Dumebi worked in one of the brightest and best advertising companies in Nigeria.
She is also part of the best planning team the company has so far and they just won a contract to be the advertising team that would help to advertise the new iPhone 16 that is about to hit the market, thereby making that one of the biggest hit the advertising company has achieved and gotten so far.
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Dumebi's planning teams are the ones in charge of the advertising, they have nominated her to be the one who would pitch the advertising concept that they have come up with.
But Dumebi being her first time talking to a large crowd of people stood backstage with a pounding and nervous feeling in her chest due to the pressure of not wanting everything they had worked for and their sleepless night to go down the drain and become a wasted effort.
This was because it was her first public speaking and the room was filled with August visitors.
Although she had spent time preparing, just a few moments to be called on stage, she started developing doubts and fear started to creep in. So, she went online and decided to search for the things a public speaker beginner would need to get started.
Are you like Dumebi who finds it hard to talk to a large crowd of people?
Are you like Dumebi who finds it hard to talk to a large crowd of people?
Do you get nervous and start having fear when you see large or lots of people gathered in one place? Or do you have a phobia of talking to people for the first time?
Do not worry!
Do not worry!
Here is an article that can help you prepare and become a pro public speaker even though you are just starting and you are a beginner.
This article would help you in having a free and lack of nervousness session while speaking even if you are talking to an audience filled with presidents and various men and women of caliber and wealth.
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What is Public Speaking?
According to Merriam-Webster, public speaking is the act or process of making speeches in the public area.It can also be defined as the art of effective oral communication with an audience.
Public Speaking is the act of delivering a speech or presentation to a live audience with the intent of informing, persuading, entertaining, or inspiring. It involves communicating ideas, thoughts and messages clearly and effectively to a group of people.
Public speaking can occur in various settings, which are; conferences and seminars, classroom or educational settings, business meetings or corporate events, ceremonies or celebrations, and political rallies or community gatherings.
Public Speaking is the act of delivering a speech or presentation to a live audience with the intent of informing, persuading, entertaining, or inspiring. It involves communicating ideas, thoughts and messages clearly and effectively to a group of people.
Public speaking can occur in various settings, which are; conferences and seminars, classroom or educational settings, business meetings or corporate events, ceremonies or celebrations, and political rallies or community gatherings.
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When do you use Public Speaking at work?
You use public speaking at work when you want to pitch new ideas to your managers or your clients like Dumebi, present a project recap to your team, or when you are asking for a raise, when doing these your public speaking prowess can help you to influence the outcome of the event or gathering. Your public speaking attitude or character can help you to convince and get things done because you would appear smart and intelligent to the people you are talking to.What is the Importance of Public Speaking?
Public speaking is important because it helps in critical thinking, and helps in building logic research. It also helps to boost career development and improve communication skills. It helps individuals to expand their social connections since they would be talking and making connections with a lot of people. It also helps to boost confidence and self-esteem in yourself and your work. It also builds leadership in an individual.What you need to know to get started as a Beginner in Public Speaking
Understanding the Purpose
As a public speaker, you must know the reason why you are speaking. You must know the goal your speech wants to achieve.
You must know if you are trying to inform, persuade, entertain, or inspire your audience.
This purpose would help you to structure your speech or talk and know your main and focus points.
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Know your Audience
When giving a speech you must ensure that your speech is based on your audience's interest. Knowing what your audience wants helps you to build an engaging public speaking experience.
Whatever topic you are going to be talking about must be on your audience’s demographics, their interests, and their knowledge level. You must also their expectation while preparing for your speech. You must make sure that it is a topic that the audience is familiar with and that it must be something that they must be able to gain from and use in their everyday life.
This reason would help you to know how you would adjust your language, tone, and content appropriately.
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Developing a Clear and Focused Topic
Before speaking, you must have developed your main points in an understanding and clear way so that it would be easy for the audience to understand what is been said. The audience must be able to get and understand your central message so that they would be able to gain something since the main purpose of public speaking is to inform, entertain, inspire, or persuade.
You should also allow too many man points just one or two points in order not to waste time and get carried away so sticking to one or two points that must be very clear and easy to understand and must be well supported with examples.
You must not also provide too much information to the audience for the speech not to be boring. You must just focus on giving a short concise and very convincing message.
