We all sometimes have to speak to the public: during workshops, interviews, presentations and even family feasts. For many people, especially introverts, these moments are stressful. Fortunately, you can avoid panic or at least noticeably reduce its degree by following the advice of psychologists.
Today we are going to share with you 10 useful life hacks for those who have to speak in public.
Why is it important to be able to perform in front of an audience
I think it's worth starting with why everyone needs to be able to speak in public. Many of you may argue: I am not an actor, not a teacher, or even a sales manager, why would I need this? But if you think about it, then situations similar to public speaking are constantly encountered in our everyday life.
From graduation to a job interview, to a toast at a family's wedding, to explaining the rules of the game to your own child and his friends, these are situations in which you need to keep the audience's attention for a certain period of time, and it can often be difficult.
Fear of public speaking is one of the most common human phobias. Even if you do not panic, it is possible that the need to prepare a speech or presentation gives you some discomfort. But this sensation can be learned to control, including with the help of a number of tips that you will see below.
Psychologists say that in the first place, as with any other fear, it is worthwhile to vividly imagine the worst-case scenario. What can go wrong during a public speaking? Nowadays, no one is showered with rotten tomatoes! Most likely, the worst thing that can happen is if you mumble indistinctly or forget the prepared text. But we have all experienced similar moments in our lives more than once or twice, starting with unsuccessful answers at the blackboard. Has anyone died from this momentary humiliation? Moreover, do you still remember them? Believe me, those who should listen to you in half of the cases will not notice that something went wrong, and in the rest they will forget about it the next day. Nothing bad will happen, even if your speech is not brilliant. However, making this whole process much less stressful is not so difficult. Let's look at some ideas on how to do this.
So, let's turn to specific advice from psychologists.
1. Observe other people speaking in public.
Nothing teaches us more clearly than living examples. If you know public speaking is your problem, start by listening carefully to other people. Go to conferences, lectures, watch videos on YouTube - whichever is more convenient for you. I bet that you will meet both cool performances, looking at which you want to say: “Oh, I want to be like this guy!”, And much less successful ones, which will allow you to be less strict about yourself, thinking: stronger than me! "
2. Relax.
Let's go back to what we said above: believe me, nothing bad will happen to you, even if you fail your speech.
Of course, if we are thoughtfully preparing our performance, we find it very important to have it brilliantly. But even if something goes wrong, believe me, those around you will quickly forget about it or not even notice. Yes, perhaps you will not fulfill some goal: you will not convince investors, you will not find partners, you will not convey your idea, etc. But all this is definitely not the end of the world and is not worth so many nerves spent.
3. Prepare everything in advance.
Of course, if public speaking is not your thing, be sure to do your homework. Write the text of your speech or at least the main theses, practice at home - in front of the mirror or in front of your family.
If you need to speak at an event, never arrive at the last minute. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the site, make sure you have everything you need (presentations, screens, materials, etc.). The more you feel confident that the rest of your speech is under control, the less you will worry about your speech.
Well-tuned technical means are an important part of the success of any speech 4. Study your audience.
The lion's share of the features of your speech depends on who will listen to you. If you have the opportunity to find out in advance who will be your audience, then you can try to guess what exactly they want to hear from you, which means immediately grab their attention.
For example, if you are serving as a guest lecturer at educational institution or at a master class, it is better to know in advance what is the approximate age of the audience, as well as what is their average knowledge of your topic. This will help to avoid both too complex and, therefore, incomprehensible and boring lecture, and too simple, from which your listeners will not learn anything new.
Also, knowing the interests of the intended audience will help you find jokes or deviations from the topic that will certainly adorn any public speaking.
5. Involve the audience in your presentation.
If you've studied your audience, then this is the next logical step. You can ask questions, forcing the audience to answer or raise their hands (for example, “How many of you have already heard of ...?”), Or joke about topics they are familiar with.
In addition, psychologists emphasize the importance of eye contact: try to look at your audience or at someone specific in the room or class, this will help your speech sound more convincing. If the speaker looks exclusively at the floor or at the ceiling, nothing prevents the listeners from burying themselves in smartphones and finally losing interest in his speech.
6. Tell life stories.
People love to listen to stories from personal experience... Sometimes a short story about how you yourself, for example, was able to solve a problem with the help of what you are now trying to sell, works ten times more convincing than any statistics.
In this case, of course, brevity is important: do not delve into the details of your personal life too thoroughly, try to quickly return to the main topic.
7. Take your time.
One of the most common mistakes in public speaking is incorrect speech topics. Most of us in life speak much faster than is acceptable for a lecture or presentation. Try to pause if you feel that you have spoken too quickly, take a sip of water, take a breath.
You can also arrange with a friend or relative present in the room that he will give you a signal if you are in too much of a hurry.
8. Move!
Notice that almost all successful speakers walk around the room and gesture while speaking. Take an example from them, do not hide behind a pulpit or a table!
At conferences, long presentations and other work events, people often have to listen to speeches for hours, so their attention is already deliberately distracted. If you move, smile and show your energy in every way, you are much more likely to be heard.
9. Prepare good questions.
You will hardly forget to prepare your speech in advance, but it is equally important to prepare questions and answers on your topic. Why is this needed? Remember how many times at various events you saw a similar picture: a person finishes a speech, asks: “Does anyone have questions?”, And in response - silence. You should take the time to ask questions, but you can never guarantee that someone will really want to ask you. In this case, you can get out of the situation as follows: "I am often asked the following question ..." They themselves asked the question - they themselves answered. Everything's under control!
