Public Speaking Tips for You and Your Child

The school year often brings opportunities for public speaking, both for you and your children. Feeling nervous before giving a speech or delivering a presentation is natural and healthy. It shows you care about doing well. But, too much nervousness can be detrimental. Whether you’re helping a child prepare to make a report or you’re planning to speak at a parents’ meeting, use these tips for effective, memorable presentations.

• Know the room. Be familiar with the place in which you will speak. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
• Know the audience. Greet some of the audience as they arrive. It is easier to speak to a group of friends than to a group of strangers.
• Know your material. If you are not familiar with your material or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your speech and revise it if necessary.
• Relax. Ease tension by doing relaxation or deep breathing exercises.
• Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and assured. When you visualize yourself as successful, you will be successful.
• Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. They do not want you to fail.
• Don’t apologize. If you mention your nervousness or apologize for any problems you think you have with your speech, you may be calling the audience’s attention to something they had not noticed.
• Concentrate on the message, not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties, and outwardly toward your message and your audience. Your nervousness will dissipate.
• Turn nervousness into positive energy. Harness your nervous energy and transform it into vitality and enthusiasm.
• Gain experience. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective public speaking.