Articles
10 Tips for Your Speech
Written by: Sigmund Seah
Find your confidence.
Feeling some nervousness before giving a speech is natural and even beneficial, but too much nervousness can be detrimental. Here are some
proven tips on how to control your butterflies and give better presentations:
- Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what to say.
- Rehearse, Rehearse, And Rehearse! Rehearse out loud with everything you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; Practice, pause and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.
- Pause. Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.
- Understand your audience. Know the needs of your audience and match your contents to their needs. Know your material thoroughly. Put what you have to say in a logical sequence. Ensure your speech will be captivating to your audience as well as worth their time and attention.
- Know the setting. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
- Breathed!!. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.
- Visualize. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping – it will boost your confidence.
- Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.
- Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.
- Gain the experience. Mainly, your speech should represent you — as an authority and as a person. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking. A Toastmasters club can provide the experience you need in a safe and friendly environment.
http://www.toastmasters.org/tips.asp
http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html
Structure Your Speech
Written by: Sigmund Seah
Introduction
As a speaker, you may get nervous about being at the mercy of your audience. If you tries to tell a sudden joke with no respond, has trouble reading the introduction, or leaves out key parts which you plan to respond to in your opening, you can have a tough time in the beginning of your speech.
Proper planning of your introduction can eliminate unnecessary anxiety.
Knowing how to introduce a yourself is an important skill and although everyone is expected to be proficient, many of us are uncomfortable when asked to introduce a speaker.
The Purpose of Introductions
The purpose of an introduction is twofold: (i) to gain the audience's attention, and (ii) to motivate the audience to listen attentively.
Members of the audience generally arrive individually and need to coalesce as a group. Frequently, they may have just come from listening to another presentation on a very different topic. They may be in the middle of a conversation with one or more colleagues or friends. They may be thinking about personal, family or business matters. As the introducer, it's your role to bring the audience together and focus their attention on the speaker.
Secondly, just because the audience is present, it doesn't necessarily mean that they are there to listen. Perhaps they came to be seen, to escape something else or to meet with another attendee. You can motivate an audience to listen by giving a preview of the speech from their perspective of the audience. Let them know what they will learn and how it will benefit them.
One last tip is to look pleasant and eager to speak as you are being introduced. Audience members will be looking at you and forming judgments as the introduction is being given. Don’t be writing a last reminder on your notes at this time.
You can never predict what the audience will say or do, but these suggestions can help ease anxiety by lowering the risk of the unexpected as you go to the lectern to speak.
Organization and Preparation
Good introductions merge together three essential elements: (i) the speaker, (ii) the subject, and (iii) the audience. The order in which you choose to address these elements is generally unimportant. A common error is to focus solely on the speaker to the exclusion of the other two elements.
A key to a good introduction is preparation and practice (together with a healthy dose of enthusiasm). These need not take long once you understand how to go about them. Returning to our three essential elements, preparation involves learning about the speaker, the topical nature of the subject and the audience's interests and concerns. You should make an effort to approach the speaker for background information. Get audience background from members of the audience and subject information from the the speaker, the program organiser, relevant publications and your own research or other sources.
When approaching the speaker for background information, ask what they would like you to emphasize or what they think is most relevant. Some speakers prefer to write out their own introduction. If a speaker provides a lengthy pre-prepared introduction, you should not feel obligated to use it all. Instead, pick out the things that will connect the speaker with the subject and audience.
Write out your introduction and practice it in front of a mirror. You may also find it helpful to use a tape recorder so that you listen to yourself and better judge and practice the speed and tone of your delivery. Once you are throroughly familiar with your material, reduce it to a few key words and phrases which you can transfer to a sheet of paper and bring with you. This will be your standby in the case of a mental freeze, but if you have properly prepared and practices you will almost certainly not need it.
And finally ...
Remember to welcome the speaker to the podium or lectern with a friendly smile and handshake. You are aiming for continuity not a disconnect. Simply finishing your introduction and leaving the podiumor lecturn empty will do just that.
Sources:
http://www.speaking-tips.com/Articles/The-Importance-of-Introductions.aspx
http://www.speaking-tips.com/Articles/Enhance-Your-Speech-With-A-Great-Introduction.aspx
http://www.speaking-tips.com/Introductions