Public Speaking Tips For Successful Speakers

Most people would rather have root canal work done than get up in front of an audience and deliver a speech. Of the five most commonly held terrors that the majority of Americans own up to, the fear of making a speech heads the list. It is ahead of the fear of death and an audit by the IRS. Here are some Public Speaking Tips that will ease your way somewhat and help you overcome your fears.

Mark Twain said, "It usually takes more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech."

MARKET RESEARCH:

Any good speaker will consider Market Research the bottom part of the iceberg with the top part being the actual speech. You need to consider the five targeting questions first.

These are:

What are you going to be talking about, what is your purpose in speaking?

When - how far away is your speech - how much preparation time will you have?

Where is it going to be held and what, if any travel arrangements are in place?

Why do they want you to speak, what is your speciality?

How are you going to accomplish it. Do you need to research the topic
WHO IS YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE?

Know the specific nature of the guests. Do they belong to the same business type or organization. If so, put some anecdotes or items of interest relating to their common interest into your presentation. Perhaps you could make a positive statement about the geography of the town or city you are speaking in.
What is the purpose for them assembling. Is this a special occasion requiring you to direct your speech to the reason for the seminar or gathering.
Be mindful of the possible cultural differences and exclude material or comments or phrases that might be culturally insensitive. Research well.
If at all possible, mingle and greet some of your audience as they arrive and make them instant friends. You will find it much easier giving your presentations to a group of friends than a group of strangers.
WHAT ORDER ARE YOU SPEAKING IN?

Are you the keynote speaker? Are you speaking first, in the middle or last? This is very important because speaking order is can have a huge bearing on the audience's attention span, particularly if you are to speak after someone who has bored them into a state of stupor.

WHAT IS YOUR THEME GOING TO BE?

What topic are you going to be speaking about in your presentation? If you're an acknowledged expert in a particular field you may be asked to talk about anything within your area of expertise.
It's also very important that you establish early on what sort of speech you are being asked to deliver. Are you being asked to inform your audience; entertain your audience or persuade your audience? Once you have established this you can then research the basic theme of your presentation.

If you decide that it is an informative speech then your audience will expect to get new information that needs to be presented in an even-handed and objective manner.
If you are going to present a persuasive speech then the purpose is to give the audience convincing evidence to support a change in attitudes, beliefs, values or behavior.
An entertaining speech is not about being a stand-up comic. It should be a speech, NOT a routine and should provoke a pleasurable response from your audience. A good entertaining or humorous speaker does not need to use blasphemy and bad language to get his or her point across. You can entertain without using filthy language or highly offensive gender, religious, cultural or ethnic material. It's a poor speaker who needs to use these devices to gain notoriety.
CONSIDER YOUR SPEECH STRUCTURE

Whatever the basic premise of your speech, whether you are going to be informing, entertaining or persuading you audience, you will need to have a definite sense of structure to your speech.

A good speech must have an opening, a body and a conclusion.

The Opening:

Your opening sentences must capture your audience's interest and attention right from the beginning. If you lose them during this crucial start, they will most likely stay lost for the whole speech. Perhaps you might consider beginning with a pertinent rhetorical question for an informative speech; a humorous story for an entertaining speech and set up your premise for a persuasive speech.

Next provide a good linking sentence to segue between your opening and the body of the speech.

The Body:

Have a few good points (no more than three or four). Use these to expand upon your speech premise.

The Conclusion:

Here you need to summarise the main points in the body, perhaps reiterate your main premise and deliver a conclusion and finish with a memorable statement.

The object of a speech is to Communicate something to the audience. People seem to think that just opening and closing your mouth and speaking provides communication. This is not so. The people you are speaking to must UNDERSTAND what you are talking about in order for communication to have taken place. If you do not communicate; if you leave the audience with more questions than you answered then you have not succeeded.

I hope these Public Speaking Tips will give you a place to begin. However all the tips in the world will only take you so far in a career as a public speaker. The number one thing you must do is participate, participate, participate. You only get better by doing. So grab your courage in both hands and start accepting speaking engagements. Don't take on a role beyond your speaking ability. Start where you are with small five minute speaking opportunities. Whatever you do, begin to do something. If you don't know where you are going, any road will take you there.

