Three Ways to Easily Boost Public Speaking Confidence

Three Ways to Easily Boost Public Speaking Confidence

Vincent Ivan Phipps
Contributing Writer
Communication Coach, Author, Business Owner

What’s the second most common fear?  Do you think, spiders, heights, or darkness? It’s death by fire!  What fear ranks number one? It is public speaking!  This means that if the average person is given a choice, instead of talking in front of 1000 people, they would rather walk through a blaze of 1000 degrees!

Perhaps this is why when you get nervous it’s called, “The Hot Seat!”  As a professional speaker for 19 years, I get excited about taking the stage or giving a speech.  I also understand that most people are terrified of speaking in public.  But the truth is, they are not!

We talk everyday: telephones, answering machines, elevators, conference rooms, meetings, lunches, social events, interviews, and conversations.  If we were truly afraid of talking, everyone would walk around muted!  Instead of saying people are afraid to speak in public, a more accurate phrase is, people are afraid of speaking to the public.

The fear is not of speaking. The fear is that we are concerned with being judged or being seeing as incompetent.  We want to be seen as professionals who are capable. Being on stage or the center of attention is a platform that could showcase our lack of preparation and understanding.

It may not be fair, but judgements are placed on us by how we speak, how loud we sound, how fast we talk, and by what we say.  Here are three ways to boost your public speaking confidence.

1. Arrive early.

I have made almost every public speaking mistake.  Showing up early can help alleviate the following nerve tingling feelings:

A. Finding the room location if you are directionally challenged!

B. Carrying in materials if you have a lot of things to haul.

C. Setting up displays if you want to have give-a-ways.

D. Checking equipment to ensure everything works.

E. Greeting guests to establish rapport with your audiences.

F. Making copies if you forget to send in advance of forms are unavailable.

G. Adjusting if you have a Mac and they only have connections for a PC.

When you arrive, “just in time”, you have no wiggle room for the unplanned occurrences. When you have to deal with these issues, it can steal your time and energy.  Although you may not be able to control situations of which you are unaware, you can control arriving earlier to ensure you have more time to address challenges if they happen.

2. Be engaging.

Yes, you are there to talk. Instead of seeing yourself as just the

speaker, see yourself as the facilitator.  Get your audience involved. Ask them questions that make them think.  Customize the questions to their industry terms.  Welcome ideas.

Avoid the, “How many of you…?” question.   This question is boring, overused, and has not connection.  Instead, ask a question that intrigues such as:

  • What would you do if…
  • How can we…
  • What are the top two…
  • How can we be sure to…

If it makes you more nervous that someone may asked a question that you cannot answer, you can respond by saying, “Great question!  Let’s open that question up to the room and get feedback from others.”  Good presentations are like good conversations, they require mutual appreciation for talking and listening to each other.

3.  Tell stories.

PowerPoints can be good visuals.  Handouts can be good reminders.  Graphs can be good indicators.  Fewer things are more powerful in a speech than a well-timed, well delivered, relevant story.  I am not saying you have to be Mark Twain or George Lucas!  I am saying that a point with an emotional connection can be as powerful as a plethora of statistical data.  Almost 70{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f} of your audience will be people-oriented.  This means 7 out of 10 people want to hear a human element beyond the numbers.

For example, instead of saying, “Our records indicate that we have an increase over the last quarter within customer service by 22{938cd9e8dae860e800efc538277d4f7684e6f6981618ba70d1c34357a53c2e1f}.”  say that in a form of a story such as, “You all know Mrs. Reynolds right?  Well she told me that even though our prices are a bit higher, she will always come back to us because we take the time to show her options.  She also said she likes that we never make her feel silly when she asks a lot of questions. Let’s continue to give Mrs. Reynolds and all of our clients this level of special attention.”

A good story doesn’t have to be long, just make it relevant.  When you tell a story, your speeches become more human for your audiences to connect and you look and sound more comfortable.

Of course there are hundreds of approaches our company teaches about improving public speaking skills. Arriving early, involving your audience, and telling stories, are three things you can do regardless of your topic, audience size, and speaking time frame.

Be the speaker you dream to be, by preparing to be the speaker you’d want to hear.

-Vincent Ivan Phipps

Vincent Ivan Phipps, is owner of Communication VIP Training and Coaching, in Chattanooga, TN.  Vincent has a masters in Leadership/Management, has written seven books, including, “Speak Like a Pro!” and is an award winning entrepreneur and professional speaker.  His areas of expertise include communication, leadership, and customer service.  Vincent is passionate about speaking and coaching because he wants others to understand how powerful our relationships can impact our revenue.