Outline and Structure
This has to do with the introduction, body, and conclusion of the message. As a public speaker, you must give an introduction that grabs the attention of the audience.
You can do this by asking the audience a question, a very surprising fact, or a funny and humorous story to engage and get their attention. While also getting their attention, you must clearly state your main points or the thesis that you have written down for the speech.
The speech must be very organized and well arranged from top to bottom. It was done logically with each point that is been said following and supporting the main point stated in the introduction.
You can make use of stories and examples to illustrate your points while you are giving your speech. Then you summarize all your points at the closing or conclusion.
You can make use of stories and examples to illustrate your points while you are giving your speech. Then you summarize all your points at the closing or conclusion.
You can finish with a closing remark or statement or a call to action to make them remember what has been said in the speech.
As the saying goes, ‘Practice makes perfect’.
You must practice and rehearse a lot of times for you to perfect your speech.
You can start by practicing alone to know the lines to your speech then you can proceed to friends and family watching you talk about your speech with them as an audience.
You can also record yourself to see and make changes to your body language, tone, and pacing. This particular skill of recording yourself would help to identify areas where you need to improve and focus more on.
After delivering your speech to friends and family, you must ask for feedback which would serve as constructive criticism on areas to improve on before the speech is done and other future speaking opportunities.
Boost Confidence
As a beginner in public speaking, it is normal for you to feel nervous since you are just beginning or starting.
A few techniques can be used to reduce your nervous level and boost confidence and they are; deep breathing exercises before starting, imagining your speech going well, remaining positive, and telling yourself you are well prepared.
And you must know that some audience can be supportive if it is noticed that it’s your first time talking or giving a speech.
Be a Master in Body Language
You must learn how to control and guide your body language to suit your speech. Stand tall and not slouching when talking that is the posture you must maintain. Avoid fidgeting or stuttering while talking, you must speak comprehensible words.
You can make use of your hands as a gesture to explain your key points. Avoid just staring at one spot while talking; make sure you look at various members of the audience to connect with them. You must always maintain eye contact.
Your facial expression must be friendly and you should smile where it is appropriate and show keen interest in your topic.
Posses Good Articulation
Use pauses effectively to give importance to your key point and it also gives the audience time to absorb the information.
Do not speak in a monotone voice so as not to make the speech sound dull. Your tone must be engaging to keep the interest of the audience. Ensure that your voice is loud enough for the audience to hear but it must not be too loud.
So you must always adjust you’re the volume of your voice based on the room size.
You must speak at a steady pace and avoid rushing words due to being nervous so that the audience can hear you well.
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Simple and Clear Language
Avoiding the use of jargon and complicated language while speaking is compulsory when speaking to a general audience.
You must make use of clear and straightforward words to convey your ideas and thoughts while speaking.
And when you make use of technical words, you must explain them to the audience.
Time Management
Make sure you know how long your speech is and try to maintain and stay within that time frame while giving your speech.
This is important so as not to lose your audience's attention because when your speech drags time, it becomes boring and makes the audience lose interest.
Prepare for Questions
If your speech allows for a question and answer session after your speech, then you must be prepared for that. You must think of potential and important questions that can be asked and prepare and rehearse your answers or responses to them as well.
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Public Speaking for Beginners FAQs
How do you start public speaking for beginners?
If you are new to public speaking, you can consider starting with a skill-sharing event in your community. You can also practice by getting on stage in front of other people and polishing your delivery. You can also make a video of yourself speaking, review your performance, and demonstrate your experience.What are the 5Ps of Public Speaking?
The 7Ps of public speaking are; pitch, pace, pause, projection, and passion.What is the ABC of public speaking?
The ABCs of public speaking are Audience, Build, and Communication.Wrapping up
The way it is always hard and not easy to try something new and even when you are trying you grow doubts and fear if it’s going to go well that is just the same way it begins when you start public speaking for the first time.Public speaking might be intimidating at first, but with a clear understanding of some core and important needs discussed within this guide, it can become a manageable and exciting hobby that you would like especially if you are the type that talks a lot around friends and family or those that you are comfortable with.
Even though it’s not easy and can be tasking as the saying goes’ Rome wasn’t built in a day’ so you must start from somewhere and improve along the way of learning.
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