Top Business Advice to Authors

Public speaking is something most people try to avoid and even dread. There have been numerous times over the last ten years when I have had to make a speech in front of a group of people. I needed to work out the best ways of going about ensuring that these speeches would be successful. In this article, I write about what I learnt from reading many books about public speaking, advice which has helped me to successfully deliver these speeches.

Whether it is a speech about offering stuttering help, upvc doors or about jobs in foster care these techniques should help.

When you start your speech, I would ensure that you have a focal point in the room, which can act to give you inspiration. This could be a picture at the back of the room or a window. At times you may lose your focus and may forget what you want to say. When things go slightly amiss this focal point can help you to regain your composure and concentration.

I try not to look at the eyes of the people in the audience when I give a public speech, as this can put me off. I want them to think that I am though, as it can be a sign of nerves if they think that I am not able to. What I tend to do is to look at an area on their forehead which obviously is not their eyes but which has the effect that I am still looking at them etc.

Even though I do plan what I am going to say, I do not plan it word for word. Instead I write down keywords or key subjects on paper which I keep in my pocket in case I need to look at it. This then ensures I do not forget what I want to say and also allows me to ad lib. The speech will also hopefully now not sound so robotic and boring as it might have if I had memorised it word for word.

I always like to start off the public speech with a short joke, which can then act as an ice breaker. There was one such speech a number of years ago when I left the organisation where I had been employed. The people in the office had put to a collection and had bought me some leaving presents. I then had to say a few words of thanks to them. I knew many weeks in advance that I would have to give this speech and I have to say it did cause me quite a bit of stress.

The actual public talk needs to only be of a duration of, lets say, fifteen minutes and there would be about forty people in the audience. I began by thanking the people who had contributed to the collection and stated that I would meet the rest of the people on the street later. This is quite a pathetic joke however a couple of people did laugh. This gave me a bit of extra confidence and helped to relax me.

I also advise people to talk a bit slower than they normally do when they have to deliver a public speech. This has helped me tremendously over the years.

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