The most common phobia that Americans have is glossophobia, the fear of public speaking. Seventy-five percent of all Americans report having a fear of public speaking, beating out fear of spiders, fear of the dark and even fear of death. What they need is advice for giving a good speech--advice that's more constructive than "picture the audience naked."
Never forget who you're talking to. You're speaking to a specific audience. And audiences, by definition, gather to watch something that's worth their being held hostage in a cramped room for an extensive amount of time. But don't worry: An audience is much easier to control than separate individuals. To woo audience members, you must do two things: find out what they want to hear, and figure out how to get that message across.
Know what the audience wants to hear. Each audience is different. Keeping that in mind, here's how to gear your speech towards a specific audience:
*Research your audience. Find out what the average audience member will be like. What will the average age be? What about their familiarity with the subject? Will they be fun-loving or stodgy? What are they expecting to learn from you? Thinking about these simple elements will set you on the right track.
*Use appropriate words and body language. A career-day speech in an elementary-school classroom is not the place to start pulling out terms like, "software development" when what you really want to say is "I do stuff with computers." But if you're giving a presentation to a group of programming colleagues, you should by all means refer to what you do as "software development." If the audience doesn't understand your words, your speech will completely fly over their heads. If the words you use are too simple, your speech will be drowned out by the snoring.
*Think about the image you want to convey. When you're speaking to children, smile a lot and look friendly and warm. When delivering a presentation to a group of distinguished colleagues, you still want to be accessible, but you must also maintain an authoritative air.
The whole point of giving a speech is not just to make it through all your index cards, but to also communicate something to your audience. Consider these suggestions to help you out:
*Treat the audience as a single entity. One trick of the trade is to pretend that the audience is just one person. When there's only one person you have to worry about, you feel more of a personal connection to him. Your speech will take back seat to the fact that you want the person who's listening to you to really understand what you're saying.
*Make eye contact. Nothing makes an audience more alert than a speaker who can stare down a crowd. Making eye contact means making a connection, and that is your number one goal. So let your eyes wander up from your notes as often and naturally as possible (this will get easier with practice).
*Consider letting the audience participate. It's not applicable to all speeches, but letting members of the audience participate during your presentation will warm up a crowd. It'll encourage them to pay attention, thus making you easier to understand. Participation can range anywhere from asking for a show of hands to dividing the group into little clusters and giving each cluster a task. However, you should never call on someone who is not prepared to answer, nor should you ever embarrass anybody.
