How to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills and Conquer Your Fear

Jun 23
07:21

2011

Terry Legaleto

Terry Legaleto

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The ability to speak will in public, make great and effective presentations and communicate you or your message effectively is an incredibly powerful tool to have in your personal skills tool box. These four tips will help you to do just that.

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Great communication and public speaking is absolutely critical to progress in your career or business or indeed in your personal development. These skills,How to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills and Conquer Your Fear Articles once acquired, will stand you in good stead for the rest of your life.

But speaking in public is very problematic for many people and induces fear and trepidation, shortness of breath and an inclination to panic. These seven tips will help you to improve your public speaking skills and can lead to an unrecognizable improvement in your confidence and career progression.

So, lets get started with 4 effective public speaking tips:
1.    Posture

Your posture and stance has a major effect on your effectiveness in delivering presentations. So pretend that there is a string coming out of the top of your head which pulls you upwards and makes you at least an inch taller than you actually are.

2.    Breath

Work on your breathing. Breathe deeply and speak on the out breath. Pause. Breathe in and recommence. This can be practiced at home very easily until it becomes second nature to you.

3.    Voice

Get a Dictaphone and listen to yourself-are you too fast, too slow(unlikely), colorless, boring? Do this at home and listen to yourself closely and you will be amazed at what you find and work to correct your bad habit, which is generally speaking in monotone and speaking too quickly.

4.    Body/Clothes

When you are speaking in public, make sure that you do not wear clothes which will restrict your diaphragm or air passages such as a shirt and tie that is too tight. Your breathing is key to effective delivery of your voice and your message.

Conclusion
With the right skills and knowledge you can, within a very short space of time, transform yourself into a powerful and effective public speaker. The benefits that will accrue from this acquired skill will prove to be an enormous asset for the rest of your life in your social, sporting and business/career spheres of activity.

Just like many skills public speaking is a skill that can be developed and honed; nobody was born a great public speaker. In fact, as we know, nobody was born a speaker of any description-you have to learn as a baby. So do not let any previous mishaps or bad experiences in speaking in front of crowds hold you back-develop the skills and come out swinging!

Watch out Mr. President!