The Importance Of Breathing For Confident Speaking

If you don’t get your breathing right then it is going to be a real challenge for you to speak with confidence. Fortunately, there are a number of things that you can do to breathe correctly when you are speaking no matter what situation you find yourself in.

 

In this article, we will discuss the importance of breathing properly so that you can be more confident with your words. There are plenty of resources online such as YouTube videos that will show you how to breathe properly. Most people do not breathe properly especially when they speak so this is worth your while paying attention to.

 

Learn to Breathe using your Diaphragm

 

The most confident speakers use their diaphragm to breathe. They do this because they know that it will make them feel the most confident when they are speaking. It is a lot easier than you may think to learn to breathe using your diaphragm and it should not take you long to master this technique.

 

At the end of the day, breathing using your diaphragm is just a matter of paying attention to the way that you inhale and exhale. When you are inhaling you will want to ensure that your stomach rises. For exhaling, you need to make sure that your stomach falls.

 

Breathing from your diaphragm will make you feel a lot calmer and will enable you to focus more on what you are saying. Once you have mastered breathing using your diaphragm you will be able to speak from your diaphragm as well. 

 

Speaking from your diaphragm will add a level of confidence to your voice that your audience will certainly pick up on. So, start practicing breathing using your diaphragm today so that you can be more relaxed when you are speaking and also add the right inflection to your voice that your audience will appreciate.

 

Relax your Throat with a Jaw Massage

 

Having a relaxed throat when you are speaking is very important. Your words will be a lot clearer and easier for your audience to understand when your throat is relaxed. Massaging your jaw regularly will help you to relax your throat and this is an easy thing for you to do.

 

For the best jaw massage, you need to open your mouth a little. This should be just enough so that you are able to part your teeth. Hold this position and then use your fingers to gently massage your outer jaw.

 

When you first try to massage your jaw, you may find that it is a little painful to do this. Be sure to persevere here as the regular massaging of your jaw will encourage your mouth to open wider. With your mouth open wider, there will be an increase in confidence with your voice.

 

Slow down your Breathing

 

It is a natural thing to be nervous before you have to make a speech or hold an important conversation with someone. As you progress with your confident speaking then this should happen less often but it will always be there.

 

When you are nervous you are going to breathe much faster. This will not help a confident delivery. You need to learn to slow down your breathing so that you can deliver your words in a confident manner. Speaking too fast is never a good idea.

 

The Benefits Of Speaking With Confidence

In order to make the successful transition to where you are now as a speaker to being able to speak with total confidence you are probably going to have to make a number of changes. These changes will require you to take consistent action every day. You will need to keep your motivation levels high to keep going with this.

 

When you know the true benefits of being a confident speaker this will inspire you to take consistent action. In this article, we will reveal the major benefits to speaking with confidence so that you can get off to the right start.

 

Improve your Reputation Personally and Professionally

 

When you have mastered the art of speaking with confidence you will see significant improvements in both your personal and professional life. You will be a much more effective communicator and will be able to persuade one person or a number of people to your way of thinking.

 

If you want to get ahead at your work or in your business then confident speaking has a major role to play here. People that succeed in their professional life will speak with confidence more often than not.

 

Communicate with Conciseness

 

Nobody wants to listen to someone that rambles on and on repeating themselves several times. Here are some people that just like the sound of their own voice and will talk for talking sake. This is not something that you want to do.

 

Confident speakers ensure that their messages are as concise as possible. They respect the time of others and never want to ramble. Another benefit of speaking with conciseness is that it will preserve your precious time as well.

 

You will gain Trust and Respect

 

People find speakers that are confident very attractive. It doesn’t matter if you are speaking one on one or to a large audience. You will gain a lot more trust and respect from others when you speak with confidence.

 

Trust is so important in life. This is true in business situations and personal ones too. Relationships are built on trust and as a confident speaker you will engender trust with the people that you communicate with.

 

People will perceive you as an Expert and Authentic

 

It is natural for people to gravitate towards experts when they need help. As a confident speaker you will be much more likely to be perceived as an expert. This can help you significantly in the business world as people trust experts and will usually do business with them.