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Successful Public Speaking: Interact With Your Audience

One of the things that public speakers fear the most is losing the attention of the audience. When the audience drifts off into daydreams, it can be difficult to bring them back. How do you keep them from drifting off in the first place?

The key to grabbing and keeping the attention of your attendees is to involve them - to make your presentation interactive. Your purpose may be to market your business, to persuade them to buy your product, to persuade them to save the world. But if you're not involving them, paying attention to their needs and interests, you're going to lose them, and they won't come back.

Here are some pointers for incorporating interaction into your presentation, and keeping the audience focused on your message.

Pointer #1: Start with a question

You may or may not have had the opportunity to gather information on your audience in advance. Whether or not you've researched your attendees, it's always effective to start off with a question or series of questions. Some questions I've asked of past groups include:

"How many people in the room exercise every day? How many people would like to exercise every day?" I made a note of the people who said they exercised every day and came back to them later to have them share how they fit exercise into their lives.

"How many of you have ever felt so angry you wanted to hit someone? How many of you actually did hit someone when you were angry?" This question was used to illustrate the point during a domestic violence presentation that, even though we sometimes may feel angry enough to hit someone, most of us don't.

"On a scale of 1-10, with 10 being the highest, how many of you rank your public speaking skills between 10 and 7; how many between 6 and 4; how many between 3 and 1?" This one helps me get an idea of how the audience members perceive themselves as speakers and whether my content should lean toward basic or advanced.

Your question can also be humorous, to start off the seminar with a giggle. The important thing is to get the audience involved from the start. There is also a benefit to you in asking questions; you learn more about your audience, their interests and their needs.

Pointer #2: Use icebreakers and energizers

The purpose of icebreakers is to warm up the group, help them get to know each other and to create a bond and a positive atmosphere within the group. Energizers are to get people moving, thinking and re-energized, especially after lunch!

If you think back to some of the icebreakers you've done at seminars and conferences, you might be rolling your eyes right now. After all, not everyone wants to interact with her or his neighbor, and some icebreakers are intrusive and even embarrassing. The last thing you want to do is to make your audience members feel uncomfortable.

However, icebreakers done well are useful and fun. In addition to helping the audience members get to know each other, it also helps you get to know them. This is a great boost at an event where there is networking scheduled, or where part of the purpose is for the audience members to learn more about each other. Depending on the size of the group and the purpose of the seminar/training/workshop, different icebreakers will be effective.

Easy icebreakers can involve nothing more than one audience member turning to a neighbor and sharing a piece of information. I keep a tin filled with questions on strips of paper to be handed out in smaller groups. Some of the questions: "If you could choose a new name for yourself, what would it be?" "What did you eat for breakfast this morning and who prepared it?" "What is your favorite time of day, and why?" More complicated icebreakers involve games, scavenger hunts, and physical activities like the "human knot" that probably everyone on the planet has had to disentangle at least once!

Here's a site with a great list of icebreaker games and websites.

Pointer #3: Break the audience into pairs or groups

At some point, you may require the audience to do an activity that requires more dialogue. Breaking the larger group into pairs (also called dyads) or small groups allows them to have a private discussion, which then can be shared with the larger group.

Some people are not comfortable talking in a large group. Some people talk more than everyone else, monopolizing the speaker. Breaking into groups encourages your audience to dig deeper into the topic while giving everyone a fair shake at participating.

Pointer #4: Ask for input

This is a great way for you to learn from your audience, and for the audience to learn from each other. Adults have a lifetime of experience and knowledge to share, and in a learning situation, it's especially important for adults to contribute to the learning process. Personal relevance and the ability to apply learning to real-life situations are more important to adults than someone else telling them what's important to know.

Bring a flip chart or overhead projector and ask the audience for their input. Write down their words and use them in your presentation. Make sure to note new ideas or concepts that might fit into a future presentation.

Allowing audience members to share some of their own experiences and expertise makes the process more relevant for them, and creates a richer experience for everyone involved. Incorporate interaction into your talks, and you're unlikely ever again to lose an audience member to daydreams.

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