How do you rehearse speeches to reduce anxiety?

In my experience the key is to not try "to impress". You are presenting on the content YOU are the expert on. The trap so many presenters fall into is focusing on the material they are less comfortable with but feel will be more flashy or what the audience wants to hear. The best presentation is one that covers subject matter you know inside and out. Think of presenting like going on a road trip, the best presentations are ones where you don't need to follow the GPS. You know the destination just take your audience there.

In my experience, the key factor is understanding your subject fully, beyond the scope of your speech. Knowing that you can be absolutely secure in your knowledge of your speech’s subject area can be really important if you’re feeling anxious. More practically though, speaking clearly, at a deliberate, measured pace can give you a huge confidence boost. Slowing down the pace of your speech not only gives you time to think about what you’re saying, it also allows your audience to register what you’re telling them. Once you convince yourself that you’re in full control of the discourse in the room, dispelling your anxiety becomes a much simpler task!

One thing I have found helpful is to get as much information about my audience as I can. It helps me frame my delivery accordingly. A few weeks ago I was invited to speak at a Women Leaders conference. It was only when I got to the meeting that I found out that most of them were grand roots women leaders. I started my presentation with a mock scenario using one of the participants that I had not even prepared and they loved it.

Public speaking is exceptionally enjoyable when you become comfortable doing it . 1. a form grasp of your subject is exceptionally important and slow way down - it gives you time to think / breathe 2. Be completely authentic or the mask will slip at some Point 3. Dress completely comfortably 4. Take the focus off you and ask how can you serve your audience best . Change pitch tone & pace . Emphasise the important bits with definition and pause so your audience can absorb( you may repeat an exceptionally important point) 5 . Breathe , enjoy and be grateful for every opportunity When I public speak - I always say “ dear lord please guide my words” Words can be profound and have incredible effect on people at times .

Based on my experience, the better you know your topic the more confident you will be when presenting. It always makes the most sense to only speak on subjects that you are an expert in, vs. trying to learn the subject to be able to speak to it. Speak about what you know!

I have learned not to practice my actual speech I make sure that my outline is in order and that the structure makes sense, but I have found that I perform poorly in almost every rehearsal.

Practicing out loud is a great rehearsal method. It allows for your brain and body to get familiar with the speech. This will also help you remember important pieces you would like to say, even if your are not practicing your speech in full.

Again, will you be at a podium or on a stage. Practice walking and talking, using hand gestures and body language. Practice eyes up if on camera and making eye contact with individuals in the audience if you are live.

To Chaim Shapiro, No matter what, if you practice, the speech will have an impact beyond your expectation. Practicing aloud in the mirror assists with matching your personality and characteristics with sharing.

Practicing is vital. I always edit after the first through runs. I underline emphasis words and highlight essential points that need to be made. I might need to check pronunciation of names of people that I’m acknowledging, so having some lead time to do that is good. (I might also double check on the day by asking the person directly.) The goal is to memorise the speech, although I don’t always have the lead time to do that. It’s also ideal to get the speech down to dot points so that I don’t feel compelled to look at my papers and can easily find the next point I need to make. At the end of the day, knowing what is absolutely essential to say allows me to engage with the audience, and be more spontaneous in response.

I find that when speaking, I don’t always sound or look like I feel I do. Recording myself and watching it back helps pull out things that I hadn’t noticed and helps me figure out points I want to emphasize with my speech or with my movements.

I definitely practiced by recording myself on zoom or my phone so that I can play it back and figure out how to improve where I need to pause, special inflection, or emphasis. Listening to it also helps with memorization.

Absolutely! I do think it depends on the kind of speech you are giving and how comfortable you are with the subject matter. For example, if it's a formal presentation, by all means, rehearse and record yourself. It's so easy to fall back on speech fillers (how many times can I say "umm," "uhh," "like," etc.) as a placeholder in the speech. It can give off the fact that you feel anxious or not-confident. If it's a more informal tone, then by all means rehearse your major talking points - for informal conversations on subjects I am an expert on, I would rather have highlights in front of me.

Preparation is key: Plan and outline your speech in advance. Know your topic well and practice your delivery.Start strong: Begin with a captivating opening line, an interesting fact, or a compelling story to grab your audience's attention from the start.

