So you have to make a speech? And the thought terrifies you? Well, you’re certainly not alone. Survey after survey has indicated that fear of public speaking is one of the very most common fears. Even many top professional speakers experience some little bit of “stage fright” when they speak. It is normal and natural. The key is to control this nervousness and use it as form of adrenaline instead of anxiety.

Public speaking doesn’t have to be something to be feared, with the right mind set and training you can approach your speech with confidence.

Very few people have genuine biological “communication anxiety” (the fear of communicating). What most people have is “evaluation anxiety” based on the irrational thought that they will be harshly evaluated by their audience. This could not be further from the truth. The truth is the audience wants you to succeed. Recall, for a minute, the worst speaker you’ve ever seen in person. How did seeing that speaker struggle make you feel as audience member? Probably uncomfortable. You probably wished that the speaker would pull themselves together and finish the speech strongly.

As a speaker, you also have something that the audience wants. They are present to hear from you. You will provide them with some entertainment or information that they would otherwise be without. They have an interest in seeing you succeed. And, since they have not chosen to speak themselves, they may very well admire you for your courage.

Your fears may also be compounded by the fact that you believe that the audience will perceive your nervousness, but this is not nearly the problem that you may think. Most physical manifestations of speech anxiety feel significant to the speaker, but are really only very slight and subtle. For example: If your hand is shaking a bit, it feels like big deal to you. However, even audience members in the front row are unlikely to pick up on it.

And finally, remember that you are your own worst critic. Your audience members have lives of their own. Any minor flaws in your speech will likely go unnoticed by members of the audience. Any major flaws will likely soon be forgotten by members of the audience. No one is evaluating you as harshly as you are evaluating yourself.

Having said all that, chances are you are still feeling a normal level of speech anxiety. Some ways that you can lower this to a controllable level include-

1. Practice, practice, practice- The more prepared you are, the more confident you will feel.

2. Use visualization- Imagine yourself giving a successful speech. Think about your past speaking successes. Prepare yourself mentally to succeed. Or, imagine how happy you will be when your speech is over. Whatever puts you in a positive frame of mind.

3. Reframe the speech- Think about the speech as a simple conversation. Think of your audience as friends. You wouldn’t be frightened to converse with your friends. A speech is fundamentally the same thing, except that you may not have yet met your “friends” and they are unlikely to interrupt you.

4. Exercise- OK, so it may not be practical to sprint from your car to the podium on speech day, but exercising a couple hours before your speech can have a great effect. Exercising releases stress and tension, two feelings synonymous with speech day.

5. Develop your skills- The more you understand the speech-making process, the better equipped you will be to succeed. Use this site as a starting point, but also consult other public speaking-related books and DVD’s for more insights.

6.Use a checklist- Don’t let yourself worry about skipping a step or leaving out some important element of your speech. Use a checklist to ensure that you’ve covered all the bases.

There are four primary types of speech delivery: Manuscript, Memorized, Impromptu, and Extemporaneous.

Manuscript speaking, like it sounds, involves reading your speech word-for-word from it’s written form. The advantage to delivering a speech this way is that you can perfectly plan and control the wording of your speech. This sounds like it is ideal, but really it is not. For one thing, as discussed in the section of this website on writing the speech body, in most speeches you should be striving for an informal, conversational delivery style. Reading prevents that, as well as eye contact. Also, with set wording, you can’t adapt the speech if the audience isn’t following or interested in your speech.

Memorized, like it sounds, involves committing your entire speech to memory. Once again, this sounds great. But, practically speaking, who has time to memorize even a short speech? And like a manuscript speech, you can’t adapt to feedback from the audience.

An Impromptu speech is one that you are asked to deliver with little or no preparation. Chances are, that if you’re on this site, impromptu speeches aren’t what you are expected to deliver.

Finally, the Extemporaneous speech is a speech delivered with some prepared structure, such as notes or an outline, but is otherwise delivered off-the-cuff. In most cases, this is going to be your best choice. The notes allow you to structure your speech, without handcuffing you in the event that your audience needs you to adapt. Also, you will sound more natural and conversational, and this will help hold audience attention.