 

Coming across in a sincere way when you are speaking is also very important. People want to know that you are the genuine article and speaking with more confidence will help you to achieve this with them.

 

First Impressions are so important

 

When you speak with confidence you will be able to make a very good first impression with the people that you meet. You want to be memorable with the people that you communicate with and when you can speak with confidence you will have a much better chance of doing this.

 

Confident Speakers are Persuasive

 

Being able to persuade an individual or a group of people to do what you want them to do is a skill that many people desire. As a confident speaker you will have a head start here as you will gain trust and respect easily. 

 

Proven Tips For Public Speaking Success

If you want to be a successful public speaker then there are a number of proven tips that you can follow. We have some of those tips for you in this article. Public speaking is nowhere near as difficult as some people think it is. By using the right techniques, you can be a very confident public speaker.

 

Add Persuasion to your Public Speaking

 

When the opportunity arises for you to make a speech in public then we recommend that you go for it. It is one of the best ways to generate more leads and sales for your business when you do it right. Your aim should always be to provide an inspiring and persuasive speech to your audience.

 

We recommend that you always start with your desired outcome in mind when you are putting your presentation together. Think about what you want your audience to do when they have heard you speak and how you can persuade them to do this. 

 

The key to persuading your audience is engaging with them. You need to ensure that the content of your presentation is what your audience wants and that you entertain them as much as you can. Be sure to maintain good eye contact and smile when you are presenting. Use good calls to action in your presentation to guide your audience to do what you want them to.

 

Interact and check for Feedback

 

Interaction is something that you must build in to your presentation. Nobody wants to sit and listen to you for a long time without be able to contribute no matter how good of a public speaker you are. A method that works well with public speaking is to ask your audience a question at the end of each of your sessions.

 

If you are presenting to a live audience then you can give them a choice of answers and then ask for a show of hands to see who chose the right answer. With a webinar, there will be a chat box that attendees can use to share their answer with you.

 

At a live event you can see your audience and with some online events you will be able to see at least some of them. It is important that you focus on your audience in order to gauge their mood. If you are seeing bored faces then you need to change things up. You must be flexible when you are a public speaker.

 

Don’t try to be someone else

 

Some presenters will try to be someone else at a public speaking event. This is usually because they have some insecurities about who they really are. This is hard to maintain and we recommend that you do not do this.

 

Instead, concentrate on being yourself. Letting your personality shine through will be appreciated by your audience. Tell them a good back story that supports your true character. This will help to build trust with your audience.

 

Have a great Start and a great End

 

Starting your presentation off in the best way is critical. Use different techniques to get the attention of your audience such as anticipation, controversy and shock. If you do not move your audience in the beginning, you will be fighting a losing battle.

 

End in a memorable way as well. Your audience will remember you if you end in a great way. Make an important statement or use another technique to ensure that your ending is as memorable as possible.

 

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. 

 

Improve Your Conversation Skills To Be A Confident Speaker

A lot of people do not realize that if they improve their conversation skills then they will be more confident with their speaking. Having good conversation skills brings its own rewards as well. Here we will discuss some proven methods for developing your conversation skills so that you can be confident with anyone that you meet.

 

Decide on your Intention

 

Any important conversation that you are going to have should have an intention. We recommend that you plan for these important conversations and identify what your outcome or intention is. The bottom line here is that you need to decide what the purpose of your conversation will be. Things will definitely go better for you when you do this.

 

A Friendly Approach is recommended

 

When you want to approach someone to begin a conversation it is essential that you get your body language right. You must make the best first impression that you can and often people form this impression without you saying a word.

 

Be sure to establish eye contact with the person but do not turn this into a stare. Keep your hands visible at all times and smile at the person. It is best that you adopt a relaxed posture when you are approaching someone. You want to give the impression that you are friendly and open.

 

Have some Conversation Starters ready

 

Are you good at starting conversations? Most people are not and will end up saying something that will not be well received by the other person. Starting a conversation well is tough and you will need to practice this.

 

A tried and tested conversation starter that you can use is “hi, how are you?” and then you can introduce yourself. There are a number of great conversation starters that you can find online. It is a good idea to go through these and make a note of those that you are comfortable with. Use them to get the conversation rolling.

