The burning question for participants in a speaking workshop is,
“How do I get confident while speaking?”
There is no magic bullet and there are lots of facets to presenting to an audience to really build your confidence.
World Public Speaker winner Darren LaCroix, says the key to better speaking is, “Stage time, stage time, stage time.”
That is great but you don’t want to be on stage and still not have any idea of how to at least start the speech. Otherwise, you are repeating the same mistake.
I believe that after the writing is the practice.
And it is in the practice, where the confidence begins.
Try this speaker's tip.
Practice and memorise the first two sentences, being your headline and the last two sentences, being your wrap.
In the car, walking the dog, cooking dinner or on the train. Know your headline and wrap off by heart.
Once you are in front of your audience and you have the ‘comfortable stance’, the last thing you want to be doing is thinking of how to start.
After a breath, boom. Deliver your first sentences. The rest will follow like a mountain stream.
This is the confidence you need. Just get going.
This is what the BHP participants at the Effective Communication Immersion workshop learnt and applied. Their storytelling was spot on. Their headlines were like hooks in a fish and kept the audience engaged. The improvement from the first speech to the third was impressive.
So grateful to @Andrew Blackburn and @Tony Webster for helping these fine young environmentalists become more engaging speakers.