10. Do not refuse to communicate with the audience after the performance.
Chances are, most of the audience will quickly forget what you were talking about, and that's okay. But people will definitely appreciate it if you were polite, considerate, and took the time to answer their questions.
Conclusion
Speaking in front of an audience is not necessarily an innate talent. Most often it is a skill that can be developed and improved. Remember that Demosthenes, the legendary orator of ancient Athens, was tongue-tied in his youth and learned to speak clearly, picking pebbles in his mouth, and the famous comedian Jim Carrey at the beginning of his career struggled with a real phobia of public speaking. Do your homework, exercise in front of the mirror, try to stay calm - and you will succeed! Good luck!
In this article, you will learn:
- What are the rules of public speaking
- What are the rules for preparing a public speech
- What psychological techniques can be used in public speaking
Public speaking is a stressful situation for anyone. Even the most brilliant orators, who have spent hundreds of hours on stage, confirm this. Why is this happening? Any public speech is the expression of your own thoughts and ideas. Their successful or unsuccessful expression immediately affects the person's reputation, his assessment as an expert, a specialist. Public speaking rules are generally quite universal. You can speak to different groups of people - these can be ministers and bankers, students and schoolchildren, journalists, colleagues, and even prisoners. But all of them, first of all, will be your listeners, and you need to know a few rules that will help you structure and present information correctly, stay calm and keep the situation under your control.
Public speaking: preparation rules
Any public speech should be thoroughly prepared. The famous psychologist D. Carnegie has a whole book that contains recommendations and rules for preparing a public speech. The main idea: “You need to know what you want to say and what the audience wants to hear. Only based on this knowledge, you can correctly convey information and convince to believe yourself. "
First, let's analyze what types of performances are:
- Improvisation. This type of performance does not need preparation, but requires a very deep knowledge of the material and topic. In this case, the speaker expresses theses on the given topic, answers any questions from the audience easily and reasonably. Only experienced speakers and masters of their craft can do this. Such were Trotsky, Lenin and Mechnikov.
- Speech by synopsis. Preparation goes on for each item, which is worked out in advance. The answers to possible questions that may arise during the performance are also prescribed.
- Full text preparation. Most often, you can see such a report from politicians. Sometimes their answers to the questions asked do not quite coincide, because they are not accustomed to deviating from the previously composed text.
How to plan your presentation from start to finish and grab the audience's attention? Find out on the training program “
- Performing without using prompts. The prepared text is learned by heart, spoken out during rehearsals, but in this case the rules of public speaking do not provide for the opportunity to answer additional questions.
An especially valuable quality of the orator's skill is the ability to take into account the mood of the audience and the ability to adapt to various changing circumstances in his speech.
Preparation of the abstract of the speech
What are the rules of public speaking. Let's start with preparation. Take notes on issues that are relevant to the topic of the talk or the specifics of your topic, industry or profession. D. Carnegie advises: "Write down other people's and, of course, your thoughts on scraps of paper - it's so easy to collect and classify."
- Make a list of facts that are relevant to the topic and you may need to report.
- Decide on the main, interesting, informative facts, boldly cross out secondary or only indirectly related to the case.
- Return to the topic of the report and see what data you may lack to fully disclose the topic in the manner in which the materials were selected.
Be sure to back up your theses with facts, figures, statistics, examples. It is better if you have several points for each thesis that support the main idea.
The Public Speaking Guidelines also recommend that you carefully consider the language when you write the summary of your speech. Do not shorten sentences, write full expanded forms. Include in your notes not questions, but specific statements that you could use during a public speech.
Working with notes
Of course, all the lecturers used the prepared materials differently during their presentations. For example, Ch. Chaplin, who did not feel very comfortable in front of the microphone, always kept the full text of his speech before his eyes and tried not to deviate from it. And the renowned lecturer II Mechnikov prepared with particular care for all the speeches, but did not take notes. His speech has always been a masterful improvisation.
The rules for public speaking of the famous chemist S.N. Reformatsky were as follows: he wrote down the entire text of the lecture, and then read it at home. As a rule, he took notes with him to the pulpit, but did not look into them. The famous historian V.O. Klyuchevsky had the ability to tell interesting stories, relying on the prepared speech plan, and the physiologist I.M.Sechenov, before the lecture, uttered it in full in a whisper. The renowned orator V. I. Lenin prepared small pieces of paper with theses, with the help of which he built a public speech.
Of course, only a few can perform in front of the public without any excitement. But if you speak several times with the same topic, then each time your confidence will only grow. You will be much more free to own the material. When preparing, try to tell more, pronounce the text, and not just read. Over time, by applying the rules of speaking in public, you will succeed in this business as well. Just remember, even the most experienced speakers always rehearse their speech, do not neglect this important stage.
Rehearsal for a future speech
Feel free to discuss the topic that will be the subject of your talk in an informal setting. Rehearse in front of friends, family, talk to people who can support you.
But how, when and how much is better to rehearse a future speech? The more often the better! Use every opportunity for this. Walking down the street - repeat it to yourself, at home or in the office, you can repeat it with gestures, speaking in a full voice, making accents in important places.
D. Carnegie's public speaking rules state: play a kind of game at home with your family or friends - giving speeches. You can choose topics in which you are strong and in three minutes try to convey it as brightly and informatively as possible to your listeners.
