Ah, public speaking. Don’t you just love the thrill of getting up in front of a crowded room as an adoring, attentive audience hangs onto your every confidently, flawlessly delivered word?
… Wait, what’s that? You hate public speaking? More than anything? The mere thought of it makes you want to sprint out of the room and hurl a la pre-makeover Mia Thermopolis in The Princess Diaries? Well, we’ll let you in on a little secret—we once felt the exact same way. Never fear! We got over our phobia, and so can you. Here are some of our very best tips on how to improve your public speaking skills.
1. Know your stuff
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Many people think they can give an effective presentation by just winging it, which is a recipe for disaster. Public speaking and presentation skills trainer Susan Smyle of McGrath Communications recommends practicing in front of the mirror (or at any opportunity during the day you find yourself alone) so that presenting it will feel like second nature by the time you get up in front of an audience.
“Another way to practice is to record yourself speaking and play it back to listen for problem areas,” says Bailee Abell, a junior at UC Santa Barbara. “By listening to your recording, you are able to identify where you get nervous or unsure, and you will know when you should slow down your speech.”
Donna Amore, a senior at the University of Scranton, adds, “I never ever write down my speech word by word. It makes me feel a lot more casual than formal and sets the tone to calm my nerves.” If you try to follow an exact script, you’ll be tempted to read off of it and forget to make eye contact with the audience—learn your material beforehand!
“You’re never going to get better unless you start somewhere,” says Anna Kaufman, a professional public speaker and club director at Toastmasters International, of preparing for a presentation. “Getting in front of any group, whether it’s one person or five people or ten people, that first time can be challenging.” She advises taking any opportunity, whether it’s speaking in class or saying a few words at a group meeting, to get more comfortable with communicating in front of others. “Taking advantage of those little opportunities to let your voice be heard goes a very long way,” she says.
2. Push your volume
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Smyle recommends keeping your voice at a volume level between 6 and 8, on a scale of 1 to 10. “This creates a lot of inflection and interest in your voice, as opposed to monotone,” Smyle says. She also adds that pushing your volume alleviates nervousness, because you are more focused on keeping your voice in the 6-to-8 range than about how anxious you feel. Boston University senior Giana Grimaldi adds that when giving presentations, she would always “make sure that the first word to come out of my mouth when I started was loud, clear and confident. This helped me maintain that confidence throughout the presentation, since I started off strong.”
3. Body language is everything
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According to Smyle, a speaker’s eyes, hands, and feet are equally important to the voice when giving a presentation. “Always talk to a pair of eyes,” she says. “Most often, presenters are looking at the floor, the ceiling, their laptops or the screen of their presentation—but when you look at someone, they feel like they want to listen.”
In order to engage the entire audience and avoid awkwardly long eye contact with one person, you should maintain eye contact with one person for the duration of one sentence or thought before moving on to the next pair of eyes. Instead of holding your arms stiffly at your sides, use your hands to create small gestures that will complement what you say and help you to look and feel more natural. Never cross your arms or put your hands in your pockets. Your feet should remain shoulder-width apart. Avoid pacing, because “that is a distraction for the audience,” says Smyle. “The audience pays more attention to you walking back and forth, and less on what your words are saying.” Oh, and most importantly—don’t forget to smile!
4. Keep it simple
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While you’ll want to look your best on presentation day, it’s important to be comfortable, too. Wear something you feel confident in, and shoes you can easily walk in. Smyle says that it’s imperative to keep jewelry simple and minimal. Flashy, dangly earrings are distracting to an audience, and you’ll likely be tempted to fidget or play with bracelets or necklaces while you are speaking. If playing with your hair by twirling it or brushing it out of your face is a nervous habit of yours, it’s best to keep your hair pulled back. Keeping it simple will stop you from wondering “how do I look?” while you are speaking and instead allow you to focus on your content.
5. Avoid filler words
Many speakers struggle with saying “um,” “and,” “so,” or other filler words during speeches or presentations. This makes us appear less confident in our knowledge of our material. According to Smyle, when we maintain eye contact with audience members, we are much less likely to use filler words. It is better to “search in silence,” she says, meaning speakers should remain quiet when thinking about what to say next rather than resort to saying “and” or “um.”
HC Campus Correspondent Indigo Baloch adds that if you struggle with this—and most of us do—it can be helpful to “have a friend watch you practice and keep a tally of every time you use a filler. If you use fillers a lot, force yourself to be silent every time you want to use a filler.” It’s difficult, but it’s a great way to break the habit!
6. Use PowerPoint sparingly
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“Too many people rely on PowerPoint to be the presentation,” says Smyle. “Let PowerPoint help you present, but don’t let it be the main focus.” Give the audience a few seconds to read the slide before you begin speaking—otherwise, they’ll be too busy reading to pay attention to what you’re saying. Provide an introduction to the most important slides, or to the most important point on an individual slide, so the audience knows where to direct their attention. “The thing about PowerPoints is really keeping it simple–making sure it’s not too much text, that it’s a visually appealing tool that can be quickly grasped,” adds Kaufman. “The content needs to be on a level that’s easily understood, but can still be relevant.”
7. Remember, it’s not about you
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Instead of worrying about how you look or sound to the audience, Smyle says we should take the concentration off of ourselves, and instead ask, “What can I do to help my audience learn? What can I do to help the audience feel comfortable with my presentation?” This way, we are able to focus on how to make the presentation more engaging and interesting, rather than wonder if we are being judged. Iris Goldsztajn, a senior at UCLA, adds: “When you think everyone is laser-focused on the zit on your forehead or secretly making fun of you for stumbling on a word, they’re actually paying attention to what you’re saying or, in the worst case, dozing off a little. Public speaking is difficult for everyone, so I’ve actually found that it’s one of the times when people tend to judge others the least, because we’ve all been there!”
According to Smyle, the ultimate key to being a good speaker or presenter is caring about the audience, and it’s also the best way to overcome nervousness. Smyle herself once suffered from crippling anxiety about public speaking, but was encouraged to pursue it by a mentor who was impressed with her people skills. He encouraged her to approach public speaking in the same way she approached hosting dinner parties—by understanding it’s not about her and instead focusing on engaging guests and making them feel welcome and comfortable. “That was the game changer for me,” she says. College women might think about approaching public speaking the way they would having a cup of coffee with a friend.
Sadly, there’s no one cure-all for anxiety about public speaking. Even after twenty years of doing it professionally, Smyle says she still sometimes feels nervous before a presentation. However, with practice comes confidence, and with confidence comes killer public speaking skills. Best of luck, girls!