Sometimes a Couple of Simple Rules Are All That's Required to Help You Speak to a Group.
Public speaking can be a stressful situation for many people. But it can also be very rewarding, both for you and your business. Here are a couple of things to keep in mind for your next speaking engagement:
BEGIN YOUR SPEECH "ON TOPIC"
It seems like a lot of old public speaking books believe in the strategy of telling the audience a joke at the beginning of a speech in order to break the ice.
That isn't a bad idea, but it won't work if you JUST tell a joke. Rather, make sure that your joke (or story, or example) fits in with the topic of your speech. It's my belief that speeches should be unified from beginning to end. That means that everything should relate to your main point.
In other words, if you use a joke or story, use one that will introduce your topic and main point. This kind of joke will be much more powerful than one that is just funny.
There's an old story about a speaker who walked up to the podium and said "Sex" in a loud voice. After a long pause, he continued, "Now that I have your attention, let's get on with the annual budget report."
While this approach will probably wake an audience up, it does nothing to get them ready for the rest of the speech. In fact, doing this kind of thing will probably turn the important part of your talk into one big letdown.
IF YOU FORGET, DON'T PANIC
One of the worst fears that public speakers have is that they will forget their speech. I'm sure none of us would want to feel the embarrassment of standing in front of an audience not knowing what to say next.
If you do happen to experience a "memory blank" in your speech, there are some things that you should keep in mind. First, DON'T PANIC! The worst thing you can do is to get upset and immediately start apologizing to the audience or going "Um, Um, Um" over and over again.
Instead of panicking, just remain quiet, keep eye contact with the audience, and try to remember what it was that you were going to say. What may seem an eternity to you will only be a second or two to the audience, and your loss of memory will only seem like a pause to them--as long as you don't announce that you've made a mistake.
To prevent embarrassment, you should always have a back up to your memory--a few notecards with a simple outline of your speech is always nice to have, even if it remains in your pocket the whole time.
Finally, remember that audiences are usually more forgiving than we normally give them credit for. Most groups don't care if you have to stop to take a look at your notes, as long a you provide them with good information.
Ron Sathoff is manager of
http://InternetWriters.com
He offers a full range of services to business and professional speakers, including speech writing and editing, personal coaching, and presentation development. You can reach him by calling 801-328-9006. You may also email him: ron@drnunley.com
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