Many have heard the recommendation for working with a mirror, but most often it only distracts novice speakers. Leading psychologists, for example O. Ernst, even write about this method as extremely harmful. First and foremost, you need to focus on the topic and meaning of the speech being spoken.
Public Speaking Rules: Psychology
By the time of your public presentation, you need to approach in excellent psychological and physical condition... Don't worry about your fears, after all, this is just a performance. O. Ernst wrote: "Not a single speaker has ever fainted on the podium, even if his speech was really below any criticism."
The existing rules for public speaking contain several important points:
- Pay close attention not to your experiences, but to the content of your speech.
- You should not tell the audience absolutely all the prepared material, leave room for questions, if any. And the thought that you know a lot more than you are speaking in this lecture will greatly increase your self-confidence.
- You don't have to prepare on the day of the show, it is better to finish all the preparations the night before.
- Before the performance, you should not start new business or engage in new, unusual activities for you. They will transfer all your attention and direction of thoughts to themselves.
- Try to have a light lunch or breakfast, do not overeat before an important presentation.
If you still feel that the excitement does not leave you, the main thing is to understand what is the reason for your anxiety. Most often these are:
- Lack of practical experience in such speeches.
- Features associated with your personality traits: shyness, restraint, excessive anxiety, self-doubt.
- Doubt about the interest of the audience.
- The fact of an unsuccessful performance in the past.
- Strong emotions associated with excitement and stressful situations.
If your anxiety is mainly related to the reaction of the listeners, then there are the following rules for public speaking:
- choose a viewer who is positive towards you and tell him / her in the eyes, as if you are alone in this hall;
- if you feel that contact has been established, you can nod slightly and look at your neighbor and look into his eyes;
- try to maintain a friendly and open expression on your face;
- try to smile more often and then you will see how the mood in the hall will change.
If your anxiety is related to your own state, then carefully study these rules of public speaking:
- Practice speaking to the public as often as possible, participate in public discussions, conversations, ask questions.
- During this time, you will find such an inner state that instills confidence in you and helps you feel successful. For everyone, this feeling will be different. Someone needs to feel the "joy of flying", someone needs to feel as focused as possible, concentrated on their topic, and someone is helped by a slight excitement, which makes him slightly excited and joyful.
- Think about what kind of emotional response you want from your audience, what message you want the audience to convey.
- Before going on stage, be sure to “warm up”. You can talk to someone from the audience or host, or just walk around the room.
General rules for making a public speech:
- Ideally, if you have the opportunity to rehearse the night before in the room where the performance will take place. You can look around the hall, rehearse the exit, give a speech, practice posture, gestures, voice volume, any important turning points in your speech.
- Before bed, visualize the entire flow of your presentation. How the event starts, how the audience gathers, how you go on stage, what you say, where you look. Follow the speech to the end and feel how wonderful you handled it.
- A few hours before you go on stage, in your imagination go through the outline of your speech, fix the key moments of the speech in your mind and feel the joy that will overwhelm you after a successful speech.
Rules for Successful Public Speaking: Psychotechnics
One of the secrets of communicating with the audience lies in a certain psychotechnique. You need to make eye contact and show your interest in her.
When you enter the stage or pulpit, do not rush to immediately start your speech, pause, look around, look at the audience, smile if appropriate. By making eye contact with the audience, you greet them and make it clear that you are here especially for them. Therefore, it is important to observe it during the performance.
Remember to maintain eye contact even if you are delivering a scientific presentation, where frequent reference to your notes is the norm. Subconsciously, a person feels when they pay attention to him: a look can last only a split second, but he makes it clear that something important and valuable is happening to him. Therefore, try not only to look around the hall, but also to establish eye-to-eye contact with the audience.
When you practice the psychotechnique of establishing contact with the audience, it is very important to understand that the most great importance has the emotional content of your look. What is in it - a disposition to the audience or indifferent indifference, courage or fear. In the eyes, all our emotions are read without difficulty, which means that listeners, as a rule, accurately see and feel what is happening in your soul.
So, the main rules of speaking in public are - look around, make eye contact with the audience, concentrate your attention on the subject of your speech.
Remember, the first words of your talk are the most important, it is at this moment that the audience determines whether they will listen to you or continue to hover in the clouds. There are several techniques you can use to keep your audience's attention.
- Interesting fact. One of the most effective ways to attract the attention of any audience is to tell a curious fact that is directly related to the topic of the speech: "Do you know that ..." or "Have you thought that ..."
- Colorful presentation. The presentation helps to structure and regulate the performance. You can outline the main messages or feedback rules on the slides. The rules of public speaking invite you to formulate this aspect as follows: “I have fifteen minutes to talk about ...”, “During my speech, I would like to address the following questions ...”, “If you have any questions during your speech, you can ask them by the end of the report ”.
- Questions. If possible in your format, be sure to use this attention grabbing technique. Questions make you involuntarily look for answers, even if they are not spoken aloud, so they will already listen to you more attentively.
- A joke, anecdote. It is important to keep some intrigue and not immediately reveal the connection between the anecdote and the topic of the speech. But the connection must exist without fail. Remember that the joke must be tolerant and attractive to the majority in order to create the right mood.
- Compliment the audience. Treat a compliment as a sign of respect and recognition from the public. A correctly spoken compliment will evoke a grateful response from the audience. Try not to overplay or exaggerate the weight of the compliment so that it is not perceived as a mockery. It is better if the compliment is short, unambiguous, reflecting reality. It can be expressed not only personally to the audience, but also refer to their profession or company.
