Personality Development

Public speaking is how you can share your ideas with a large number of people, stand out from the corporate crowd, and get visibility in your field. When you are speaking to a large crowd, you are still talking to one person at a time. Unfortunately if you’re public speaking skills are not up to par, it’s likely that no one will be focused enough on your presentation to really receive your message. Public speaking is a critical, but often underdeveloped, skill among higher education professionals. Many people are afraid of public speaking. They think that effective public speakers are “naturals” who were born with strong oratory skills. Luckily, it is practice and not genetics that will make you a better public speaker. With practice you can improve your skills. To be a good pubic speaker one should work the following points :

1. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE

You don’t have to have expert knowledge of the audience, but you should know enough to reference their interests. You should have some audience-centric remarks that show you are not just showing up to speak, but that you actually considered the audience’s perspective and by this way your audience can connect with you. You can ask your host and question about the audience. The bottom line is do your homework!

2. BE BRIEF AND TO THE POINT

The best way to prepare and deliver your speech is:

Tell them what you are going to say

Say it

Tell them what you told them

Say thank you and sit down

3. DO NOT ATTEMPT HUMOUR 

If you have the humour that will make your audience laugh and not wince, go ahead. Poking a bit of fun at yourself is fine, sharing a light moment with the audience is good, just keep in mind that pulling off a comedy shtick, even a single joke, is a lot harder than it looks when not coming from an experienced speaker.

4. KEEP YOUR SENTENCES AND WORDS SHORT