How to kill the nerves as a public speaker: My top 8 tips for guaranteed success!

I’ve said before and I’ll say again: I am not a natural public speaker. But like many things about adulting, sometimes you just have to put on your big girl pants and get on with it!

I have admired women in leadership roles for as long as I can remember and I have aspired to be one but I always thought it was juuuuuust out of reach. It was more of a “One day…” sort of thing.

Then “One day…” came, and it was totally different from what I expected: It suddenly dawned on me that those hundreds of women I admire and put on a pedestal did not wake up like that. They worked damn hard to get there, which included getting out of their comfort zone and, yes, speaking in public.

So in the last year I have committed to becoming the leader that my daughters’ generation would look up to, so that “One day…” they too could do the same for the generation coming after them.

Stepping up as a public speaker

To become a leader is to become singularly focussed on solving critical issues, commit to tirelessly pursuing the end goal, then re-evaluating, setting new targets, crushing them, then keep going and growing.

A huge part of that is stepping up to share your stories so others can learn from your triumphs, pitfalls and learnings along the way. That, and networking like a champ, jumping at opportunities, joining amazing groups and boards (being part of the EO New Zealand Chapter Board has been life-changing!!) and essentially, growing into those big girl pants.

But like me, not all women are natural “leaders” in any traditional sense. Many are not necessarily outspoken or even want to be. But there’s the rub; in the multimedia on- and offline world we live in, we absolutely have to create and maximise our own channels to distribute our own stories to receptive ears so we’re not invisible in the world.

You know, “If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it…” and all that.

So I’ve had to get out of my own way and become a (somewhat) willing public speaker and am sharing My top 8 tips for guaranteed success as a public speaker in the hopes it'll inspire you to take to the podium (trust me, it's not as hard as I first thought)!

1. Be true to your mission

My mission is to help Kiwi businesses survive and thrive in a digital world through my businesses Socialites and Start Social. But while the introvert in me cringes at the thought of sharing my expertise in public, I also know I have plenty to offer. And just as I have had the opportunity to learn from others, it’s not only selfish to not share, but it hinders my mission.

If your mission doesn't exist in a bubble, you need to get out there. Just put your hand up, listen for opportunities, offer yourself out, and do it.

2. Get the tech right first time

If something is going to go wrong, it’ll happen 10 minutes before you’re about to speak. And unlike shooting a video, a presentation is one-take only. Thankfully most of the power in your hands. Mitigate potential tech woes, by asking about all the technology available to use and, as much as possible, take your own!

• Microphones - I have a soft voice so I always have to be mic’d. If you're similar to me, find out if a mic will be present, and if it's a big issue for you, buy your own kit!
• Laptop - Regardless of whether you can plug a USB or SD card into a laptop provided at the venue, always take your own, along with HDMI cables, power cables and everything you need to plug in to old and new technology.
• Speakers - You know that audio pretty much always fails when it's your turn to show a life-changing video, so take your own portable Bluetooth speaker. I never leave home without my UE Boom and it's been a real lifesaver many times! (No, not sponsored... but open to it c: )
• 4G + Wifi - The wifi at many venues, even 5-star hotels, can be super dodgy and intermittent with hundreds of people in a room all inter-webbing at once. Make sure your phone hotspot is good to go. If you're overseas, buy a data pack before you get to your presentation. Or, better still, screenshot all the web pages you want to show on screen and load them into your presentation so they're ready with or without the internet.
• USB double down - Put your presentation on two USBs or SD cards. Might seem overkill but when technology fails, you're the one in trouble, not the tech person.
• Never, ever, ever use your own Facebook page to demonstrate on - Can you imagine giving a presentation to a prestigious legacy association when a rude photo pops up on your screen? Well I can and it's something I'll never forget. I can laugh about it now but at the time I wanted the ground to swallow me whole!! Create a profile with completely separate logins and use that (kinda against the rules, but when it comes to protecting your own and other's privacy, it's kind of a no-brainer). You'll have no friends, but you could be spared a whole world of pain!
• Take a clicker - If you want your presentation to flow at your pace and not rely on the tech crew to sense your visual cues, add a slide clicker to your presenter's kit, and don't leave home without it!!
• Turn off your notifications - No one needs to ready your Google Alert that you have "Date Night" scheduled in 3 hours.