Techniques for attracting and keeping audience attention
Skillful speakers use some of the rules of speaking in public to grab and hold the audience's attention:
- Contrasting stimuli. This rule consists in changing the type of signal for receiving information. Most often, you can change the audio and video signals. The speaker, for example, can pause for a long time, slow down or speed up the rate of speech. Also, an example of a contrasting stimulus can be movement across the stage. At first, the speaker can stand still and begin to move during the presentation, or vice versa.
- Addressing topical issues. For each person in a certain period of life, there are relevant, exciting topics. As a rule, in a group of people, large or small, these problems are identical or very similar. Then by addressing these topics of concern to them, you can grab the attention of your audience. In this method, the source of attention will be the significance of the information.
- Referring to authoritative sources. The rules of public speaking have long included advice to refer to authoritative sources. Quotes from great people, profound statements are often used in their speech technique by many orators. Success depends on several factors: relevance, completeness of the statement, authority of the source.
- Address questions. This type of question is addressed to those present in the hall. And even rhetorical questions increase the attention of the audience.
- Humor. A good joke from a speaker always evokes pleasant emotions in the audience, draws attention to it, evokes sympathy and interest. Oftentimes, humor can relieve tension and prepare the audience for new information. And although most often humor draws attention not to the topic of the speech, but to the speaker himself, it should be used correctly.
I stand on the stage, looking over the heads of hundreds of people, not taking their eyes off me - they are waiting for me to speak, to say at least something - and an inner voice reminds me: "You are not the right person for this."
I opened the TEDx conference with my talk, which meant I had to set the tone for the whole event. This is a huge responsibility and, in addition, one of the most important performances in my life. In any other circumstance, I would answer my inner voice: “Yes, you are right. I shouldn't be here. I'm an introvert. I am an editor. I cannot even finish a sentence in a conversation with my own wife without thinking about what could be said differently. "
But fortunately, I prepared in advance. I prepared not only a speech, but also knew how to cope with such destructive impulses. I knew what to say, I believed in what I was going to say, I had a plan in case the ideal circumstances in which I prepared would not be so in reality.
Today I can stand on stage in front of thousands of people and speak confidently about what I think. If I'm lucky, a few gimmicks and a couple of jokes aren't exactly a failure. But it was not always so.
1. Do not talk about what you do not understand
Sounds like useless, obvious advice. This is not true. If you follow it perfectly, you will not really need the rest of the points from this article - you will do everything well anyway.
One day, after a few speeches, when you have established yourself as a good speaker, you will have the opportunity to speak somewhere in distant places with pleasant names. There is one catch - the content. Perhaps you have established yourself as an expert on canary mating games, and here you receive an email inviting you to attend a conference and tell about global trends in paper clip sales.
You must thank for the invitation and refuse politely.
The reason is simple: you don't know what to say about it. Even if you try to gather information in a short time, you still won't get a good presentation - you are not interested in the topic itself. You don't really want to talk about it and the inviting party is not interested in you coming up with a good story. They just want you to attend the event because they saw your video and thought you were a famous person.
Therefore, this simple advice is difficult to follow. You are a beginner, you want to stand out, this seems like a great opportunity for you.
If you have ever bought a thing with the hope that it will work like this, but in reality it does not work like that (think of the advertising video that pushed you to a rash purchase), then you understand the disappointment that awaits both parties from the very beginning. ...
2. Specify transitions in the script and nothing else
If you are like me, inside you have a stern editor who sits on your shoulder with a red marker in his hands and a pair of glasses on his nose, ready to casually throw: “Two! And stay after school, ”for every sentence you said. It doesn't matter what you said: the feeling of what could have been said better never leaves you.
When people like us usually write a script or a plan. When you write a script, there is every chance of finding the correct wording.
As the ancient Chinese strategist and warrior Sun Tzu wrote: "No plan survives the first encounter with the enemy." This is the main problem detailed plan. In our case, of course, there is no enemy, but there is a world full of uncertainty. One has only to step on the stage, everything becomes for real and there is no second take. The more detailed your script, the more likely it is to screw things up. When you're new to the world of public speaking, standing on stage and trying to remember what's next is the last thing you need.
So what should you do instead? Just improvise? Not really.
While a detailed scenario will give you more problems than help, you will need a different kind of plan. You need to build on the starting points in your story (you know, there are things that you can't forget about, even if you try hard) and write down the moments of transitions from one thought to another.
Personal stories work well because:
- The audience loves them, they help to establish communication.
- You don't need to write them down because you already remember them.
We tell each other stories for as long as we are human. This is how we conveyed information long before the invention of paper. We are genetically programmed to remember them (so they are easier to present), and more importantly, the audience is genetically programmed to listen to them (and become happier by listening to stories).
Since the same story can be freely told differently each time, you do not need to write everything down exactly to the last word. Enough basic points, your human inclinations will take care of the rest. Writing down the main points will help you connect the stories.
3. Practice a little more than you need to.
My friend Chris Guillebeau, founder and presenter of The World Domination Summit, is committed to delivering at least 10 talks every weekend throughout the year. Sometimes he tells a story. On another occasion, reminds the audience of 15 important things that were discussed before lunch break.
As a WDS member and aspiring speaker, I once asked him: "How do you remember everything that needs to be said, and in full, every time you go on stage?" I was hoping for a secret life hack, but his answer - and this is the truth - was the most ordinary: "I practice a lot."
