Let’s face it: Public speaking can be a difficult feat. Whether you’re presenting a project in a college lecture or you’re interested in pursuing a career that involves getting in front of large groups of people, there are hurdles to overcome before you can speak with poise and confidence.
So what exactly are the most common challenges, and how can you overcome them? Let’s take a closer look.
Common Challenges of Public Speaking
For some, public speaking comes easy. For others, it can feel overwhelming – like the hardest thing in the world to achieve. People who lack public speaking skills may relate to one or more of the following challenges:
- Anxiety and fear of speaking in front of a crowd. Some have a fight-or-flight response when it comes to public speaking. This can have a big impact on confidence and make it difficult to deliver a speech without the audience noticing the anxiety.
- Little to no structure in the presentation. If you go into a speech without a plan, you may be more likely to fumble over your words or miss the point of the presentation altogether.
- Having no credibility with your audience. Establishing credibility and trust before you give a speech is essential. Without it, the audience may walk away feeling like they’ve wasted their time.
- Displaying poor body language. Bad body language can also impact how the audience feels about your presentation. If your audience can tell that you don’t want to be there, they might be able to find value, depth, or meaning in your words.
- Delivering a speech without a clear message. Getting tangled in your own thoughts while delivering your speech can result in confusing the audience.
With more awareness of these common challenges, you can work through them and make public speaking a more exciting and enjoyable experience for yourself and your audience.
Tips for Learning How to Speak in Public
Want to overcome your fear of performance anxiety? Here are a few tips for overcoming those common challenges.
1. Establish Trust with Your Audience
Learning how to establish credibility in a speech ensures that you can connect with your audience and deliver a strong message.
But how do you establish credibility with your audience? Start by speaking with an authoritative voice. Work on your body language and keep eye contact. Let the audience know that you know what you’re talking about.
Speak with honesty, and make it known that you understand your audience as well. The last thing you want to do is undermine their intelligence – your audience deserves the same amount of respect as you expect.
2. Work on Your Confidence
If you tell yourself you’re a bad public speaker, you’ll never have room to grow and become a great one. Confidence is key when it comes to speaking in front of a large audience, especially if you have stage fright. Work on your public speaking anxiety by practicing deep breathing and keeping positive thoughts in your mind ahead of your presentation.
3. Get Organized in Advance
Practice, practice, practice. You may start to feel more anxious the closer you get to speak in front of your audience, but getting yourself organized can help you feel more confident and ease your fear of public speaking.
4. Nail Down the Reason Behind Your Speech
The last thing you want to do is deliver a speech that’s open-ended. Ensure the message behind your presentation is well-established before you get in front of the audience. This may involve scrapping one idea for another and may also involve lots of practicing beforehand, but the time investment will work in your favor.
5. Learn From the Best
Learning how to overcome the challenges of public speaking and establishing credibility in your speeches may be difficult at first. If you’re having trouble getting confident and need more exposure to great speeches, check out the eSpeakers marketplace.
This is your go-to resource for learning about professional public speakers and how they started before making a career out of presenting to large audiences. This can give you a better idea of how to get started and boost your confidence before you give a presentation.
Browse the eSpeakers marketplace today to learn from the best!