3. Breathe!!!

Before you take the stage, breathe. You don't have to look far on the internet to read about the power of the breath in a high stress moment. Stress is just excitement without the fun!

I always do ten breaths before I speak to get calm and focussed. Take a deep breath in and breathe out long and slow. It's actually the breath out that has the full calming effect. When I have done that I feel completely centred and ready to go!

4. You be YOU!

I'm super handsy when I speak, I use my hands a LOT. That’s just me. So if you have specific ways of communicating that you think you need to button down: DON’T!! If you use your hands when you speak, keep doing it. If you like to walk around as you speak, do it (unless you’re on camera; it doesn’t always suit). In fact, sometimes the weirder you are the more memorable you and your story (the important bit) will be! Just be you.

5. Only 50-60% of your audience will get real value

...and that's OK! As a rule of thumb, 20% of who you speak to won't absorb everything you're talking about. They may be completely lost, distracted, be a beginner in your specialist topic, or whatever. They may feel they're diving in the deep end and whatever you say is too advanced for them so only grab onto bits. Another 20% will have heard it all before. They'll really know your topic; they may even live and breathe it everyday.

Be prepared for that. You'll only totally hit the mark for around 50-60% of the room and when you do, chalk it up to a win. You can't cater for everybody in your presentations, you can only hope to engage the majority, so just do that!

6. No death by Powerpoint!!!

Images are the universal language, so use them. If you put up a whole pile of text on a screen, people will just read it and ignore you. People read a lot faster than you speak so they'll be ahead of you when you're speaking.

Plus, you want them looking at and listening to you and those extra-special morsels of what you have to say. So grab some really amazing images that express what you're showcasing and replace all that cloying text. It not only makes your presentations ready to go international but it gives you wriggle room to have a sense of humour and really get their attention!

But... if you have to (absolutely have to) use text, make sure it's size 24pt and above, and make those words count!

7. Use really, bizarrely specific time frames

If you're running a workshop, use times that appear to be non-negotiable. When you break out for group discussions, or to go grab coffee, say: "We'll meet back here in 7 minutes", or "We'll start back at 3.21 pm". OR, "I am going to give you 4 minutes to discuss this in your groups and I'll come back to you at 1.20".

It's human nature to respond very well to specific commands, so the more abstract your timings are, the less easy they are to adhere to. Oh, and keep to time. No one wants morning coffee/lunch/afternoon break/cocktail hour to be delayed any more than it has to.

8. Choose a woman to ask the first question

Fun fact: Did you know that a study of 247 academic talks and seminars in 10 countries over two years where women comprised around 50% of the audience, when a man asked the first question, women were dis-inclined to ask questions afterwards, while men were 2.5 times more likely to ask questions than women.

When a woman asked the first question, however, significantly more women asked questions to make the gender split of people asking questions approximate that of the audience gender proportions.

If you want to avoid that predetermined bias, when you ask for questions, if possible, when a man and a woman both put their hands up, ask the woman first. Or, direct your first question in the room to a particular woman, or women in general. Like, "Anna, you asked earlier about Facebook ads, did you want to ask anything more about that?"

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That's what I have so far. I am sure I'll have more to add as my rational self ("I do it because it's important") takes over from my introvert self ("But I don't want to do it") and I speak more and more.

But one thing I'd love to ask from you, because I have not yet nailed it, is how do you wrangle the audience to stop chatting and get all eyeballs on you? I'm open to any ideas, pop them below!

Like this? Then you'll love: Learning how to manage Conflict & Chaos in Canada

I love this entrepreneurship life, and yep, the rewards sure outweigh the challenges!

#winningatlife

Wendy Thompson, CEO & Founder, Socialites