Now I am doing this. And it works. Whenever I have to give a speech, I rehearse at least 2-3 times. It takes time, it is often boring, it takes days or weeks, and you really don't feel like practicing again. But you are not doing this for yourself. You are doing this for your audience. If you want to be remembered by her, you have to plunge into unattractive, boring, repetitive work.
4. Break your talk into parts
Chris Guillibault advised not only to practice a lot. He also mentioned that he is working on separate parts. He tries to break his presentation into pieces and then puts them together.
Now I am doing the same, and it reduces the preparation time. As I work on the parts, I can design and decide on different parts of the presentation in parallel. If I stumble on some piece of text in the middle (or, even worse, at the very beginning), I don't have to wait for the perfect working state without doing anything - I can work on other parts until I settle the issue with the problematic one.
Finish your talk faster, practice more time, until it becomes a habit. Nothing contributes to confidence more than success, and nothing contributes to success more than constant practice.
Some people exercise just as much as they need to. When I say practice more, I mean you have to rehearse more than you need to.
5. Reduce speed. Come down slowly
A common problem with all introverts like me is that once we start talking, we start chasing the thoughts we were trying to get rid of. My head is an idea generator that is constantly moving forward. On the contrary, my mouth speaks slowly, trying not to make a mistake.
But one fine moment it breaks through you, and you release all the accumulated thoughts outside. Trying to keep up with your brain is the same as if the ant was trying to keep the bull racing down the mountainside. But trying to speed up your speech in order to pronounce everything that was born in your head leads to a strictly opposite effect: you start to stutter, get lost, repeat yourself. Therefore, you get even more nervous and move away from the planned speech.
If your idea is important, then it deserves all the time it takes to express it. A more useful approach is to think more slowly. Not very slowly, of course, rather with more care.
This problem arises from carelessness: you do not connect thoughts to each other, but instead you start jumping from one to the other. A few jumps from the road - and you can hardly remember where you are.
It is easy to fixate on one thought. When you notice that your thoughts have taken you far ahead, just go back and repeat the desired idea.
6. Don't get lost!
As I was preparing to speak at TEDx, I called my friend Mike Pacchione, a public speaking expert, to point out the flaws. He caught me on the fact that I often strayed from the topic.
This happens when the idea you are talking about disappears into nowhere and you decide to follow it. The problem is that mind wandering rarely ends with one idea. As soon as you get lost once, you continue to sink deeper into the rabbit hole.
The problem is not that you cannot tell interesting stories when you wander, but that as soon as you start wandering, you are completely lost. How does a tourist get lost in the forest? He goes one step off the path to look at the plants. And then: "Oh, mushrooms" - and a few more steps to the side. “Hey, that tree in front looks great,” and only when he decides to go back, he realizes that he has no idea how to do it.
The temptation to overwhelm in thoughts can be high, but then it is very difficult to get back on the right path.
There are two practical ways to solve this problem. The first is to follow tip # 3 and practice a lot. The more you practice, the more of your own stories you remember and know where they can lead. Another solution is that the only thing that can help when you stand on stage and feel that you are drifting away from the topic is to get the unnecessary thoughts out of your head.
Your brain doesn't want to follow abstract thoughts; it wants to process them. The best way to stay on track is to remind yourself that you can think about them ... but not right now. Get them out of your head. Perhaps they can be used during the delivery of the same report in the future. But, for heaven's sake, don't try to use them now.
7. Create a soothing ritual
My heart was about to pierce my ribcage. I felt that all the muscles were tense, and the field of vision was beginning to narrow. Breathing began to quicken. "What's happening?" I asked myself. I was on the verge of a panic attack. I had to step onto the stage to deliver the most important speech of my life, but the only thing I could think about was that I was going to send everything to hell. This gave rise to a stressful reaction, and everything rolled downhill.
Fortunately, I was instructed on what to do if this happens. Vanessa Van Edwards, one of the greatest speakers I have had the pleasure to know, helped me prepare. She shared that she herself is also nervous before big presentations. If she hadn't told me that herself, I would never have thought.
What secret is she using? Calming technique. Every good speaker has one, and every good speaker knows that it is necessary to stick to it in order to show your best side.
What Vanessa does: She finds a quiet place where, a few minutes before going on stage, she straightens her back, breathes deeply and represents success.
This may sound a little silly, but it actually works. I myself use this method.
Before a big event, it's completely normal for the body to start releasing a lot of the stress hormone cortisol. We become especially sensitive to stressful situations. Just thousands of years ago, feeling stress and not responding to it could cost you your life.
This doesn't happen often today - I can't remember the reports of "death by indecision" - but our biology is not keeping up with us. The ghastly irony is that the more you allow stress to take hold of you, the more likely you are to make a mistake and perform poorly.
Therefore, check yourself and your stress level before going on stage. Excitement is normal. And nervousness is bad. Always save a few minutes for yourself before leaving to calm down.
8. When you're wrong, keep talking.
I was a huge fan of the television show The Colbert Report. I rarely even missed an episode. These were some of the most popular "news" in live on TV. If you've watched this show, you might have noticed that Steven got the words mixed up in almost every episode. He could construct a phrase so that it lost its meaning, he could miss a word or pronounce it incorrectly.
