Public speaking can be a fate worse than death for many people. In fact, 75% of people suffer from Glossophobia: the fear of public speaking.

But, while we tend to think of public speaking as standing on a stage and presenting in front of hundreds or thousands of people, we are always communicating.

Every single one of us has a voice and message, and you never know when you might need to use your voice effectively as a speaker or in any form of communication.

Jeanette Linfoot, draws upon her 30+ years of global professional experience, to provide SMEToday’s readers with 10 key principles for becoming a better communicator in any situation

1. Remember you have a message

Your voice is powerful, no matter what field you are in or what job you’ve done. Every person has a message to deliver, and it’s important to believe in yours, and remember you have something valuable to share with the world.

Public speaking and communicating is the only way to deliver that message. Even if you aren’t into public speaking, you are communicating every single day. Therefore, if you have something to share that could help other people, don’t let fear hold you back.

Believe in yourself and know that your voice counts.

2. Invest in some training

If you are worried about not knowing where to start with communicating, or how to get your message across, invest in training. A good place to look is online, as there are many free courses that can help you put the right foot forward.

Investing in your public speaking skills can be the greatest return on investment of any professional development that you do, and if left ignored it could become a liability that holds you back.

3. Have a clear structure to your speech

Good communication isn’t just a case of standing up and blurting out anything you have in mind. You want to be able to capture the imagination and attention of the audience and take them on a journey with you.

The best way to do that is by having a structure to your speech. There are many ways to achieve this, but one proven method is the ‘Pentagon’.

The Pentagon has five corners to it which are:

1. What – What are going to speak about?
2. Why – Why is it important?
3. How – How are you going to get your message across?
4. What if – What if people have concerns or questions? How will you address them?
5. When – When should people take action?

This is a very simple structure to the body of a speech, but you can also apply it to other aspects of your day-to-day life, for example when negotiating with a supplier or communicating with your team.

4. Be yourself

Very often when you put yourself out into the world, you feel a huge sense of vulnerability and negative thoughts can flood your brain, causing you to act or speak unauthentically and not as your real self.

People can see through this very quickly. The strategy is to own who you are. You are uniquely you and that is absolutely a gift.

There’s no one like you, so embrace your uniqueness as this will enable you to come across as much more believable.

Not everyone will like the real you but that’s okay. The people that do resonate with you will resonate with your authentic self.

5. Bring your story to your speech

Bring your story, your life, and your journey into your speech. Your unique experiences will help bring your speech to life.

This doesn’t mean you need to talk about your whole life but find a part of it that relates to the topic of your speech. This adds further authenticity and will allow your audience to get to know you.

Not only that, but it will be more enjoyable for the audience and bring the subject matter to life.

6. Preparation is key

If you are going to deliver a speech, always prepare for it.

While you don’t need to devise a full script, you do need to put together a basic structure, content, and flow so you can give the best to your audience.

The people listening to you are giving you their valuable time, and taking the time to prepare for your speech is a way of paying respect to your audience.

If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail, so always put the effort into your speech.

7. Know your audience

Always get to know your audience before delivering your communication. Most likely, you will not appeal to every single person, but have a sense of who is going to be in front of you.

For example, if you’re going to be speaking about women in business, make sure you are not alienating any men in the audience, because gender diversity is also important for them.

Think about your audience, how you can connect with them and what the key messages are that you are trying to share.

8. Remember your body language

The harsh reality is that your audience will judge you. So, get out of your own way, accept that is the case and think about your body language.

There are 170,000 words in the English language, but did you know there are 700,000 aspects of body language?

What you say is very important but how you say it is just as crucial.

9. Get in state

Make sure to always get in state before you make a speech. This means get ready.

Before you enter the stage, have the right atmosphere around you. Take a moment and try to avoid talking to lots of people so you can ensure your mind is in the right space.

Breathing is a huge part of this, as when you do something powerful like delivering a speech, your adrenaline and nerves will kick in and this is when it’s important to remain calm.

A great tip is to simply focus on remembering the first line. Once you get over that first line the rest will come.

10. Repeat, repeat, repeat

Many mentors in public speaking reinforce that only through repetition will you get to mastery. The more you do, and the more you practice, the easier it will get.

It doesn’t matter if your communication isn’t perfect the first time, nor if it doesn’t go as you planned.  As long as you learn and practice, the next time will be better.

Conclusion

Remember you are always presenting, even when you don’t think you are.

Few people master public speaking, but when you do it is a joy. You are giving something to the world and sharing your voice which is incredibly powerful.

Warren Buffett said, “If you can’t communicate and talk to other people and get across your ideas, you’re giving up your true potential.”

So, be brave, put yourself out there and push outside of your comfort zone.

By Jeannette Linfoot www.jeannettelinfootassociates.com