Self Improvement: 10 FREE Tips for Public Speaking

1. Study and research your material. Choose a topic you are interested in. try to know more things about it than you would include in your speech/lecture/presentation. Interject your speech with humor (clean jokes), personal stories or testimonials something that you would not easily forget.
2. Practice makes perfect. Rehearse out loud in front of a mirror or in a room. Repeat your self training and memorize the segments or points. Use a clock or timer and timed your speech and of course add some allowance of time for the unexpected.
3. Get to know the audience. A good way to warm up or break the ice so to speak. What you need to do is greet some of the audience members as they arrive. Believe me. It’s really more easy and comfortable to speak to a group of friends than to strangers.
4. Feel the room. Arrive early and try to walk around the speaking area. Practice using the microphone and any visual aids.
5. Relax, Breathe, and Never Forget to Smile. If you are happy and excited. The audience will absorb that energy from you and vice versa. You may also want to begin by addressing the audience. It kind of buys you time and calms your nervous system. Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. ("One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand. Pause. Begin.) Convert nervous energy into enthusiasm.
6. The power of Visualization. Use it. It's powerful. Visualize yourself giving your speech days before the speech event. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear and confident. Visualize the audience clapping and enjoying your jokes and your presentation ideas – it will increase your confidence.
7. be confident that actually people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and most importantly (last but not least) entertaining. You need to captivate their attention. It's not easy to sit down to listen to a long presentation. Make them enjoy it, benefit from your presentation.
8. Never apologize for any nervousness or problems – the audience probably never noticed it until you say it.
9. Concentrate on the message – not the medium. Sincere eye contact. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience. Be selfless and center your focus on higher goals higher concerns.
10. Gain experience. Experience will build confidence over time.