 

Keep the Conversation going

 

Good conversationalists will look for ways to keep a conversation going. They do this by asking the right questions so that they can find out what really excites a person. You can then use conversation sparks which will result in a dopamine rush for the person you are conversing with.

 

Good Conversationalists tell Stories

 

Why do good conversationalists tell stories? Because it works of course! Who doesn’t love a good story? When you have mastered the art of storytelling you will be a hit with most of the people that you hold conversations with.

 

Encourage others to Respond

 

Always bear in mind that a conversation is a two-way thing. Some people get carried away and want to dominate conversations. This is not a good idea. You can be seen as the leader of a conversation without having to resort to this.

 

You can use certain questions to elicit a response from the other person. After telling a story you can ask “how about you?” Ask this in the right way and you should get the other person to open up more and contribute to the conversation.

 

Finish the Conversation with a Lasting Impression

 

It is likely that you will want to leave a lasting impression with a number of people that you have a conversation with. This is very true in business and it can be in your personal life as well. Think of ways that you can create a lasting memory of your conversation for others.

 

Developing The Traits Of Confident Speakers

Modelling successful people so that you can be successful too is something that has worked for centuries. It can be a great way to shortcut your success and it certainly applies to becoming a confident speaker.

 

You need to know what the most common traits of confident speakers are and then develop these in yourself. So, in this article we will reveal the most important traits that confident speakers possess so that you can work on developing the same traits.

 

Confident Speakers are Confident

 

Yes, this is obvious, but it is essential that you realize that confidence is the number one trait that you need to possess to be a successful speaker. When you are confident with your speaking you will attract many people that will hang on your every word.

 

If you do not feel that your confidence level is sufficient enough then there are several ways that you can give your self-confidence a boost. You do need to put in some effort on a consistent basis to improve your confidence though. Watch videos of confident speakers and check their delivery, their body language and more.

 

Confident Speakers tell Stories

 

People love to listen to good stories and confident speakers know this. They always use a storytelling approach when they are speaking because they know that it works so well. You will be able to drive a high level of engagement when you tell a good story.

 

A lot of people avoid telling stories because they don’t feel like they have any stories from their own life that are worth telling. This is usually not the case in reality and we recommend that you dig deep to uncover some good stories about yourself. 

 

Another thing that you can do is to search online for good stories of someone else’s life that will relate to what you are going to speak about. The bottom line is that there is no excuse not to tell good stories.

 

Confident Speakers have Passion in their Voice

 

The most successful speakers will use passion in their voice and this is great for audience engagement. Would you sooner listen to a passionate speaker or one that has a monotone delivery when they are speaking? You already know the answer to this.

 

If you are not passionate about your subject then how can you expect others to be? Confident speakers are able to inject the right amount of passion whenever they are speaking. It may take you a while to emulate this trait but it will certainly be worth it.

 

Confident Speakers are Concise

 

A confident speaker will always use the least number of words possible to get their message across. They respect the time of others (and their own) and they never want to be perceived as someone who just talks for the sake of it.

 

If you need to work on this then you must do that. Nobody will want to listen to you if you just ramble on and on repeating yourself several times. 

 

Confident Speakers can read the Signs

 

A confident speaker can tell if their message is being received and whether their speech is being well received or not. You can develop this trait too as it is so important. If the signs are telling you that things are not going that well then you can change your approach to improve things.

 

Why Planning Is So Important For Confident Speaking

Planning what you are going to talk about will help you to be a more confident speaker. Of course, we are not expecting you to plan every conversation that you have. But it is a good idea to plan for the important ones. It is especially important when you are addressing a group of people such as a large audience on a webinar.

 

It can be tempting just to “wing it” and skip any preparation. The problem with this is unless you are supremely confident with your speaking it is not likely to turn out well. In this article, we will discuss why it is important to be prepared.

 

You will have more Options

 

The worst possible thing that can happen to you when you are speaking in any situation is to run out of things to say. Imagine addressing a large number of people and then having to deal with an awkward silence because you don’t know what to say next. Your reputation will take a nose dive if this happens.

 

When you plan your important conversations and presentations you can identify a number of options that you can take should you need to do this. Yes, it does take effort to plan and prepare, but the results that you will achieve will justify this effort.

