The Art of Public Speaking: Focus & Patience During Delivery of Speech

By Ambika PrasadParashar

The book has been designed to help those who want to be good speakers in public. It contains several tools and discusses various techniques to become good at public speaking. The main thing you need is to promote your belief that the art of good speaking in public can surely be cultivated through continuous efforts. For that one must possess a strong desire and practice all the traits contained herein. The book guides a learner how to gain confidence in public speaking in a systematic way as follows: Understanding good speaking and the effects of becoming a good speaker. Organizing and preparing the speech including all the required information. Drafting a complete outline of the speech for systematic and efficient delivery. Keeping calm and collected during the delivery of speech for win-win situation. Concluding the speech for lasting impact on the minds of audience/listeners. Overcoming stage anxieties and fears before delivering the speech in public. Keeping in mind some precautions, checks, and guidelines to deliver good speeches.

• Language: English
• Publisher: V&S Publishers
• Release date: Aug 1, 2020
• ISBN: 9789357942218

Book preview

1

Good Speaking is a Great Achievement

One should clearly understand that there are big personal returns in becoming a dynamic speaker. One develops self-confidence and feels that he/she has a sense of self-worth that he/she was not aware of earlier. When skills such as effective communication skills, good comprehension skills, and good manners and etiquettes etc. are added to your personality, you become more productive in your speech. If you can influence others and help change their lives for the better, it is a great achievement. All that could be done simply by being a dominant public speaker.

Stage Fright

Sweaty palms. Racing heart. Throat so dry that no words would come out. You know the feeling. Public speaking is a stomach-churning experience for most of us. This is stage fright.

Stage fright is anxiety over the prospect of giving a speech in front of an audience. The entire population of the world is divided into two types— those who love speaking in public and those who are scared even at the thought of it. Stage fright or performance anxiety is normal that occurs to many people. It is a type of phobia which occurs in some individuals when they are required to speak in front of an audience.

Celebrities and Fear of Public Speaking

Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking. This speech anxiety is felt by millions of people and even by those who are or were famous public speakers or even celebrities.

You would be surprised to know that Mahatma Gandhi was also not unknown to this phobia. Mahatma Gandhi suffered from frequent panic attacks when he was a student. He related an agonizing experience from his student’s life. Once he was supposed to give a speech to a community in London. My vision became blurred and I trembled, though the speech hardly covered a sheet of foolscap. he recalled. After reading and delivering the first line, he could no longer speak and requested someone else to deliver the rest of the speech for him.

The awful strain of public speaking’’ became a burden so great for Gandhiji that he avoided speaking even at friendly get-togethers for years. Gandhiji became a lawyer, but the fear of crowds still haunted him. During his first case before a judge, he panicked and left the courtroom. He painfully recalled, My head was reeling and I felt as though the whole court was doing likewise."

What happened, then, to turn a faint hearted speaker into the fearless leader of a revolution?

Gandhiji found a cause that inflammed a passion so great in him that it overrode his anxieties and fears. His desire to see a free India moved him to stand up for what he believed in. He noted that even his hesitancy in speech later became an advantage as it taught him to pack meaning into short but meaningful statements. Be stubborn…because you have considered the maximum number of people who will benefit and wish to serve them by solidly banging the drum for what you know to be true, he wrote.

Gandhi ji addressing a public rally

Abraham Lincoln, the 16th President of the United States of America, avoided public speaking and used a substitute whenever possible. Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd President of the United States of America delivered only 2 speeches in public which could barely be heard by the audiences. Harrison Ford, the famous Hollywood actor and film producer used to avoid talk shows and audiences when he can. Rowan Atkinson popularly known as Mr Bean, the famous Hollywood comedian had a massive speaking problem and was often nervous and uncomfortable on talk shows. Warren Buffett, one of the world’s most wealthy philanthropists also had a fear of public speaking. Sir Richard Branson is one of the world’s highest paid speakers yet he gets unbelievably nervous before going on stage. He usually uses questions and answers sessions or introduces videos so that he does not have to face the audience for longer period of time.

Speaking in Public is a Challenging Job

Speaking in public is always a challenging job as it comprises of several kinds of fears in a speaker’s mind. These fears often go on constantly hammering the mind of the speaker, making him/her conscious about the speech and the way the speech is being delivered at a particular occasion. All such phobias and pressures go on bothering the speaker. Consequently, he/she becomes very conscious of the speech, it might result in making the speech unproductive or ineffective. Overcoming all such phobias and anxieties during one’s speech and constantly keeping on to the right track by delivering the desired message before the audience, can be considered a better way than the one which is implicit with several kinds of fears. These fears often lead the speech to a different direction than the desired one.

How to check all such anxieties and carry onto the main path of the speech is extremely important to become a great speaker. By having the desired and effective modulation, with adequate choice of an effective as well as a befitting vocabulary, and conveying what is really desired to be conveyed at a particular occasion, are something important. An efficient and inclusive speech is considered good and productive speech for both audience and speaker.

However, all what we have stated above, is not always easy to keep. To contain all such capabilities, one needs to possess so many traits if one desires to deliver a good speech. These traits include presence of mind, an excellent and befitting vocabulary, and need to contain great confidence in the self before delivering an effective speech. We shall discuss some of these issues later in the book at the appropriate place but right now we would like to throw some light on the issue ‘how to become a natural speaker’ especially when so many people are watching you from a close distance.

Much of the anxiety associated with public speaking comes from lack of experience in giving speeches. Once you have given one or two speeches, you will feel less anxious and more confident. It is perfectly natural to be a little bit nervous at the start of a speech. The body produces extra adrenaline (a hormone which is released in the blood in response to physical and mental stress) in response to a stressful situation. The heart starts racing, hands shake, knees feel as if they will give way, perspiration breaks out. Don’t worry, every public speaker has sometime or the other experienced these reactions before or even during the presentation.

