Steps to transform yourself into an potent speaker
The horror of addressing a gathering is almost equal or sometimes greater than the fear of death. It is hard to understand where this scare stems from, for some it is uncomfortable to be closely watched by unknown people, the fear of making mistakes while delivering a talk, or whatever it may be. By following a systematic approach one can slowly but surely transform into a powerful orator.
First and foremost understand the genre of your listeners. You should gain an insight into who comprises your audience, demographics, professions, age-groups, etc. An understanding into the interests of a majority of the audience, what they are expecting you to say, what they would like to hear makes you more confident as you prepare. Treat every talk like a conversation and not a public speech, you will feel much better.
Determine well in advance what kind of response you want from your listeners after your talk. This makes the heart of your speech. It is easy to develop a winning speech by concentrating and preparing for its outcome rather than on the trivialities. This helps you to be precise, to the point and powerful.
Make it a point to tell a tale, incident in your life or even a funny anecdote connected to your talk. This immediately draws the attention of readers and makes them concentrate. A beginning with questions also makes the speech absorbing. Talk to the audience about something they can easily relate to, they will respond better to your speech. This also makes your talking a lot simpler. But make sure that the tale/ anecdote you recount is related to your speech topic and you have to put efforts to splice it to your story.
While delivering a sales presentation, talk about the value your product will give your listeners and not on its features. Potential customers would like to know their benefits and not how your product functions. Relate examples to illustrate your point (s).
It is good to use computer, slides, charts and other media to make your presentation more powerful but over-dependence on them will prove a debacle to your speech. These visual aids should be used to illustrate the most important points. If you have to use media use something that would make your talk interactive, like fill in the blank charts, question answers etc. these simple techniques help drive home the message better than any presentation.
End your talk with a statement that reiterates your opening paragraph. Remember that your audience takes in information in pieces of data, so while you talk about the big picture, break it into pieces and give them small bits to think and absorb.
Begin slowly and follow the above steps and you will surely overcome your stage fear and soon emerge a highly influential public speaker.
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