But you may not have noticed this, because outwardly Colbert did not react in any way. When he made a mistake, he didn't stumble or try to fix it. He just kept talking because he knew what all introverted public speakers should remember:
context is more important than details.
He could make a mistake and not even pay any attention to it. And no one noticed this, because no one listened attentively to every spoken word. Everyone listened to the context.
Much worse than a small mistake is drawing attention to it. If you stumble, use your sense of humor to smooth things over. Laugh it off and move on.
9. Remember that the audience wants everything to go well.
Most likely, the simplest advice that everyone gives in a row helped me learn how to use all the previous tips in action:
Always remember that the audience doesn't want you to fail.
When you are worried about a big event ahead, this simple truth can easily be forgotten. Your audience is not going to drive you off the stage. She wants to know what you want to teach them. The congregation is spending their time and possibly money to listen to you. People don't give their time and money for bad experiences. Quite the opposite.
When you get nervous before a show, it's easy to think, "What if someone doesn't like what I say?" This thought starts to spread, and soon you will start asking yourself, "What if everyone hates me?"
This way of thinking leads to poor performances. Don't think so. Don't let yourself turn down this road, because in reality the audience is on your side. She wants you to succeed. And, if you follow these nine tips, you will have all the advantages to be on top.
Sooner or later, every person has to perform in front of an audience. And since the latter is very selfish, this activity can be a lot of hassle. But as Mark Twain used to say: “The audience doesn't expect anything from you from the very beginning,” so don't be nervous, but it's a good idea to use a few helpful tips and review examples of public speaking.
Where to begin?
Any example of public speaking begins with the correct preparation of the speech. No matter how wonderful the orator's text may seem, you need to understand that there is remarkable work and long hours of practice behind it.
Every successful public speaking example begins with a speech preparation. Mark Twain at one time did not say in vain that it took about three weeks to prepare an impromptu. Any performance, regardless of its type and the pursued goal, must be prepared in advance. First, you need to make the so-called "skeleton" of the performance. To do this, you need to decide on the following positions:
- Understand the motivation of the people who came to listen to the speech.
- Determine the main idea of \u200b\u200bthe speech.
- Split this idea into several component parts (subheadings).
- Designate keywords. They will need to be repeated several times in the speech so that the listeners better remember what, in fact, it is about.
- Each speech should have a clear outline and structure. The speech should consist of an introduction, main part and conclusions.
Muscle
When the speaker has decided on the basic structure of his speech, it is necessary to build up “muscles” on this “skeleton”. What can they be made of?
- You can use striking examples from life or literature, the main thing is that they correspond to the main topic.
- To help the listener to visually consolidate the information received, it is worth preparing graphs, slides, pictures, videos, etc.
- You can ask the audience a question during the speech, this will help keep the audience's attention on the main topic.
Introductory part
Particular attention should be paid to the beginning and end of the performance. They play the main role in communication between the speaker and the listener. The introduction helps to get the first impression of the speaker, and the debriefing gives the audience an opportunity to consolidate the information received.
During the preparation of a speech, many questions can arise. For example, how do you start a public speaking? The main thing here is to interest the public from the very beginning. The first impression of the speaker will accompany him throughout his speech, and if you make a mistake, it will be difficult to correct it later.
For example, a witty joke or some kind of interesting fact... You can puzzle the audience with a question or intrigue with a pause. The main thing is to attract attention to yourself. Just do not start to apologize for the fact that the voice is hoarse, this is the first speech, etc. The orator always had to be self-confident, and turn every trouble to his aid. For example, if the speaker is really sick, you should not apologize, but say that due to such and such circumstances, I ask everyone to sit closer so that you can hear me.
End of performance
As for the ending, it is important here to take stock of the entire speech, highlight the main thoughts and recall the problems raised. The last phrases should have a certain emotional message and be expressive, only in this way the listener can not only reward the speaker with applause, but also become an adherent of his ideas. Although, no matter how much you talk about the correct design of the speech, it will be easier to consider examples of public speaking.
Varieties of public speaking
Examples of public speaking are divided into several types:
- Information... Most of them are reports, lectures, oral answers.
- Protocol and etiquette. Such speeches are used when meeting important guests, making toasts, mourning speech or opening a new establishment.
- Entertaining.Usually they are used for a pleasant pastime, they have an entertaining context, but at the same time convey information. As an example, one can cite the performances of Russian pop humorists E. Petrosyan, E. Stepanenko, M. Zadornov and others.
- Persuasive performance. Such a report must have indisputable facts and evidence that will win the audience to your side. Examples include speeches by famous politicians. For example, Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg Address in 1863, where he assured citizens that not a single soldier died in vain, and this is a necessary sacrifice on the path to freedom.
Be in time in three minutes
In general, the attention of the audience lasts only 15-20 minutes, this is due to psychophysiological reasons. Depending on the variety, oral presentations can last from a few minutes to 1-2 hours. However, there are also some speeches that need to be delivered in 3 minutes. In most cases, these performances are wedding toasts or press conferences. The total length of speech should be between 200 and 405 words. Here's an example of a public speaking for 3 minutes:
“Today the Dalai Lama gave a unique interview to a Russian blogger for the first time. For his YouTube channel, business blogger Dmitry Portnyagin was the first in the CIS to interview the Dalai Lama. Communication with a famous Buddhist took place at a hotel in Delhi, where the monk often stays with his followers. Before starting to communicate, the premises were checked twice: the first was done by the Indian guards, led by a Sikh, and then by the personal guards of His Holiness.
