Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Public Speaking: How to Gain Confidence

On one occasion or another, you're going to take the center stage and give a speech. Whether to inspire people who have lost their hopes or to give lessons to those who are hungry of knowledge, you are expected to speak your mind and deliver clearly what you have to say. We all have our fair shares of stage fright. And public speaking is a real challenge to everyone. But, you have to keep in mind that in every challenge, there is always a way to beat it.

You only need one thing when you go up the stage: confidence-an unaltered confidence. It's what makes your legs stop from trembling. It keeps your feet intact on the ground. It clears your mind for you to be able to concentrate on just the content of what you have to say. The dilemma right here is this: how are you going to gain that confidence?

There are two kinds of public speaking you might be caught in. One is that kind in which you are given a period of time to prepare, such as guest speaker speech during a commencement exercise. The other kind is the speech in which you are caught off guarded, such as extemporaneous speeches or ambushed interviews.

Let's take the first kind first. Since you are given enough time to prepare for it, then you might as well take advantage of that time. Never take it for granted and start writing your speech at the last minute instead. A rushed speech will betray you of your confidence. The tendency is that, if you go unprepared, your mind will be rattled. And when your mind is as messed up as garbage, the words that will come out from you will be nothing but gibberish. You're definitely going to lose your audience. So if you want to turn on the other side of the table and make things right, organize your speech and do it well. Preparedness can make you confident. The reason is simple: you know what you're going to talk about beforehand. It's like showing your audience a painting you have worked hard for. You simply know your craft.

What if you are ambushed to make a speech, where will you get your confidence from? Well, you can't be well prepared for this kind. This is when you have to apply the 'mind over matter' mantra. Being nervous is just all in the mind. Convince yourself that you can own that stage no matter what. Rather than being bothered by the question or the subject of your speech, concentrate on what you know about it and how you're going to say it. Once you're in the middle of your speech and you feel like you're going to falter anytime soon, it is good to stop for a while, look at your audience and throw them a smile. Whatever chances the world has, there will always be those who are looking at you and listening to what you are saying. Take your strength from them. Take your confidence from the fact that someone on the audience is waiting for the next thing you're going to say.

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