Public speaking plays a huge role in becoming successful in many industries. Therefore, we prepared ten ideas to help you enhance your oratorical skills and not get panic attacks.

Ideas for Public Speaking

When you enter a room or an auditorium, make sure your moves are confident. Don’t mince and make fidget. Instead, just walk in your usual manner. This will indicate that you don’t worry and are not in a hurry. Once your name is announced, go to the stage or rostrum, smile at the audience, and make eye contact with some people.

Control the space

You need to control the maximum permissible space to show your importance and enlist the audience’s respect and trust.

Don’t try to show to come out as a tiny person hiding in the corner of the stage or behind the rostrum. Instead, head to the center of the stage or at least look in the center from time to time.

Square your shoulders, lift your head, and lean forward a little. This gesture demonstrates something like a bow and greetings to the audience. You can repeat it in time.

Make a pause

Once you climb the stage, don’t start your speech right away. Make a pause. You can ask for a glass of water, look through your notes, or move something. Use this pause to be psychologically ready. Moreover, let the audience get used to you as well. If you are anxious, take a couple of deep breaths. This pause will also allow you to study the space around you and think about how to use it.

Fix your eyes

Examine the whole room. Find several people who will become your visual “footholds.” You can change them throughout your speech.

Try to give your attention to as many people as possible. Don’t look only at the listeners sitting in the back row. Remember that the front rows are typically occupied by the visitors who are most interested in your speech. Start your performance as soon as you find these visual footholds.

Your mimicry and gestures are important

Body language speaks louder than your words. Your gestures help to draw attention to the significance of the information and indicate your confidence. There are three main rules of body language.

• Don’t put your hands in your pockets;
• Don’t hide your hands behind your back;
• It is better don’t hold any distracting objects.

Your hands are the helpers that have to unite with your thoughts. It’s not great to fold your arms on the chest. It’s a “defensive” position. Hold an open posture, and don’t forget to smile. Make sure you control your bearing, back, and shoulder. Don’t stoop your head and avoid eye contact. Your movements must be natural.

Don’t freeze up

It’s essential to show that you are energetic, dynamic, and funny, to say, alive. Don’t freeze to death in one place. You are not a concrete statue. When you want to highlight something, move forward to the audience. This gesture will convince listeners of your righteousness. Use your hands to signify essential points. At the same time, don’t push yourself too hard.

Eye-to-eye contact

We have already mentioned this, but it does make a huge difference. No one likes listening to an orator who doesn’t pick up his head from his notes. You came here not to read from a piece of paper but to share something significant.

An experienced public speaker always keeps a close eye on the attention and involvement of the audience. The speaker always moves from the front rows to the back ones. Even if you need to use notes, don’t concentrate on this. They must include bullet points that help you stick to your speech’s plan.

Study your audience

No, we don’t mean that you have to examine their clothes. Mind the listeners’ cultural, national, religious, and other peculiarities. For example, prolonged eye contact may cause negative feelings for the Chinese and Japanese people, as it’s typical for eastern cultures.

We all like to make jokes that help to lighten the mood. You have to be very careful while cracking jokes on cultural or religious themes. Your face should not be stiff. A slight friendly smile is the foundation of your magnetism as a public speaker.

When you change topics, try to indicate this with your facial expressions. For example, you can raise eyebrows, slightly turn your head, etc. If you are sitting, your posture must be relaxed, and your hands must be involved.

Don’t concentrate on small failures

Take every unexpected situation with a grain of salt. There is nothing criminal if the microphone doesn’t work, a glass of waterfalls, or you make a long pause. You can’t show perplexity or a negative attitude towards unfavorable moments. Don’t let these trifles spoil your hour of triumph. Treat such accidents with humor and take advantage of the event. An orator must control the situation and show that it doesn’t spot him from conveying his thoughts.

Mind the reaction

If the audience reacts to your speech with applause and laughter, you have to wait until their emotions end. Therefore, everyone can hear the beginning of your next point. And don’t forget to smile and react accordingly.

When you finish your speech, tell something delightful to your listeners. You should demonstrate the pleasure and gratitude of spending time with them today. This positive informational impulse will linger in the memory of the audience. And remember, the devil is not as black as he is painted. Follow our pieces of advice and learn to enjoy public speaking.