Whether at school or at work, sometimes it is impossible to escape situations that call into question our abilities for all kinds of things, sometimes we have to make scale models, sometimes we have to work as a team and sometimes we have to give a talk, exhibition or conference in front of a group that can vary in number of people but the common denominator is usually the same: Nervousness.
For that there is a very good book entitled How To Speak To Any Audience by Ken Howard, it really is very good and provides good tips on how to handle these types of situations, and seriously, after reading it you want to go and stand in front of the first audience you find and start talking about anything.
But if you don't have the time or do not want to read the entire book, here we summarize in 3 simple points the most remarkable aspects of the book for when the occasion presents itself in your life.
Put some order in your ideas.
You have been told that tomorrow, in a week, in a month you will give a speech, that's it, resign yourself, it will happen, and sooner than you think, so instead of overwhelming yourself planning ways to prevent that from happening, why don't you put some order in your brain before the big day arrives? Separate the speech into topics, it will be easier, your brain can be stunned if you try to memorize everything, find the balance between reading and talking, think about this, would you pay attention to a speaker who is only reading a text or a few slides?
The use of keywords on cards relieves tension a lot and gives you a hand when it comes to remembering, our memory tends to be very visual so the use of images is a useful reinforcement, and talk about it, do not try to impose your ideas, everyone will keep what they consider usefull and dispose the rest, you simply communicate things and you're done. But please, do not communicate them as a robot.
Practice makes the master.
It is not as if you were going to do something that you have never done before, if you were asked to sing in front of the public and you have no experience at all then you would have a big problem. But talk? You always talk, with your family, with your friends, probably even with your dog. So just do it, it'll help a lot to give yourself the speech first, or to record it if you want, you can even practice in front of a mirror, imagining the public in front of you, and what will you achieve with this?
Well, you'll internalize it and become less dependent on the notes and cards, who knows, you might end up learning it all, not even needing a single reminder note and speaking as fluently as you never thought. For the nerves of the "day of judgment" the key is not to imagine crowd naked (although if it does work for you; go ahead) rather, it is recommended to pay attention to breathing, do it deeply to bring oxygen to the brain and calm your crazy ideas about everything going wrong.
Free your mind (Take it easy).
Howard's book says: "If you start with a joke the rest of your speech may no longer matter". Of course, the use of jokes is not always applicable, there will be audiences with whom it is not advisable, and if you cling to use that resource no matter what and plus the joke is bad you will look stupid before you even start.
Very important: If a mistake is commited during the speech and you highlight it even more by saying "I'm sorry", that's like the worst thing to do, if there is a mistake it is best to continue as if nothing had happened.
To be in constant movement at the time of the talk is recommended but do not abuse it, it is not good to bring the audience following you from one side to the other, eye contact is also important, distribute it among the spectators, do not stare at the most attractive girl or to the person that you consider key in the crowd, like a teacher or your boss.
And with those 3 tips if you don't do it perfectly, at least you won't give the most boring talk in the world, keeping things interesting (like when you talk about your last vacation) is easy when you get to the idea that even if things went awfully bad; the world does not end for you, it didn't end for Bill Clinton and Monica Lewinsky back then, even less for someone who did not give a good talk.
But you will do well.
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