You’ve already got experience speaking…maybe even lots of experience. But it’s been a while since you last spoke, and for some reason, you are reluctant or nervous about starting up again. You wonder how to make the transition, what to practice, and how to prepare.
In speaking, you have to understand that the purpose of any speech or presentation is not for you to be perfect or look good, but to give your audience something of value. The reason for you to speak in public is always about what your audience can get from your speech or presentation, why they are there listening to you, and what they want or need.
Whether you are new or experienced in speaking, or speaker in transitional stage (as we discussed here), these are the must-do preparations for all speakers.
1. Ask the Right Questions
The questions you ask yourself reflect where your focus is. Asking yourself the right questions will help you shift your focus and become a more relevant and engaging speaker. The next time before you give a speech, ask yourself the following questions.
“Who is the audience?”
“What is most important to them?”
“What is their current level of knowledge?”
“What do they want or need to know about this topic?”
These questions will help you take your mind off yourself and take interest in your audience. They’ll help you focus on the message you are going to give and how it will benefit your audience.
If you can’t answer any of the above questions, now it’s your turn to do some homework and preparation.
2. Anticipate the Positive Outcome
When you feel reluctant or nervous about starting up again, what is stopping you? Is it the possible scenario in your mind that things will go wrong? Anticipating things will go wrong will only make you more nervous and scared, and stop you from moving forward.
Successful athletes never anticipate what will go wrong or what won’t work before their performance. Instead, they anticipate the best of their performance and visualize it. If you want to give value to your audience, negative anticipations will never bring you there.
Start from today, engage yourself in the positive anticipations before any presentation, and see yourself stand erectly, breathe freely and with ease, speak confidently and deliver smoothly. You are sure to get the best outcome you anticipate.
3. Accept Imperfection
All speakers make mistakes. Well-known speaker, Patricia Fripp, once quoted speaker Doc Blakely, “There are three types of speakers: those who have bombed; those who will bomb; and those who will bomb again.”
Perfection is not the goal of public speaking. Neither does your audience expect perfection from you. They are more concerned about what they can walk away with. If you can address the interest of your audience and give them something of value, they will consider you as success.
Public speaking improvement is an incremental process. Everyone makes mistakes. What’s more important is that you learn from your mistakes, and keep building on the experiences and skills you have developed, so that you will get better and better. A good place for you to make mistakes and grow is Toastmasters. It also provides you numerous opportunities to brush up on your skills.
It really doesn’t matter how long you have left speaking, or even how long you have been in speaking, every speaker is making mistakes and learning every day.
(This article is published in The Strait Times here: Focus on Your Audience)
