- Focus your attention on the information you are trying to convey.
- Know your material well and feel comfortable with the information you are sharing. This will naturally decrease some of the nervousness that you will feel.
- Do your research and familiarize yourself with the audience so that you can provide information that is most pertinent to them.
- Give yourself permission to be human and real; you do not have to be perfect.
- Pay close attention to what unhelpful messages you are telling yourself. Positive self-talk can help reduce the jitters caused by the fear of public speaking.
- Practice your speech in front of your friends and ask them for their feedback or record yourself and listen to your recording.
- Do some mindfulness relaxation techniques to help you relax before your public-speaking engagement.
- Remind yourself that each time you speak in public, you are building confidence, which will help you in future speaking engagements.
- Be creative in your presentation (e.g., tell a story, use multimedia, encourage interaction or tell an anecdote) so that your presentation is optimally engaging.
- Accurately assess the amount of material appropriate for the time frame of your presentation. Try to avoid including more information than the audience can absorb.
The Staff & Faculty Counseling Center can help you learn how to incorporate these elements in your life. For a free and confidential consultation with one of our counselors, please call and schedule an appointment at 310-351-6259.
