Plan Your Public Speaking Success

You probably already know that it makes sense to plan for any public speaking engagement that you have coming up. There are several advantages to doing this properly as you will see in this article. We would never advise that you head into a public speaking engagement and deliver something “off the cuff”. It is very likely to end in disaster!

 

Overcome Nervousness with Planning

 

A lot of people are nervous when they have to speak in public and this is a natural thing. Even the most seasoned of confident speakers will experience nerves from time to time. It is actually a good thing to experience nerves at a public speaking event. The reason for this is that it will create an adrenaline rush in your body that will ensure that you stay alert.

 

Preparing your presentation will help a lot to minimize the nerves that you experience. It is essential that you are as comfortable as possible with what you are presenting and it is a good idea to practice in front of someone that will tell you the truth. As an alternative, you can record yourself and then go over the recording with a critical eye.

 

Knowing your Audience will help a lot

 

All successful public speakers find out as much as they can about their audience before they present to them. When you really know your audience well you will be able to create a connection with them a lot easier. 

 

Knowing your audience will ensure that you will provide them with what they want. You need to know what the burning questions are that they have about your niche. Providing answers to these questions will delight them and they will perceive you to be an expert. 

 

Audience engagement is critical and knowing your audience will help here. You can anticipate what they want to know and what questions they are likely to ask. Tailor your content to the needs of your audience and your presentation will be a great success.

 

Create an Outline for your Presentation

 

Some people like to create a full script for their presentation but we recommend that you do not do this. Reading from a script is not a good idea with public speaking as it can make your delivery sound very flat. You will also lose eye contact with your audience because you need to keep looking at your script.

 

It is better to create an outline for your presentation that you can glance at from time to time to ensure that you stay on track. Use bullet points or a list of the important things that you need to talk about. You can also highlight any important points that you need to make within a section of your presentation as well.

 

Use the Correct Visuals

 

An audience at a public speaking event will expect you to use visuals such as PowerPoint slides. This is perfectly normal for a business presentation. Be careful not to create too many slides for your presentation though. Having too many slides can divert the focus of your audience which you want to avoid.

 

Any visual that you use needs to enhance what you are saying. If this is not the case then the visual is useless. When you are using slides do not reveal all of the content on them at the beginning. Make a point speaking and then uncover this on the slide.