Tips for Effective Speaking

When you are up in front of an audience speaking, there are a few strategies that you should use to be effective. The point is not to stand there and simply throw words out into the air-your purpose is to make your attendees listen, absorb your message and leave with valuable take-aways from your speech.

Stand

When you are speaking to a crowd, you have to stand up. When you stand your voice projects further across the audience, whether you are using a microphone or not. When you stand it also helps to establish you as the expert or authority in the room.

When you are standing behind a podium, do your best to keep still. Do not fidget and move around unnecessarily because this could disrupt the flow of your words and make you seem less professional to your audience. The only exception should be if you are coming out from behind the podium to talk (the way that motivational speakers do) or to distribute something to the listeners.

Use Notecards

While it is best to speak from memory, it is helpful to have a few notecards to help guide you when you are speaking. The notecards should not contain your speech word by word, or else you will be tempted to simply read from them. Instead, jot down quick notes and bullet points that will help jog your memory during the speech.

Gather Your Thoughts

Don't be afraid to pause in the midst of your speech to gather your thoughts. The pause shouldn't be too long-no longer than about five seconds-or else your audience will start to wonder what is going on. After five seconds, you have to either move onto another subject, ask for questions, or tell your audience that you need to come back to that point. Don't ever start to talk without knowing exactly what you plan to say.

A Tip to Help You While Speaking

Give your audience reading materials to go with the speech to help alleviate your nerves when speaking. You will notice that most if not all eyes will at least briefly go to the paper. This will continue to happen throughout your speech. This is a good thing as long as the audience members are periodically listening to your words in addition to scanning the paper.

Sources:

Tollefson/Peterson "How to Make Your Speaking Easier and More Effective" OED, Berkeley 2000

http://teaching.berkeley.edu/speaking.html

Tom Antion "Public Speaking: STAND STILL" March 2008

http://greatpublicspeaking.blogspot.com/2008/03/public-speaking-stand-still.html

Laura Spencer "How To Give a Public Speech and Still Appear Confident" Oct 2008

http://freelancefolder.com/how-to-give-a-public-speech-and-still-appear-confident/