The interview only lasted an hour. During this time, the participants in the conversation were able to discuss political issues, including the competence of Gorbachev, Yeltsin and Putin. Predict the future of Russia, talk about material and spiritual values, mutual understanding between people and the secrets of success. Each question received a detailed answer. The Dalai Lama spoke openly and with humor. At the end, he gave some tips for entrepreneurs and talked about personal safety.
Dmitry Portnyagin did not remain indifferent during the conversation. He showed the Dalai Lama a photograph of his grandfather, said that there was always a photograph of the supreme head of Tibet in his office, so he also became interested in this topic. Saying goodbye to His Holiness, Dmitry presented the Dalai Lama with a hat with earflaps as a keepsake. The monk immediately put on a new outfit and appeared in this form in front of the camera lenses. The full version of the interview can be viewed on the Transformer channel.
Suitable or not?
This sample public speaking text follows all the rules. This short speech fully covers the topic of the video presentation on the YouTube channel. It tells about the participants, the location of the interview, the questions that were raised and the general mood that was present during the conversation.
At the end of the press release, the speaker invites listeners to watch the full version of the video. Although the ending can be supplemented with two more sentences, saying that the interview turned out to be successful and informative for everyone.
Alexander I
For speech to be effective, it must be precise and expressive. And these may not always be large amounts of text. You can get your point across with a few strong sentences and vivid comparisons. For example, the public speech of Alexander I to the French ambassadors even before the start of the war sounded as follows:
“Here is small Europe, and this is big Russia (he shows all this on the map). In case of failure, you can only retreat to Paris, and I can run to the edge of Kamchatka! But at the same time, every meter of this land will be hostile to you, even the women will not stop fighting. Russia may lose some battles, but it will never be defeated. "
To say that the ambassadors left impressed is to say nothing. An example of the text of a public speech by Tsar Alexander I amazes readers today. There is not a drop of arrogance here, sheer facts, served under the right "sauce".
Steve Jobs
Steve Jobs' speeches can serve as a striking example of modern oratory. Speaking was definitely not his hobby - it was just a hobby, but he started every presentation of a new product with his own speech. Examples in his performance are as follows:
These are just small fragments of one of his speeches. But how a person motivates!
The right decision
You can give a speech on any topic. Examples of public speaking are not hard to find in print and other media. Speakers usually focus on important social, political and economic issues. Recently, it has become fashionable to give trainings on ways to make money on the Web, present a variety of training programs or draw attention to promotions. Sometimes speakers conduct psychological trainings, discuss religion or philosophy. But no matter what the speaker is talking about, his main goal is to captivate the audience.
An orator is not a person who professionally manipulates pretentious speeches, but one who is able to conduct a simultaneous dialogue with thousands of listeners. He must speak the language of the people who listen to him, understand their problems, find common ground and skillfully lead them to making the right decision.
Business communication
It may seem that it is diverse and has no clear boundaries, this is a public speech. The examples of speeches presented above give a false impression that the texts of the speakers have nothing in common. In fact, they all have one goal: the listener must agree with the speaker's point of view. And this can be done by completely different methods, up to provocation. Although this method is used mainly in court proceedings.
The founder of the Russian legal profession, A.F. Koni, once defended a disabled hunchback. For years a neighbor mocked him, and then one day, unable to bear it, the hunchback grabbed a stone and threw it at it, thereby causing grievous bodily harm. In his public speech, A. F. Koni was as original as no other. He, as expected, addressed the jury: "Gentlemen of the jury!" Then he paused and repeated this phrase four more times, making one minute stops after each call. After the fourth appeal, one of the jurors broke down and blurted out furiously: "Are you kidding me ?!" AF Koni was not taken aback, he expected such a reaction: “I turned to you politely and only 4 times, and you already started to get nervous. My client has listened to insults in his direction for many years. How was he supposed to feel? "
This speech achieved its goal - the defendant was acquitted.
Who feeds you, comrades judges?
History knows many cases with such original performances. Even in the literature, you can find good examples of oratory from which you can teach this art. Thus, in the novel by AM Gorky "Mother", convict Pavel Vlasov spoke at the hearing. He was convicted on political charges and refused to carry out an escape prepared by his comrades only in order to make a speech before the large people who had gathered at the trial.
His speech was full of refrains, where he spoke on behalf of the people, but the main "highlight" of the speech was the culmination: "How can you destroy the workers, those who feed you, comrades judges?" It costs a lot to create such a speech.
Prosperity of the country
Finishing the article, I would like to cite another version of a public speech. An example of a text on the topic "Theft in Japan".
“The prosperity of a country is influenced by many human and economic factors. Among them there is one, almost insignificant fact, which will seem to us fantastic absurdity.
They don't steal in Japan. They don't steal at all. They do not steal in any way. They never steal. People do not lock their apartments and cars. Shops safely put stalls of goods on the streets and safely forget about them. They know: no one will take someone else's.
In this country, you can forget anything, anywhere, and then come back for the loss a few days later. It will remain intact. Every Japanese knows: if something is missing, it probably lies where it was lost, which means it will be found. Whether it's a mobile phone or a wallet, there will still be any thing.
Tipping is not accepted in Japan. The salesperson or waiter will chase you for several blocks to give you your change. Most of the capital's residents ride bicycles, and no one tethers them. Steal a bike ?! This is ridiculous!
Here they know: taking someone else's is a shame. After him, the person will no longer be trusted, he will never wash away from him.
