Public Speaking - How to be Sure You Look and Sound Just Right

by: Tony Hall

Do you think that if you knew that you looked and sounded just right, that your confidence to get up and make a speech would be boosted? Would your public speaking fears be banished by having the knowledge that the way you present yourself reflects a confident and assured speaker to all those who see you? Well in my experience it most certainly would and I have a way that might just help.

You see when I first went on a presentation skills course many years ago I had no confidence at all in my own ability to speak in front of an audience. The mere thought of it would bring me out in a cold sweat and I would be overwhelmed by nerves. The idea of me giving an assured and confident presentation in front of any audience seemed ridiculous. But within a couple of days all that changed!

The course was very much hands-on and involved role play routines and we went through the whole process of putting together a presentation. We learned how to research it, plan it and how to give it the correct structure. Then we formed up into pairs and actually filmed each other doing our talk.

Now if you've ever heard your voice on a recording you will know how it always sounds totally different to how you expect. So you can imagine what it was like to sit and watch the recording of our films.

It was quite a shock to see myself, but it was also a real education.

I could look at how I stood, examine the movements I made, and despair at how little I smiled. I was also able to listen to the tone of my voice, see where I did or didn't put pauses and hear the intonation and emphasis in my talk.

We had the chance to identify the good bits and to see where we could make changes to make it better. Then when we had done that we filmed it all over again.

The improvement was amazing and we got to keep the recordings so that we could show them to family and friends. When I showed mine the positive feedback was great and I've never looked back since. Seeing myself making that presentation really boosted my confidence and it can do the same for you.

So do whatever you can to get a way of filming yourself, you may even be able to set up a camcorder, or even just a webcam, and do it yourself if you prefer not to have anyone else present. I would recommend though that you involve someone you know and trust as their opinion will be invaluable.

Simply prepare a short speech, no more than five minutes, and film it. Then see how you look and sound. Examine the following:

- How you look.

- Do you smile enough?

- Your movements

- Your body language

- The tone of your voice

- Where and when you take pauses

- Your breathing

- Your intonation and pitch.

Decide what is good and what you can make better. Then do it all again, a number of times if you have to. Then, when you are happy with how you look and sound, be brave and show it to someone else. I'll be very surprised if they are not full of praise and give you lots of positive feedback.

Then you can be proud and confident that you can get up and talk to anyone knowing that you'll look and sound just right.