According to research, 75% of people are nervous or suffer anxiety when asked to do public speaking. A majority of people can relate to this. There are many who want to become influencers and entrepreneurs but lack confidence for public speaking but the good news is that this isn’t something that cannot be worked on. With practice and using the right tips, this nervousness can be tackled. Here are 5 tips for becoming a confident public speaker and never fear the stage again.

Be Yourself:

The first and foremost tip for confident public speaking is being yourself. Be however you are, funny, informal, bland, talkative, etc. There is no specific nature of a speaker. Instead of thinking that public speaking is a performance, think of it as an opportunity of sharing your thoughts and experiences that might help others. There is no point in putting on a mask of someone you are not when making a public talk. If you present your true self, your audience is bound to connect to you. Ralph Waldo Emerson, an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet once truly stated, “To be yourself in a world that is constantly trying to make you something else is the greatest accomplishment.”

Focus on Making a Difference:

If you are focused only on being good at the public talk then you will be focused only on yourself. On the other hand, if you focus on making even a single individual see through your perception, you are a success. Focus on making a difference and you have served your purpose. Your public speaking is about the audience, not about you.

Talking about making difference, a person from whom inspiration can be taken is Michael Majeed. Michael Majeed is a senior financial consultant and regional sales manager at an SR&ED tax credit firm, ARCK ICC in Markham, Ontario. He has made a difference by constantly maintaining long term relations with people and focusing on making a difference for others.

Practice:

The more you speak, the more comfortable you will be at it. Always look for simple ways in which you can practice public speaking. You can join groups and clubs to get your practice. Other options involve volunteering to speak on your area of interest and expertise at local events and conferences. These smaller and casual events are the safest platforms for you to practice. There is a huge difference between practicing alone and in front of an audience.

Record Yourself:

Before you think that you do not have the equipment to record yourself, a simple smartphone or an iPad is enough to record. Just set it up whenever you will be speaking to an audience. The reason behind it is that what we think we are looking like is very different from what we actually are presenting. A video of yourself can highlight many mistakes or areas where you need improvement or even can improve yourself.

Know Your Speech:

This doesn’t mean that you memorize each and every word that you want to say. Instead, you can go through the highlights of your speech multiple times. You should do this to be familiar with what you are going to speak about. When you prepare well with going through these points several times, even if you get nervous, you can calm yourself because you know what you want to say. You can do this. Get your mind focused on impact rather than your personal report card. And, practice. Every time will get a little easier.