And by the way, about the economy. Officials sacredly follow this rule: taking someone else's is taboo. Not so long ago, a Japanese minister hanged himself, who was suspected of free handling of finances. Not even stealing. Because of this story, the previous prime minister also resigned.
So, what does the country's prosperity depend on? That's right, from theft, or rather, from its absence. "
The speaker is a kind of shooter. He either hits the target and makes everyone bow their heads in front of him, or he smears, and then the discouraged crowd begins to go about their business, ignoring the words of the speaker. Therefore, before speaking to an audience, you need to aim at a specific target. Examples of public speaking leaders will help.
I am many years old, I have a favorite job, the penultimate iPhone and everything that successful people in today's society are supposed to have. At the same time, I am not the most self-confident person, however, when you meet me on the street, you will decide that I am a cynical lucky person who is winked with likes and life itself.
- "He certainly has nothing to complain about!"
Don't deny that too many of us think this way of others.
THIS IS BANAL
Everything is pretty commonplace. In my youth, when choosing a future profession, I tried to proceed from my own problems, the solution of which, in my opinion, would be a qualitative way to become or at least approach the image of the person I always wanted to be.
In my second year in medicine, I realized three things:
- I don't want to be a doctor.
- It is foolish to try to be not who you really are.
- The first two things are not as commonplace as they seem at first glance.
TIE
By the nature of my work, I often go on business trips, make reports and presentations in front of different audiences. Like anyone, every day I run the risk of making a mistake or not being convincing enough to end up ruining a future deal.
I can't afford to fail, show up to a meeting or conference rumpled. I cannot get sick or take offense at the lady who pushed me into the cafe, with a handbag studded with metal spikes. I risk not only myself, but also people who expect results from me, so I created a philosophy that I adhere to not only on weekdays from 9 to 18, but throughout my life.
1. HUMOR
We all remember that at first there was the Word, but contrary to the classical interpretation of the original source, this word – HUMOR. It is only important to remember that each of us has his own, but this does not mean that one should adapt to each.
Do not joke on sensitive political topics and it is better not to get personal. The best way to win over is to open up your humanity. Laugh at yourself, people love that.
I always explain complicated things on my fingers. I really like the association about dough, from which sweet pies can be obtained, which I really like, or maybe pasties, from which I have heartburn.
2. DO NOT SHOOT OUT
No, really, not worth it. Share your knowledge not in the form of “are you an idiot?”, But as if you are talking with a friend. Believe me, if instead of a dry fact in the mode "what are all stupid" you accept friendly concern and say something like: "I recently found out that ...", then they will want to continue the conversation with you and not only about work. They will want to trust you, and this is the next point.
The image of Steve Jobs was clearly registered in my head. Simplicity, conciseness and well-structured openness is a potentially successful case.
3. BE FRIENDS IN ADVANCE
At some point in business, a fashion arose not to keep promises, to seem better than you are and lie to everyone in a row, just to earn more than your neighbor. Today it seems like the Stone Age or fantasy from movies about "brothers".
In business, it is important not so much to be friends in the generally accepted sense of the word, but to be able to trust. When you perform in public, the main task is to prove that you became a friend to the audience even before you took the stage.
Greet everyone and add to your introduction words that speak of your closeness to the audience, for example: "We already know some of you, someone was lucky to work with ...". And in the end, be sure to wish have a nice day - trite, but works with a bang.
4. RECOGNIZE THE RIGHT TO ERROR
I googled (to seem smarter) that at different times the classics talked about mistakes, and found a simple and ingenious phrase, in my opinion: “To be wrong is human, to forgive is divine” (Alexander Pope).
If for some reason you could not avoid a mistake, then admit it, promise to fix it, fix it immediately and come back with thanks. It will be a shame, but everyone knows that nothing tempers from trouble like past mistakes.
It happened to me. Once I made an inaccuracy in the calculation of statistics, in which I was absolutely sure. One of the opponents immediately pointed this out to me. I apologized and took a two minute timeout after the show to figure it out. My colleagues received a little scolding, and I admitted the fact that I was not immune from ridiculous accidents.
5. IT IS POSSIBLE TO HESITATE, DO NOT BE NERVOUS
Shyness is cute. It can work for you, becoming a chip, but nervousness never. Drink any sedatives before performing, but don't expect to be an instant superhero.
Most of us are not afraid of an unfamiliar audience, but of looking like an idiot in our own eyes. Admit to the public that you are shy, and it will become easier for everyone.
I taught at the institute for several years, then spoke a lot in public, and I can assure you that the embarrassment never goes away. Each time you will understand the topic better and a little better in people, but there is no way to just take it and stop worrying.
6. REFER TO SPEECHES OF OTHERS
Public events are very exhausting for spectators and speakers alike. One and a half to two hours of monotonous speeches of speakers in ties, who, suppose, did not get enough sleep, were not speakers, did not prepare, are upset by the engagement of their daughter, and so on. Pick one or two interesting talks from previous speakers and find a way to refer to them in your message.
"... I liked how Mr. X in his report spoke about increasing the yield of ant farms in the context of the growth of technological import substitution ...".
MESSAGE
Over the years, I've read 100,500 million books like "How to Become Charming and Attractive When You're Over 80, You're a Sociopath, and You Have Dyslexia," and so on and so forth, but not a single book has become a reference book.
Be yourself and try to look and feel harmonious, this is really important.