 

Your Words will Flow better

 

A major benefit of planning what you are going to say is that it should result in a better flow of your words. When you practice your speaking, you should find that you develop a more natural flow with your words.

 

Practicing will also help to boost your confidence. When you have rehearsed everything, you will feel a lot more in control. There is no need for you to create a script and read from it. It is better to create an outline and refer to this.

 

You will be more Focused

 

Staying on topic is a very important thing to do and confident speakers are masters of this. It helps to avoid not having enough to say or saying too much. Unfortunately, there are a lot of speakers that do not have the right focus when they are speaking and things can quickly come off the rails in this situation.

 

Create a Backup Plan

 

What are you going to do if something goes wrong when you are speaking? Maybe you notice that your audience is not as engaged as you want them to be for example. If you plan what you are going to say then you can come up with ideas for a backup plan if something goes wrong.

 

When you Plan it will help you to Anticipate

 

Confident speakers are usually able to anticipate the questions that their audience is going to ask them. Some of this comes from experience and some from the planning that they do. During the planning of their speech, they think about the type of questions that are likely to come up and prepare to answer these questions.

 

Planning helps to minimize speaking errors

 

We recommend that you record yourself speaking when you are in the planning stage and look for errors. Maybe you have repeated yourself or you are using too many “ums” and “ahs” when you speak. You need to be critical when you watch your recordings back so that you can minimize these errors on the day.

 

Benefits Of Focusing On One Task At A Time

There will be people that try to convince you that multitasking is the right thing to do and that it will increase your productivity. The truth is that this is rarely the case. You are not likely to achieve more by multitasking and we believe that there are several benefits to focusing on one task at a time.

 

Focusing on one Task at a time can Rebuild your Focus

 

Most people switch around the things that they focus on a lot on a daily basis. They see no problem with switching between multiple websites and the different apps that they have installed on their phones. The problem with this is that each of these switches comes with a cost to your focus.

 

By focusing on one task at a time you will drastically reduce the number of switches that you are making. It is a lot easier to rebuild your focus when you keep these switches down to a minimum. You will find that you can improve your focus and how long you sustain it by regularly concentrating on one task at a time.

 

Multitasking is the opposite of this. You need to make a number of switches to try and get everything done when you are multitasking. This is not good for your focus and will probably not produce the results that you want.

 

Reduce your Stress by Focusing on one Task at a time

 

One of the major downsides of multitasking is that it requires a great deal of energy to achieve a number of things at once. This is because you are consistently spreading your attention and focus. Usually, even the simplest of tasks take longer to complete when you are multitasking. Taking longer to complete your tasks can increase your stress levels.

 

When you focus on a single task at a time you will be able to keep your stress levels low. You can enjoy tackling each of your tasks in turn and find the process a lot more satisfying. If you decide to multitask then you are more likely to raise your stress levels.

 

Get More Done by Focusing on one Task at a time

 

You may think that multitasking is a good way to increase your productivity but, in most cases, this never turns out to be true. The truth is that multitasking can often slow things down a lot. When you focus on one task at a time you can enter a flow state of deep focus that will help you to complete the task in the fastest amount of time.

 

When you are in a flow state it is an amazing experience and you are likely to lose all notion of time and any distractions that are around you. By getting into a flow state, you can increase your productivity by as much as 500%.

 

Focus on one Task at a Time and be more Creative

 

There have been a number of cases where people have reported an increase in their creativity when they focused on one task at a time and entered a flow state. Your brain wants you to concentrate on one task at a time and when you do this you can unlock the potential it has to offer you.

 

You can experience a state of deep thought a lot easier when you decide to focus on a single task at a time. With this deep thought you are likely to discover different options and find paths that you would not have found if you were trying to multitask.

 

The Benefits Of Improving Your Focus

In order to improve your focus and attention significantly, you are going to have to put in consistent effort each day. To give you the inspiration and the high levels of motivation to do this, it is essential that you are aware of the benefits of increasing your focus.

 

It places you in Control of your Life

 

When you have a higher level of focus you will have a greater amount of control over your life. You will know that you can accomplish many things because you have the power to focus on them and maintain your focus until you complete a task.

