Public speaking is all about getting a message across to your audience. Therefore, the focus should be on your audience, NOT you as the speaker. Everything gets louder on stage, not just your voice. When you are confident it increases and when you lack confidence it increases too. To help you under the value of public speaking, one of the best examples will be Karen McCleave, an Assistant Crown Attorney for more than 30 years. Karen was born and educated in Sault Ste Marie. Karen Mccleave received her Bachelor’s degree from the University of Western Ontario, received her LL.B. from the University of Windsor, and was called to the Ontario Bar.
Here are a few reasons why confidence is key to public speaking.
Table Of Contents
- 1 Take your focus away from yourself and focus on the audience:
- 2 Eliminate distractions so you can focus on getting the message across:
- 3 Prepare messages full of content designed for an audience, not content designed to make you look, sound, and/or feel good:
- 4 Read the listener’s body language and adjust your speech style:
- 5 To give you security as a speaker:
- 6 Present yourself to your audience in a cool, calm, and confident way, even if things don’t go according to plan:
Take your focus away from yourself and focus on the audience:
This is made possible through sound thinking towards the audience. Unlike many speakers who spend most of their speech wondering if their audience likes them, your focus confidently shifts from whether your audience likes you to building understanding and connection with your audience once you enter the stage. From the start, a confident speaker has the attitude that the audience will support him.
Eliminate distractions so you can focus on getting the message across:
“I used to fear public speaking. My voice would shake, I used to forget to breathe. Now it’s pretty easy for me,” said Spencer Stone, an American-French actor, writer and former United States Air Force staff sergeant.
Many speakers are left blank on stage because they have so many conflicting thoughts about their insecurities and vulnerabilities that cloud their minds. Being confident means that you can think right and control your thoughts as opposed to thoughts controlling you.
Prepare messages full of content designed for an audience, not content designed to make you look, sound, and/or feel good:
Speakers who lack confidence often turn to incoherent tangents, use unnecessarily complex jargon and language, and may not have an appropriate personal story in their message. A confident speaker has a relevant, simple, and honest message, often using personal stories to build understanding. The message is what the audience needs or wants to hear, not just what you want to talk about.
Read the listener’s body language and adjust your speech style:
Speakers who lack confidence tend to be so absorbed and focused on their own body language and delivery style that they ignore non-verbal feedback from their audience. A confident speaker can adapt his delivery style to the audience’s reaction.
To give you security as a speaker:
Many speakers who lack confidence and are paralyzed by insecurities may be guilty of excessive omissions that boast of their level of experience and/or overemphasis of their authority. A confident speaker knows exactly the amount of information needed to build credibility by weaving in examples and stories without being overbearing.
Present yourself to your audience in a cool, calm, and confident way, even if things don’t go according to plan:
A speaker who lacks confidence can actually shake off an unplanned obstacle, and an audience can easily understand it. A confident speaker is able to face challenges without showing them on stage.