For me the greatest help in delivering a good speech is to practice in a room by myself. Then for the real event have a few large note cards with gigantic print (printed on only one side), print so large that a quick glance reminds you of your main points, and every main point. That makes it a breeze. Besides that, if you love the subject /topic it’s a pleasure to speak about it.

In addition, I do a lot of Positive Self-Talk. This helps you to replace negative thoughts with positive affirmations. Remind yourself of your strengths and capabilities.

Anticipate well in advanced what audience questions may be. Do this by being well versed in your topic to the point that you can even play devil's advocate. Know the facts of your presentation if the subject matter has a technical angle. And lastly, know who the audience members may be so you're better able to anticipate their questions. For example,, a certain age group and/or professional leaning gives an idea of where the interests lie and therefore what questions they'll have.

This is the most important step for me! But I find that searching images of my venue and hanging them up helps me visualize my environment. Mentally practicing involves truly seeing your audience in your head. How high is the ceiling? How much will I have to project my voice? Can I see my audience easily or are the lights too bright to truly connect with my eyes? Is it an intimate environment or vast? All of these factors help me truly prepare and imagine exactly how my performance will go. As always, leave some room for spontaneous and improvised moments to give it an organic feeling. If you prepare in this way, you will have performed countless times before ever taking the stage.

Love this advice and agree that visualizing positive outcomes is helpful. Remember, the audience wants to gain some value from attending and is rooting for you too!

Visualising success is a very useful addition to preparation. I find that when people have addressed any excessive fears around speaking in front of an audience so that they are already coming from a calmer place, this is very helpful.

Reminders can put you in the zone even through the nervousness of giving a speech. It is important to have an understanding of how unique and wonderfully made you truly are. Be reminded that there is someone out there that needs your message, someone out there needs to know they are not the only one, or someone out there needs to hear this speech because this is what will add more value to them, their dream, and their life. The vibration, the energy, the frequency from the utterances of your mouth is as unique as your fingerprints. Then, come the words you choose to use in that speech along with your own way to deliver the message in that speech to your audience- all have a purpose, just like you. You got this!

If you are using visualisation, you can add to this by thinking about how you want to be when in front of your audience. Is there for example someone whose way of presenting you admire? Could you imagine taking on these characteristics and seeing yourself in possession of them? Imagining in as much detail as you can how you would be using your body, delivering your speech, voice, facial expression and so on, can enhance your mental rehearsal.

Relaxation and breath are the simplest keys to good speaking, whether public or personal conversations. Why ? Holding breath creates tension, muscular stiffness, and lack of oxygen. Relax. The energy with which you rehearse (relaxed) will be how you deliver. Pause. Breathe. You’ll avoid racing through run-on sentences while running out of oxygen. Pauses demonstrate control. Control demonstrates mastery. Bring a cue card. Peek if it helps. If you don’t peek… Relax, you have a cue card anyway. HOW you address an audience is more important than WHAT you say for their retention, learning, and experience. Non-verbal cues inform our subconscious. Relax. Breathe. Audiences adapt and respond accordingly.

Honestly, I outline the general concepts I want to discuss in the order I want to discuss them, and I wing it from there. Public speaking isn’t rocket science, and in order to avoid the pitfalls of it, my goal is to bring humor to the subjects, and cover them briefly to allow follow up questions from the audience.

I recommend NOT memorizing too many things. Have 3-5 major points that you feel confident in expounding upon. Tell your audience what those points are in the beginning, and then deliver them in a sequential order. If you want to make your speaking feel natural and unscripted, you need to be capable of improvising like a jazz musician. Rehearse your information at home to the point where you can call upon a piece of information at any moment, create a structure to your speaking event, and then allow for the event to breathe in a unique way, inspiring your audience, not informing them to death.

Context is important - I recommend finding out more about where your speech is "housed" in or where it should be tied to - is it at a conference where you want to tie your speech to the general theme? Is it in a classroom setting? If so, what's the average age/maturity level/interest of your audience? Is your speech meant to be informative, inspirational? These are questions to ask even before you delve into the content matter.

I like humanising the audience. When I feel connected to them, I find it easier to speak, like a conversation instead of speaking at them. For that, I like starting with an analogy or a shared activity so we're on the same page as the speech continues. Having key points also helps, then even if delivery may not be as the speech was written, I can be sure that everything is covered. Hope this helps. More importantly, smile! It connects you to the people you're addressing.