 

You will be able to set challenging goals for yourself and have the belief that you can achieve them thanks to your increase in focus. Taking control of your life is very satisfying and your increased focus will play a significant role in you being able to do this.

 

You will be more Positive

 

With an increase in your focus, you are going to harvest more positive energy. Whenever you experience negative thoughts, you will be able to neutralize them a lot more effectively as you can easily focus on positive thoughts.

 

People that have a poor level of focus tend to concentrate on the negative things in life. They find it easier to focus on the negative things and this can make them overwhelmed. Small problems become big problems very quickly.

 

You will be more Self-Aware with Increased Focus

 

By increasing your focus, you can connect to your inner self and raise your self-awareness. You will be able to see yourself continually growing as you move beyond your comfort zone and take on new things. With a higher level of focus you will have the confidence to tackle new things which you would not have done before.

 

Improve Problem Solving

 

Having a higher level of focus will help you to improve your problem-solving skills. If your focus is poor then even the smallest problems will be a challenge for you to solve. You will find that you move away from focusing on the problem which will just raise your stress levels, to focusing on the solution.

 

Be a Better Decision Maker

 

With a poor level of focus it is going to be difficult to make decisions. Making the best possible decisions requires you to focus on the problem and use critical thinking. We all need to make small and large decisions in our life and with an increased focus you will be able to do this faster and easier.

 

Reduce your Stress Levels

 

If you are totally focused on completing a task then you will not be thinking about other negative things that could cause your stress levels to rise. When you have poor focus you will tend to focus on the negative more and this can make you anxious and drive up your stress levels.

 

Additional Clarity

 

A lot of people have no direction in their life due to poor focus skills. When you have a high level of focus you can easily determine what you want to achieve and then set challenging goals. You will be able to achieve your goals because you have good focus skills.

 

Build Momentum

 

If you have higher level focus skills then you will be more productive and get more things done each day. Once you start focusing and completing your tasks you will build momentum to move on to the next and complete all of your tasks.

 

How To Regain Focus When You Lose It

There are going to be times when you lose your focus for whatever reason. It could be some form of distraction that causes this to happen. The techniques that we provide to you below will help you to regain your focus when you lose it. 

 

Minimize or Eliminate Distractions

 

You know that some things are likely to distract you and cause you to lose your focus more than others. Take steps to minimize these or if you can, eliminate them altogether. These days, people are glued to their phones and need to jump on any notification that they receive. Receiving a notification when you are focusing on something will definitely distract you.

 

Turn off all of the messenger services, including email, on your phone when you are working on your tasks. If you are used to responding to every notification immediately then let people know that you are going to change this. Just because someone wants to waste your time and chat with you on instant messenger doesn’t mean that you have to respond immediately.

 

A lot of people think that it is important to look busy all of the time. They spend time on the lowest priority tasks to ensure that they keep up this appearance of being busy. This is not helpful as it means that you are not prioritizing your most important tasks and completing these first.

 

It’s all about Quality and not Speed

 

Some people want to complete all of their tasks as fast as possible. They derive a lot of satisfaction from ticking off the tasks on their list and breath a big sigh of relief when they are all done. You need to be careful with this as you are likely to be putting speed before quality.

 

If you do not complete a task in a quality way then you will probably have to do it again. Maybe you are overwhelmed by the number of tasks on your list. Be calm and examine your tasks properly. Focus on a quality outcome and don’t worry about carrying forward some low priority tasks to the next day.

 

Be Organized

 

Not being able to find something fast that you need to complete a task can cause you to lose your focus. If you are disorganized with your computer and your life in general then you will increase the chances of this happening.

 

It is not a difficult thing to get organized. You create a place for everything and ensure that everything is in its place. When you are able to find anything that you need quickly it will be a lot easier for you to regain your focus for the task.

 

Use a Refocusing Object

 

You can add an object to your work environment that will remind you to refocus if your focus is broken. This can be a simple object such as a candle, a toy, a small statue or anything else that will do the job.

 

Be sure to form a strong association with regaining your focus easily with this object. If you lose your focus then a quick glance at this object will tell you that you need to get your focus back. It may take a while for this to work for you but in a short time you will find that your refocusing object can really help you.