Transcript Slide 1

Take a Risk, Speak up!
Tips to Tweak Your Talk
Susan J. Henson, Horticulturist, C.A.
City of Grand Prairie
Parks and Recreation
10 Tips for Public Speaking
Some nervousness is natural and
can be beneficial, but too much and
you become brain dead!
Next proven tips on how to control
you butterflies and conduct better
presentations.
1.Know your material.
Pick a topic you are interested in.
Know more about the topic then
you include in your speech.
Use humor, personal stories and
conversational language – that way
you won’t easily forget what to say
2. Practice, Practice, Practice!
Rehearse out loud with all equipment
you plan on using. Revise as
necessary.
Work to control filler words; practice
pause and breathe.
Practice with a timer and allow time
for the unexpected.
3. Know the audience!
Greet some of the audience members
as they arrive.
It’s easier to speak to a group of
friends than to strangers.
4. Know the room.
Arrive early, walk around the
speaking area and practice using the
microphone and any visual aids
5. Relax.
Begin by addressing the audience. It
bus you time and clams your nerves.
Pause, smile and count to three before
saying anything. (“One thousand one
one-thousand, two one-thousand, three
on-thousand. Pause. Begin.)
Transform nervous energy
into enthusiasm.
6. Visualize yourself giving your
speech.
Imagine yourself speaking, you voice
loud, clear and confident.
Visualize the audience clapping-it will
boost your confidence.
7. Realize that people want you to
succeed.
Audiences want you to be interesting,
stimulating, informative and
entertaining.
They’re rooting for you!
8. Don’t apologize!
For Nervousness or problems – the
audience probably never noticed it.
They won’t know you are not prepared
if you don’t tell them.
No one will know the
microphone isn’t working.
They will think you are enthusiastic!
9. Concentrate on the message – not
the medium
Focus your attention away from your
own anxieties and concentrate on your
message and your audience.
10. Gain experience.
Mainly, your speech should represent
you – as an authority and as a person.
Experience builds confidence, which
is the key to effective speaking. A
Toastmasters club can provide the
experience you need in a safe and
friendly environment.
Eight Great Speech Blunders
1.Dullness itself: relying on one or
two illustrations to make your points.
Use salient statistics…timely
quotes…appropriate industry
examples…and personal stories to
help you listeners visualize your
message—and remember it
2. NOT repeating your message
enough.
Repetition is crucial to retention. Half
and hour after a presentation the
average listener has already forgotten
40% of what was said.
By the end of the week, 90% is usually
forgotten.
The more you repeat and illustrate you
message, the more retention you get
3. Not answering the audiences most
major question, “What’s in it for me?”
You must understand the payoff: why
your audience is willing to come and
listen to you.
If you can answer this question, you can
tailor make your speech for them-and
reach them in a very personal way.
4. Burying your point.
You can lose your audience, even if you
have something that they want to hear,
unless you point out the most vital
sections for them, in advance.
Use signal phrases (Like what’s
important here, “ or “this can’t be
overemphasized”) to focus people’s
attention on the most important parts of
your message.
5. Forgetting to practice (and time)
your speech out loud.
This little item can cause major
embarrassment on stage.
A short spoken rehearsal will eliminate
tongue twisters…makes sure the speech’s
spoken length is appropriate …ensure
your opener is not more than the
recommended three minutes long …and
close with a snap, in 30 seconds or less.
6. Forgetting to check visual aids for
readability.
You can only have yourself to blame if
you lose your audience over this!
Look at all your visual aids in advance.
If anything you present cannot be read
from the back of the room, get rid of it.
Now.
7. Answering hypothetical questions
after the speech.
You can get into real hot water on this
one, because these questions have no
boundaries, no budget or time
constraints, and can pin you down to a
future you’d rather not have.
Turn the question, instead, back to reality
by saying “Based on these facts and the
existing situation, this is how I would
handle the situation
8. Getting distracted before you
speak.
Very few speakers can answer a phone
call or deal with some minor emergency
before they speak, and NOT have it
distract from the presentation.
Always take five minutes (or more) to
collect your thoughts, focus your
message and breath before stepping up
to the podium. Don’t allow distraction to
ruin what you’ve taken days to prepare.
The Elevator Speech
You have 30 seconds or less to tell
people who you are and what you do. In
other words sell yourself.
How do you get the info out in a
concise, coherent and rational manner.
No one wants to look silly when selling
themselves!
FIVE STEPS TO THE ELEVATOR
SPEECH
• Tell them who you are.
• What you do.
• Who you do it for.
• Why you do it.
• The manner in which you do it.
Place these in any order but include
them all