There are six aspects of physical delivery that will be covered in this section: voice use, facial expressions, eye contact, gesturing, and movement.

Effective voice use involves several elements. Naturally, one of the most important aspects is volume. As a speaker, you must be loud enough to be heard by everyone in the room, but not so loud that you sound unnatural or bossy. Monitor the nonverbal feedback of audience members in the back of the room, if they are leaning forward or concentrating abnormally hard, you may need to speak up. It is also necessary to vary the pitch, rate, and tone of your voice to avoid sounding monotonous. We’ve all experienced the agony of listening to a monotonous-voiced speaker. This doesn’t mean that you need to be extremely flamboyant or obnoxious. Overall, you should just strive for a casual, conversational voice.

Your audience gathers a lot of information from your facial expressions. If your facial expressions and your spoken words conflict, the audience is likely to believe your face. So make sure that your facial expressions mesh with the feelings and ideas being expressed. Basically, a good rule of thumb for facial expressions (as well as gestures) is to do what comes naturally. There is no need to be overly theatrical with your facial expressions in a speech. And remember, if it’s at all appropriate, you can’t go wrong with a smile.

The simple rule on eye contact is this: The more, the better. A good strategy for eye contact is to make brief (a beat or two) eye contact with members of the audience in one section of the audience and then move to another section. Ideally, you should be making eye contact with someone whenever words are being spoken in your speech. Beware of this trap: People naturally tend to focus their eye contact on the person that is giving them the best nonverbal feedback (smiling, nodding, etc.). If you find yourself focusing too much on this person, work on moving to others.

One of the most common questions that people have about public speaking is: What do I do with my hands? The quick and easy answer is: Whatever comes naturally (unless clutching the podium is what comes naturally). The key to good gesturing is variety, which most of us have in our everyday gestures.

The final aspect of physical delivery is movement. If you are positioned behind a podium, your movements are obviously going to be restricted. But if you are not using a podium, feel free to walk to different parts of the stage as you deliver your speech. This keeps different parts of the audience involved and adds variety. Don’t just wander in place, though. If your feet move, go somewhere.

There are four basic reasons to include visual aids in your speech:

1. To hold the audience’s attention- by getting the audience envolved visually as well as orally, you are more likely to keep their interest.

2. To serve as a memory aid or learning device- people learn in different ways, some people easily recall spoken information, others written information. No matter what style they prefer, the more you expose your audience to the information, the more likely they are to remember it.

3. To replace your speaking notes- This doesn’t mean reading directly from your visual aid. However, a PowerPoint presentation or slide show will have keywords that you can use to structure your extemporaneous speech.

4. To help indicate transitions- When you switch slides, for example, it reinforces the transitions between the two ideas indicated on the slide.

As you can see, used effectively, visual aids can add a lot to a speech. Some types of visual aids you could use in your speech include:

a. Charts and graphs- There are a number of different types of charts and graphs that serve a variety of purposes such as pie charts, line graphs, bar charts, flow charts and organizational charts. Be sure to pick the one which best conveys the points you are trying to make.

b. Slides and overheads- Microsoft PowerPoint is the standard for slide software today. Using PowerPoint, you can create highly sophisticated slides with audio, video, animations and much more. An old-fashioned overhead projector can still do the job, though.

c. Flipcharts- Flipcharts should only be used when you need to record information or ideas during your speech (such as taking an audience survey). Using a flipchart as a pre-prepared visual aid will seem unprofessional in most situations.

d. Audio and video- DVD’s and CD’s that relate to your topic will add interest and variety to your presentation. However, don’t use up too much of your speech time playing these. Remember, the audience is there to see you, not your media.

e. Handouts- Handouts are a good idea in a couple of situations: 1) Your topic is too complex for the audience to easily understand from just your spoken words, and 2) If you need to ensure that the audience will remember the information long after your speech. Be careful when using handouts, however. They tend to be distrating to audience members if you don’t refer to them often. The audience also can get ahead of you by skipping to later sections of the handout.

f. Props- Props fall into two categories: objects and models. Objects are the actual physical item that you are speaking about. Models are representations of the item that you are speaking about. No matter which type you use, props are good to refer to if they help clarify your messages and increase understanding.