Giving Speeches 101

Mastering Your Fear of Public Speaking

© Estela Kennen

Dec 20, 2006

Does the mere thought of giving a speech make you break out in sweat? Worry not, you’ve been talking your whole life. Speaking in front of an audience is not meant to be torture (honest!), and it doesn’t have to be hard, either, if you keep the following suggestions in mind:

Preparing the Speech

• “Pick a topic that is dear to you,” advises Dr. Estela Lopez, Vice Chancellor of the Connecticut State University System. “It is always more convincing to talk about things that we enjoy and that are important to us.”
• Plan out the overall structure, suggests Dr. Jon Haidt, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, VA. “Keep the message focused by making sure all parts of the speech contribute to it.”
• When writing the speech, remember to mix anecdotes, or personal stories, with facts. They will make the talk more interesting.
• Practice your speech. Say it out loud—sometimes written words sound odd when spoken. Practice in front of an audience, they can provide a new perspective. Videotape yourself, if possible. Practice the speech in your head on your way to the presentation. It really doesn’t matter how, just practice, practice, practice. It will help decrease anxiety.

Giving the Speech

• Get there early, so you have time to double-check everything. Remember that Murphy’s Law applies double when it comes to public speaking.
• Sweaty palms, racing heart, butterflies in the stomach… what we think of as stage fright is actually our nervous systems’ “fight or flight” response. It’s the body’s normal reaction to a scary situation. Just realize that speaking in public will probably make you feel nervous. Take a couple of deep breaths, then forget about it. Concentrate on your ideas instead.
• Smile, even if you have to force it. Smiling will make you feel better and will make the audience more sympathetic towards you.
• Maintain eye contact with your audience. “Look all around the room,” suggests lawyer Isaac Kennen from Lafayette, CO. “That way people feel you’re giving the speech to everybody.”
• Avoid fillers such as “um” and “like”. Instead, if you get flustered, crack a joke (probably about how nervous you are!) The audience will understand what you are going through, and you’ll get extra time to reorganize your thoughts.
• “Be flexible,” says William Wu, an alum of Washington University in St. Louis. “If your audience has a puzzled look, be willing to expand on that point. If your audience looks bored, liven things up a bit.”

The speech will be over before you know it. Then it’s on to more pleasant things, like budget reports. A parting thought: don’t be too critical of yourself. Nobody’s perfect, but you have to put yourself out there. Speaking in public will get easier with practice.

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