You can also try emulating a personal favourite speaker - try to do what they do, and that may give you some confidence. I always try to copy a few of Gerry Robinsons' techniques as I always love his speeches (if you've never seen him, check out his profile here Sir Gerry Robinson? Business Speaker Profile ).

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James
Motivational and Business Speakers

Webmaser8753's right. You should never get 'comfortable'. We're trainers and so we do presentations pretty much every day, and yet we have a mantra in the office: the day you stand up to make a presentation and you're NOT nervous is the day AFTER you should have quit....

S

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Presentation skills training for groups: presentation skills training for individuals.

Sebastian, have you posted anything ever since your post?

Public speaking a mental wrestling match at first. I am not sure how long your presentation is but familiarity is the first step. The more familiar you are with the information the better off you will be. I took the long route to learn. Try to find a few people to listen to you. Sometimes family is good for that. Even if they are rough on you....you would rather they be tough on you which should make the real group easier. WE all know there are lots of things that you could do but at least if you practice in front of someone. Key things to do are 1. Speak loud enough but not to loud. Look around the room a little at least, smile, and pretend the are all in their underwear. Remember everyone is pulling for you because who wants to hear a boring speech. I hope this helps

I thought that "imagine them in their underwear" tip died out years ago (and not before time). It doesn't work.

I'll not go into the bio-chem details of why it's a bad idea because (they're boring and) they're not as important as the "moral" question...

How much respect can you have for people you're imagining in their underwear? That's the whole point, in a sense, because it makes them seem less intimidating. That said, this attitude betrays a very limiting approach to how good you want the presentation to be: if it's just about standing there and getting from one end to the other without die-ing you might like to try the trick (but I know better ones! ) but if you want the presentation to make a connection with your audience then speaking to people while trying to mentally degrade them is obviously counter-productive.

And let's face it, if you don't want your presentation to make a contact with people, you don't want to affect them, or change anything, or have them leave the room slightly differently to when they arrived, why are you making the presentation in the first place?!?!

Far, far better to practice some of the many tips available online to take control of yourself, not try to take control of the audience. It's more effective and it's more respectful.

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Presentation skills training for groups: presentation skills training for individuals.

Completely agree with what you're saying simonraybould - the "imagine them in their underwear" technique only works if you're only trying to get through the speech, and not really that bothered about how successful you are.

Having said that, if you're forced into a situation where you have to speak and it's just not your thing - then by all means get through it any way you can (without embarrassing youself!) We've all been through school..

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James
Motivational and Business Speakers

Hey Everybody,

I found a really good tip online a few months ago and thought it would be useful to share it...

Firstly you should stand on stage in a confident stance. Next your breathing should be relaxed and centred not short and snappy just deep enough to be relaxed but normal.

Whilst continuing with the breathing you should find a spot on the wall that you can look at comfortably and then slowly start to expand your awareness out to the sides (whilst keep looking at the spot) until you have wrapped your awareness all the way behind you.
Finally you can then move your eyes down onto the people in your audience whilst remaining in peripheral vision. It is important to blink and smile during this or you will look weird or fall asleep!

If you find yourself feeling fearful at all during your presentation then you will have come out of the relaxed mental state and gone into “Foveal Vision” . Just simply return to the relaxed mental state by going back to your spot on the wall. Personally for me I have a favourite person in the audience that gives off good energy and smiles constantly, which I use as my “Anchor person”. I will look at this person between their eyes on the bridge of their nose to re-enter my relaxed mental state.
If you forget your content it is really important to stay in your relaxed mental state so that you can maintain access with your unconscious mind where the material is stored. It is useful not to look down or to lose your relaxed mental stance as your uncertain state and physiology will signal to the audience that you are struggling.

It takes some practice but it works really well for me! I just got into the habit of every time I spoke to somebody I would be using my peripheral vision while looking at the gap between their eyes. The funny thing was everybody started to comment on how good a listener I had become as well!

Hope this helps

Sue

Hey all,

Ive got some great info and

Speaker FAQ's here

Advice & FAQs about speakers - Speakers Corner

Hope you find it interesting, let me know your feedback

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Motivational Speakers & After Dinner Speakers

Try some of the exercises on my site.

Public Speaking Exercises. Exciting New Way To Use The Web To Overcome Fear.

It's my first post to the forum so hello everyone!

I am also not great at public speaking and what's worse, recent changes at my company will require more of it from me so I am looking for some solid advice.

Great links here guys, thanks and hopefully I will be able to post a video of my speaking

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Public Speaking Handbook