience may have about my conclusions?” Include the answer to this question in your content.
K. Know your content! Use your slides as your prompts. Limit each slide to five bullet points with no more than seven words to a bullet; never put paragraphs of information on your slides. Always speak to the audience, not the screen.
Work on controlling your fear of public speaking this week!
For more information about how we can help you incorporate this week’s Best Practice into your organization, please visit www.ShaunHopkinsSeminars.com
