SEVEN TIPS TO BUILD CONFIDENCE IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

In the final part of this three part series on the importance of confidence in public speaking, we want to share with you tips and practical tools that can help you to build confidence as a public speaker. As we mentioned in part one, one thing which unites all speakers is the ongoing need for confidence.

WHY CONFIDENCE IS IMPORTANT IN PUBLIC SPEAKING

Public speaking is about conveying a message to your audience. The focus should therefore be on your audience and NOT on you as the speaker. On stage everything is amplified and not just your voice. If you are confident, this is amplified, and if you lacking in confidence this is amplified too.
Confidence in public speaking is important because it allows you as the speaker to:

7 INDICATORS OF A CONFIDENT PUBLIC SPEAKER

Anyone can look up the generic dictionary definition of confidence but in getting to the heart of what confidence is for a public speaker we want to get more practical.

Below are 7 indicators of a confident public speaker:

DO NOT REPRESS YOUR NERVES, EMBRACE THEM!

The number one comment we hear from anyone trying to learn public speaking is: “I am very nervous and I don’t think I can overcome my fear”. Many people often think of the fear of public speaking and nerves associated with public speaking in the same way. They think that they need to overcome both, nerves and fear, to be considered a polished speaker. We don’t believe this is true! We believe that whilst you can…

A SPEECH IS NOT A SPOKEN ARTICLE, SO DON’T TREAT AS ONE

Just as movies and books are two different mediums, so are speeches and articles. Movies are not acted out books, and speeches are not spoken out articles. However, a lot of people write a speech down the way they write an article and then they read it out to the audience. But we have to ask ourselves: In today’s world, we can send articles to thousands of people with a click of a button and…

OUR FIRST MENTION IN PRINT

There is something special about being mentioned in print! It feels it has more weight than being mentioned online. Perhaps it is the feeling that a printed article doesn’t rely on the internet or on a power source and hence it feels more “eternal”. Perhaps it is the feeling that a printed article was worth the ink and the paper that it was printed on. Or perhaps it is the feeling that there was a…

6 SPEAKING TECHNIQUES WE CAN LEARN FROM DONALD TRUMP

The other day I listened to a speech by Donald Trump. Although I disagreed with almost everything he said, I couldn’t help but listen. An entire hour went by without me switching off, feeling bored or losing track of what he was talking about. At the end of the speech I could easily remember in great detail all the points he made. This struck me as the secret to his success. Donald Trump might have…

A DINNER SPEECH BY GEORGE BERNARD SHAW IN HONOUR OF ALBERT EINSTEIN – LONDON 1930

I didn’t know that Albert Einstein and George Bernard Shaw ever met! Let alone there is a video of them together where Bernard Shaw gives a speech in honour of Einstein at a dinner party in 1930 in London. George Bernard Shaw is widely regarded as one of the best public speakers of the 20th century. In this dinner speech, we can clearly see why. Here are few things we can learn from Bernard Shaw…

THE SPEECH THAT MADE OBAMA PRESIDENT

Do you know that you can become a star if you master the art of public speaking? In fact one speech could be all that is separating you from stardom in your career, business or field. I’m not exaggerating! Just as a movie can take an actor from zero to hero so too can a speech. For Barack Obama it was a speech that he delivered in 2004 that propelled him into the limelight. Before this speech he was an unknown senator.