How to speak in front of a group better

Former Member

A group like a classroom.

Any tips?

I'm slowly... but very very slowly getting better at it, but I still speak very quickly and in quite a monotone voice. I get so flustered that I forget what I am going to say... I know what I want to say quite well and I have notes but even when looking at them my mind goes blank!

Does practicing out loud help actually help... as in has somebody done that and it works? I practice in my head a lot and it sounds great in there but once it comes out it is terrible

Former Member

Even experienced speakers practice their lines repeatedly (take last night's PM debate, for example). The more you practice, the more comfortable and familiar you will be with the content so even if you do have a momentary 'blank', you should still be able to push on about something. And practice in front of someone who will be critical. Don't try and memorise your speech word for word because that can put additional pressure on you but rather use brief notes that you can refer to from time to time if you feel that you are going to stray. Just memorise the main ideas. Spontaneity adds some character to your speech. Remember to breathe deeply. When we get nervous, we tend to take shallow breaths which robs our brain of oxygen and along the way, we realize that we won’t be able to finish our sentence, so we speed up. That makes us more nervous, so we breathe even more shallow. When this cycle occurs, just pause, take a deep breath, and continue.

Former Member

Practicing in front of a couple of friends perhaps? I find going partially impromptu (if you can, due to the circumstances) also really helps me personally. Can throw in personality, don't have to worry about looking at cards so much etc

Former Member

Practising out loud definitely works, you have to be really really good at speaking to be able to get away without having practised out loud. Doing it in your head gives you no sense of timing, tone or rhythym.

Once you've practised out loud, practise in front of a mirror, then doing it in front on an audience will be a doddle.

Former Member

Talk at a pace that in your head, sounds ridiculously slow. I have to give presentations from time to time and I found that I was talking way too quickly. So now I talk at a pace where to me, it seems ludicrously slow, and make lots of big pauses. Since I started doing that, people have told me that my delivery is excellent.

Practising out loud definitely helps. Work out whether you are going to read, or improvise from notes. The latter is almost always preferable. But, if you are someone who can't improvise well, and get flustered and have a tendency to ramble, then you're better reading. I have seen numerous presentations from people where I thoughts seriously, dude, you would be better reading than stuttering your way through without ever finishing a sentence.

Former Member

That level of volume that to you seems that ever so slightly too high, just slightly, will be the kind of little edge that you need to project your voice in an authoritive and controlling manner.

littlemissy

Definitely practice.

When I first started teaching my lesson plans were really detailed, even with lots of phrases I wanted to say. I wrote out *everything* that I wanted to say so that I would have what could be almost described as a script. Once I was confident enough I stopped planning in so much detail and would just write down key questions / key points. It takes time, but you will definitely get there.

Also, you'll find that the lesson just 'teaches itself' about half way through. If you have a strong enough lesson, the kids being engaged, the key questions will automatically be asked as that would be the natural flow of the lesson.

As corny as it sounds, practice, in this case, makes perfect

Former Member

I'm a local councillor and talking in public is part and parcel of the job. I've been a councillor since May 2007, and yesterday was the first time that I felt I gave a really confident speech without getting lost or repeating myself unnecessarily. In my case it's been the amount of practice I've had that has helped. The nature of our speeches are generally off the cuff, as you don't know the arguments that the opposition will bring up, so it's more difficult for me to plan in advance. But practicing has made all the difference.

It'll come

Former Member

Good research and genuine understanding helps with off the cuff'ness.

Former Member

Thank you all very much. I have another practice lesson to present on the 28th so I shall take all your tips, practice out loud in front of the turtle and see how it goes then!

Former Member

MrG wrote: »

Good research and genuine understanding helps with off the cuff'ness.

:yes:

In the absence of a couple of guinea pigs to practice in front of, use the bathroom mirror. But Mr G has the best advice. Know your stuff! Unless you do, all the practicing in the world wont really help if you dry up on the day. I used to feel physically sick and weak at the knees having to get up and present projects as part of my degree course, but the nerves were as much to do with spouting quickly-learned lines parrot fashion as they were to do with general self-consciousness.

In a work situation where I really knew my (limited) area of expertise, I found I developed a natural 'patter' and no longer had to worry about random questions from the audience and other distractions.