Before Going on Stage: Some Check Points

Why do you want these reactions to go away? You can convert these into positive force or positive nervousness. Change your stage fright (anxiety over the prospect of giving a speech in front of an audience) into stage excitement or enthusiasm. Feel enthusiastic, lively and full of confidence. Nervousness is normal. You can overcome your nervousness by taking the following precautions:

■Face the audience and stand in a relaxed but upright posture. Check/arrange your notes before you speak. Now look at your audience and smile. As your speech progresses you can use your hands to gesture. But make sure that the gestures you use should flow naturally from your feelings.

■Always avoid or at least minimize your nervous actions like wringing your hands, shifting from one foot to another many times, twisting your hair etc. Even if you are nervous try to appear calm and relaxed.

■Don’t just focus on one or two people in the audience and deliver your entire speech. Try to look at all your audience from time-to-time.

■Though it is normal to be nervous before your presentation but reduce this by preparing your speech thoroughly.

■Think positively.

■You can sit quietly in a chair to reduce that nervousness and take several slow and deep breaths.

■Use power of visualization. Visualise yourself giving a successful speech.

■Know that while you may be anxious, your nervousness is not visible to your audience.

■Don’t expect perfection. When you talk to your family or friend do you ever talk in a perfect way? Of course not. So don’t expect to be perfect while giving a speech

One Should Speak Naturally

In order to become a good speaker in public one would need to speak naturally. Perhaps the most important thing that you would require to possess, would be to think that all those sitting or standing in front of you, are well known to you and you also deliver speeches to them each day normally. Problem begins to set in when the speaker starts thinking that people in the crowd sitting or standing just nigh, are not known to him/her. And all of them are also staring at him/her while the speech is being delivered. Thinking of such things would highly be detrimental and may result in forgetting the direction of the speech. The moment one starts forgetting the main direction, one gets nervous and is likely to forget more what is actually needed to be delivered at that moment. It is therefore of utmost importance that the speaker keeps a natural mood and goes on delivering the speech as clearly as possible. If the speaker could do so, the speech is likely to go naturally, creating a very natural effect on the listeners. Therefore, one of the keys to be a good speaker is to contain a natural mood and mind so that the audience is positively influenced.

Common Fears

The thought of speaking in public might make one nervous. A person may be articulate and a good conversationalist, but when faced with the prospect of speaking before a crowd or even a group of people, he may have all the classic symptoms of nervousness. One may be witty, but facing a packed auditorium may make him tongue-tied or speechless. One may have spent hours and days preparing for the speech, but find himself blank at the crucial hour.

Actually what happens when one starts to speak in public? Most people don’t really know that public speaking tops the list of phobias that often attack the speaker at the time when the speech is being delivered. Well, one may not know that but the truth is that the body of the speaker certainly knows it. It will do all kinds of unpleasant things to the speaker when he/she stands up and faces a sea of faces with the hope of getting the message across in a compelling and interesting way. The speaker may experience panic, his hands may sweat and the mouth may go dry. The knees may start shaking and also the voice. The speaker’s heart may race and those well-known butterflies invade his/her stomach constantly. Once the person starts speaking, he may experience loss of memory and may find himself repeating words or phrases. He may feel overwhelmed.

When all that happen most people don’t think of getting their message across in a compelling and interesting way. Only what they think at that time is to get off the ‘stage’ as quickly as possible!

Overcoming Fears

Standing before a group of people and speaking is a challenge. Stage fright is a very real thing. But don’t worry. As stated earlier even most celebrated speakers have faced fear of speaking in public. They also have suffered mental lapses, and all the other fear and worries of the first-time speaker. As one becomes an accomplished speaker one overcomes nervousness through confidence, concentration, coordination and quick mental and physical response. One becomes deft in presentation skills. As is said, ‘Practice makes a man perfect’.

With lots of practice, courage and confidence one gains the ability to speak clearly and logically. Though when you start speaking in public your heart may beat a lot faster, even skipping a few beats, but gradually through self-confidence and courage you can overcome your problems.

The first thing is to shake off nervousness and speak with strong and persistent way. This will give pride and power. Imagine the sense of achievement and pleasure that new power will give. It will empower you with pride and confidence. Initially you may be nervous and feel those butterflies fluttering in the stomach. Try to do something to overcome this nervousness. Sift through the pages of the speech that you have prepared. Clean your spectacles. Drink a sip of water or do anything that will give you some time of your own and you can gather courage and wits.

Be enthusiastic about the topic of your speech. Be well-versed in what you have to say. Sometimes fear is born when we are not certain whether what we are going to say is correct or not. Hence research your subject well and obtain a thorough knowledge of the topic on which you intend to speak. Practice the speech several times. This way you will gain confidence with a lot of poise and dignity. Stand or sit with confidence (though at that moment you may not feel it). Put up a brave front. Be cheerful. Behave and speak as though it is your second nature to be cheerful. This will generate confidence in you automatically. Breathe deeply for a few seconds and then face the audience with enthusiasm and cheer. Confidence will follow. Look straight into the eye, and start delivering the speech. Behave as if you know all of them and your speaking to them is a regular feature. Or imagine as if there is nobody in front of you and you are all alone. Speak in a natural way. If your hands tremble a bit place them behind your back or grip your pages a bit tightly. But once you gain confidence, loosen up and speak with full enthusiasm and enjoy.

But all that is quite normal and natural and there is no need to fear about such bodily reactions. Just remind yourself that your body reacts ‘in extremis’ when put under pressure, and