STEP TO THE MIC!
A Mini Guide for Public Speaking
We give speeches and presentations because we want to educate, inform, alert, comfort or ignite. Ideally, we want people to feel something different than how they did when they entered the room. That’s a successful day out.
I went from being that shy kid at school to building a sustainable career that required a lot of talking in front of others! As an all-round performer in theatre, film, television, radio, event emceeing and coaching, I’ve not only overcome my original shyness, but have found joy in pushing myself well beyond the comfort zone. This has allowed me to put myself in situations I never would have thought possible and build a level of resilience that I take with me everywhere.
It’s been a long journey to understand effective methods to getting over this fear of speaking in front of people. I guess performing in front of them became somewhat easier because I could hide behind a character. But in time I removed the cloak and revealed the real me despite the dread that someone will laugh and mock me!
Having done this countless of times, I have come to know the intricacies of why things go wrong, why the audience does or doesn’t engage and why we put those irrational hurdles in front of us.
Topics I’ll cover in this guide include;
- Unpacking the fears
- Tips for speech writing (5 parts)
- The Opening & Closing.
- Tricks to learning lines
- The Art of Improvising
- Damage control
Public speaking is not only a joy but a privilege for me now. I’ve loved every experience, good and bad and I plan to share this with you – hoping it helps your future presentations in some way.