How to Gain Confidence in Speaking

Some people get nervous and anxious when it comes to speaking in public, especially if the audience is unknown to them. Physical signs like heart palpitations, mouth dryness and profuse sweating can appear in some speakers. However, most businesses and companies require employees to have good and efficient communication skills. Here are some tips that can help you gain confidence in speaking.

How to Gain Confidence in Speaking

1. Believe in Yourself

If you do not believe in yourself, then it will be difficult for other people to believe in you as well. Boost your confidence and self-esteem. Place yourself in front of a mirror and highlight your personality and physical attributes. Spend time with people who care about you and who do not judge you for anything. Remind yourself of your accomplishments and embrace your flaws. Keep in mind that no one is truly perfect.

2. Expand Vocabulary

Expanding your vocabulary is very important, as just a few fancy words here and there can make you seem a more intelligent person.

Reading is an important thing if you want to achieve this. You can read anything you like, from fantasy novels to poems and history books. The more you read, the better your vocabulary will be. 

3. Know What You Are Going to Talk About

How to gain confidence in speaking? Knowing what you are going to talk about is a key point. You cannot expect to be taken seriously if you do not even know what you are talking about. Besides, not knowing your material will cause you to experience even more anxiety and to lose self-confidence.

  • Talk about the subject concisely, and you should prepare more knowledge about it. This way you can answer questions and give more information if needed.
  • You can also ask a family member or a friend to listen to your speech and then ask you some questions about it, so you can be more prepared.

4. Get to Know Your Audience

Knowing your audience beforehand will help you soothe your nerves, and it will decrease the chances of you saying something wrong or out of context. Of course, you do not need to know absolutely everything about every single one of the attendants, which would be an impossible task. You just need to know general things about the audience, like their average education level, their main political or religious beliefs, among others.

5. Get to Know the Place

How to gain confidence in speaking? A tip is to know the room or ambient in which you are going to give speech. This can be done days or even hours in advance to your speech. Knowing this simple stuff can help you overcome some fears and doubts like how bright the lights are, how tall or how big is the stage, how many people can fit in the room, whether there is a podium or not, and so on. If possible, rehearse your speech in the room, which will help you gain more confidence.

6. Practice

Prepare your speech with enough time in advance to fully understand and dominate the subject. Rehearse out loud several times a day until it sounds natural for you to talk about everything. You can record yourself while speaking and practicing; this way you will be more objective in how you sound and look like.

7. Wear Appropriate Clothes

Clothes often play a huge role when it comes to a self-confidence boost. Many types of research show that wearing the appropriate clothes in which you feel comfortable can greatly improve how you feel about yourself and how other people perceive you.   

Do not be afraid of using that stylish and comfy brown dress or suit you have stored in your closet just because you think black may be better for the occasion. As long as there is no specific dress-code, you will be better off wearing anything that you feel comfortable. 

You can also get an advantage of wearing your favorite perfume or cologne. Having the sensation that you smell great will certainly make you feel better and more confident. 

8. Maintain Visual Contact with Your Audience

How to gain confidence in speaking? When making speeches, you should always try to make eye contact with your audience. This will demonstrate knowledge and confidence in yourself. It is better if you can turn yourself and address to some people in each corner of the room, but if you are too nervous to do this, then just choose a few friendly or known faces in the audience and focus on them while you speak.

Avoid looking down to the floor and do not concentrate on just one face during all the speech. Also do not let yourself become distracted by anyone who may look confused or show negative emotions.

9. Believe in What You Are Talking About

Believe in the subject which you are giving the speech on, and make your points and statements clearly and with conviction. Do not try to give a speech on something that you do not know, believe or care about since people will eventually notice it and you will lose credibility.

 
 
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