10 Tips for Better Public Speaking

Fear of public speaking seems to be universally man’s greatest phobia—ahead of even fear of death, according to Psychology Today. Yet glossophobia can be overcome (or at least, greatly reduced).

If you are determined to overcome this particular phobia, make full use of the following 10 tips to help you achieve your goal as painlessly as possible. 

1.    Speak Often and Regularly People who never overcome a fear of public speaking are also people who try to avoid it as much as possible. As a result, their speaking gigs are few and far between. As a result, they don’t build on previous successes or grow comfortable through repetition. Every time they have to speak in public, they feel as if they are starting over again from square one—and emotionally, they are.

Create a speaker schedule for yourself. Host a podcast or monthly webinar. Do Facebook Live videos. Volunteer to give talks at your local business organizations, non-profit clubs, colleges, schools or university. Space them out so that at least once a week, you’re talking to someone, somewhere.

This is the quickest and most powerful way to permanently knock the edge of your glossophobia and bring public speaking to an enjoyable, comfortable state.

2.    Make Breathing Your Best Friend One of the biggest favors you can do for yourself is creating a routine to slow and deepen your breathing before you go live or step out on stage, because nervousness is physical, and using a breathing routine breaks the fear cycle.

Our bodies respond physiologically, as well as emotionally to stimuli. When you are about to speak on stage, your heart may race, your palms will sweat. You might feel shortness of breath, constriction in your throat—all the symptoms of a severe anxiety attack, in fact.

Slowing and deepening your breathing (doing pre-speech breathing exercises) changes this physical fear response. Your body will calm down before your mind does! And what is even better, your habit—your slow-breathing, pre-speech routine—will ‘cue’ your body and your emotions to calm down and function, every time.

3.    Ditch the Visuals and Go for Paper While human beings seem to universally enjoy visual stimulation, don’t rely on props to make your talk interesting. If your fear of public speaking is compounded by or created by a fear of tech glitches, ditch the PowerPoint presentation you’ve been angsting over, and instead hand out Worksheets or Checklists—something tangible and helpful they can physically take away with them.

Handing them out before the presentation and asking people to refer to certain portions of your handout is a low-tech way to create engagement and interaction… but if you prefer to hand them out afterwards, invite people to take notes but let them know you’ll have a ‘takeaway’ handout, so they can focus on and enjoy the speech.

4.    Loosen Up with Music One technique that works well for athletes as well as anyone who has to go onstage: Listen to a ‘playlist’ of music designed to energize or relax you (according to your unique, particular need). In addition to being able to help you get into the appropriate relaxed or energized state, music triggers endorphins from the ‘pleasure center’ of your brain, distracting you from non-productive thoughts and getting you into a ‘Zen’ state. I love Mary Mary! :)

5.    Start with a Story or a Question It’s just like writing an article. You want to ‘hook’ your audience members straight away. Yes, by all means warm up the room a little, if you’re the only presenter and people are still filtering in, but once you start your presentation—grab ?em!

Finding the right question—one that they urgently want the answer to and have perhaps been asking themselves—is a powerful way to get your audience’s attention. And telling a quick story or anecdote also engages their emotions. These are two power-house techniques that you can easily build into any speech or presentation, so use them!

  6.    Make it Fun No, you’re not giving a ‘lecture’ (no matter what the organizers want to call it): What you’re doing is interacting with a large bunch of like-minded people. Let them know you are human. Tell mini-anecdotes to illustrate points. Help them to identify with situations and solutions you talk about. Make it feel more like a conversation than a ‘lecture’ and help them to identify with you too.

7.    Find the Right Tools—and Helpers It’s important to use props and tools that work for you—not cause more stress and fear. If technology scares the socks off you, either go low-tech or take along someone to manage that slide show for you.

If you like using whiteboards, use one… even if all the other presenters are going with screen sharing and slide presentations. The important thing is not the fancy bells and whistles you’re using: It’s the story and the point you are getting across!

8.    Exercise Before Your Speech We don’t mean do aerobics and get all sweaty, but going for a short, brisk walk before your speech is a great way to get all your cells oxygenated and working—and sharpening your brain. It can also help you walk off nerves and energize yourself in the right way. (Just leave yourself adequate time to make it back to the place you need to be!)

9.    Leave Your Insecurities at the Door While we all want to imagine people hanging on our every word, the reality is that people are a varied bunch, going through as many internal and physical shifts as we do, so don’t let audience reactions trigger more fears. 

You’ll get the guy who yawns, the two that whisper together, one that looks bored out of his skull, one who is staring at the floor… The fact is, you have no idea what each one is really thinking. The guy staring at the floor might be concentrating intensely because he’s an auditory learner. The guy who looks bored might be concentrating on not passing out from the migraine he’s dealing with. The yawner might have been up all night with a colicky newborn. And not one of them might be thinking, “Gee, she sucks!” SO WHAT! Keep going.

 10. Smile It’s a simple tip, but almost every expert in public speaking will tell you that smiling before and after you go ‘onstage’ (or live, online) can help relax you, as well as create a connection with your audience. So make sure you walk on with a smile, like Alison Vaughn (pictured left) does! She recently spoke in DUBAI!

About The Publisher (Pam Perry): Speakers Magazine is the publication that FEEDS and FEATURES speakers. The Official Magazine of the Black Speakers Network!

Pam Perry is an award-winning communications professional. She teaches and mentors authors, speakers and entrepreneurs on how to build a platform and attract major media and publishers. After working with Pam, her clients have been featured on CNN, TBN, The Word Network, Radio One, Oprah Magazine, Tom Joyner Morning Show, Essence, Ebony, Black Enterprise, PBS – and many other major media outlets. Her clients have been offered major publishing contracts, and have created successful full-time careers as “authorpreneurs” earning six-figures.

She has been called by Publishers Weekly a “PR Guru” and featured in many major publications (including several covers), and on more than 100 radio and TV programs. She also has a 20-year career expertise in marketing, public relations and journalism in Detroit; including work with The Detroit Free Press, WNIC, The Edge with Jeff Miller, Radio One, Michigan Chronicle, WNIC and TheHUB Detroit magazine.

Pam has worked with many nonprofit organizations, like the Charles H. Wright Museum of African American History and the Detroit Area Agency on Aging, developing their social media presence, online brand and digital marketing programs. She is also the author of Synergy Energy: How to Use the Power of Partnerships to Market Your Book, Grow Your Business and Brand Your Ministry (on Amazon).

Known as as the master of connecting the right people, for the right project, at the right time – Pam Perry PR works hard to help her clients brand (and get paid) like a superstar.