For a lot of people, standing up and performing in front of an audience is a worrying prospect. Even experienced presenters will feel that rush of adrenaline as the moment approaches. The key is to use that adrenaline for fight rather than flight, to let it give you an edge without allowing it to undermine your performance.
Remember that phrase from Game of Thrones – Fear Cuts Deeper Than Swords.
It’s time to conquer your fear.
PREPARATION
Without a map you will get lost and without proper planning, your speech is more likely to go wrong. On a strange journey, a map helps your confidence. You know the route and you expect to arrive on time.
Before you stand up and open your mouth, you need to understand some basic facts. Who are the audience? What do they want? What do you have in common with them? What do you want from them? How are you going to make your call to action? Most importantly, What is your key message?
You should take the time to write out your speech line by line and practise delivering it. If there is a time limit you must make sure that you don’t run over it. This is particularly important for presentations during interviews or competitive pitches, or in quasi legal situations like Council planning committees. Assume that you will be stopped if you exceed your time.
But in other situations it is also wise to avoid rambling on and trying the patience of your audience. A good rule of thumb is that you should never speak for longer than twenty minutes without at least breaking for some questions or perhaps a video.
Time spent before the speech will pay dividends during it. Practice until you feel comfortable with your speech and use each successive delivery to weed out difficult sentences, obscure concepts and words that cause you to stumble. Each iteration should be better than the last and if you keep a written record, your speech should improve continually.
Be particularly careful with humour. A joke or humorous story needs to be delivered using precise words, voice tones and timing. Avoid it if you have any doubts about your ability to make them laugh.
Your final speech should be so familiar that you can deliver it on autopilot but now is not the time for hubris. Keep your notes with you for the occasion, preferably somewhere close to hand, in case you dry up. It is unlikely to happen but the presence of your notes will give you some reassurance if things get difficult.
OPENING
A speech is a bit like flying a plane – the most dangerous parts are closest to the ground. Your take off and landing should be planned meticulously.
When you stand up, expect an initial rush of adrenaline. You are facing a sea of people, some familiar, some strangers, all expectant. The good news is that they all want you to succeed. So, pause for a moment before you deliver your opening line.
Those first moments are vital. Like a plunge into a cold swimming pool, the initial shock can throw you but you will quickly acclimatise to the new situation. You should memorise your opening line, word for word so that you know what to say even if you face a momentary blankness.
Opening lines can vary. You can state the purpose of your speech, or your key message. You can use humour to warm them up. You can talk about something you all have in common – people warm to presenters who are like themselves. If you are following another speaker, you can thank them and invite applause – this will encourage them to respond during your own speech.
The important thing is to build rapport right from the start. The old adage before you sell anything, you have to sell yourself, always applies.
CLOSING
As your speech approaches its conclusion you can be forgiven for feeling some relief. But this is not the time to relax. Think back to the flying analogy – you want to land with wheels down, not nose first.
It can be difficult to conclude. I have seen people trapped on conference platforms as their time runs out, unable to find a clean way to close their speech. It is not a pretty sight.
So, make sure you learn your closing lines as diligently as the opening ones.
The close should repeat your key message and include a call to action. What do you want from them? It could be their votes, their sales orders, a job or just their support. It feels very un-British to ask them but trust me – it works.
And whilst you are delivering your call to action, take the opportunity to make it as inspiring as possible. You want to conclude to applause if possible. You want them to want to hear more from you.
BODY LANGUAGE TIPS
Generally, your body language should be as open as possible. This is more likely to come with confidence, which is why I want you to put in the hard yards of preparation first. It takes a lot of practice to look this spontaneous!
But don’t obsess about your body language or posture. As long as you aren’t doing anything that distracts from your message, you should be fine. In particular, try not to hold notes or other items as these will tend to limit your arm movements. If you are short – I’m 5ft 5ins so I share your pain – then try not to get hidden behind lecterns. For questions it is often better to remain on your feet even if a chair is offered.
Eye contact can be a problem, particularly with smaller audiences. It is too easy to get fixated on one pair of eyes, wondering what they are thinking, or even clinging to them for support. Try looking at the foreheads of the audience instead. From where they stand or sit, you are still meeting their gaze, but without the danger of looking overly hostile or fearful.
When I coach speakers, I try not to get too hung up on things like posture. Most great speakers have their own tics and peculiarities which make them more memorable. I’m not in the business of cloning super slick presenters or making people look over rehearsed.
If you need advice do contact me – I’m here to help.