Speaking with Confidence is an ideal that everyone who gets up and speaks aims for and the good news is that this is achieveable. This is a skill that everyone can learn and its just a matter of learning the skills and understanding the bigger picture.
It is always fabulous to see someone present who is confident and gets their message across with clarity, charm and confidence. In most cases, the presenter will have worked at this, had training and really developed the skills to be a confident speaker over many years. The majority of us have to go through a learning process to be polished and present with confidence.
What can you do to build your confidence and successfully present?
1. Be as Relaxed as possible. Find ways to be as relaxed as you can when you deliver your presentation – exercise, meditation, yoga, walking, and any relaxation you can think of are great ways to get yourself into a relaxed state.
Taking 10 deep breaths before getting up and presenting is another great approach – this will really assist you with the nerves and also importantly remembering those lines and what you are wanting to say. Often, because we are nervous, we stop breathing and this causes all sorts of problems especially with remembering what we wanted to say.
2. Proper Preparation Prevents Presentation Predicaments. Be as prepared as possible. Have a checklist and get everything done well before your presentation. This includes writing the presentation ,of course, but is much more than just the script. There’s the visual slides, the equipment, the venue, the audience, etc etc.This will assist you to be able to not worry about other things and focus just on the presentation. Preparation is vital.
3. Practice – This is another area that needs commitment – if you are going to deliver a presentation then give value to having some practice runs – this will help you to know your presentation, get the points out you are wanting to say, deliver your message , and so on. This stage is also vital for you to deliver a polished performance.
4. Positive Thinking for Success – go into your presentation with positive thoughts – think positive, think about a positive outcome, think that you can do this. There is only room in your mind for positive thoughts when you are wanting to present confidently.
5. Feel, Think, Act cycle – We operate via emotions – if we feel something this will make us think about it and then we act. So if your aim is to Speak with Confidence then you have to feel confident , then you think confidently and then you will act confidently.
Think of a time when you wear beautiful clothes and these clothes make you feel good and confident. Then you are thinking confident thoughts and you will appear by others to be a confident person.
This has an important impact on your presentation – Feel confident and you will speak with more confidence.
So when you know you have a presentation coming up – do these five things – and you will , over time, speak more and more with confidence. Any questions, add a comment below. Good Luck!!