Tips to building confidence as a public speaker

By The NewsDay | Jul. 16, 2022 | 4 Min read

Some people hold themselves back because they lack confidence. When you have confidence, you are at your best and deliver your public speaking skills like an expert. If you have confidence, you have a higher level of self-esteem. What is self-esteem? This is basically your opinion of yourself.

BY Jonah Nyoni It is a dream of every professional speaker to wow the audience. This takes more than standing on stage and churning out words. The moment you step on stage, the audience has an opinion of you, so the best would be to build a good impression.

Invest in a subject Know your world and invest in discovering new things about it. Hunt, dig, read, research, create content about your subject matter. Remember, you will never know everything, but you can be well invested in a specific subject as a speaker.

Most people do the very things that they were not created to do. Ultimately, they struggle through and through in life. Know what you can do naturally and hone your skill in that line and it becomes easy and natural to talk about what is in you.

Have a positive attitude Attitude is like perfume. It permeates into the air without your effort. As a speaker it is important to build a positive attitude and mindset. This is also an innate recognition that you are a superior being. This can be developed over time. Have you seen people who walk into the room and the atmosphere changes? It takes you to work on your internal self.

As a speaker, know the goal of your presentation and remind yourself you have the skill, wisdom, knowledge to deliver that talk.

Do not show your fear I am always on stage doing public speaking, but the moment I am about to deliver my talk, my heart beats at a faster rate, my hands sweat and phlegm comes to my throat. This is natural and genuine fear. I cannot stop public speaking because of that. I have learnt techniques to conquer that phobia. It is normal to have fear, but never allow it to paralyse you. Fuel your fears with faith. People do not know what is going on inside of you until you show it off through how you walk, shake your hand, smile or slouch. Remember fear cripples our confidence and drains so much energy from us.

Go against your fears At times you have to stand up, even when fear is pulling you down. Some people want to be perfect before they embark on any project. They wait for such a day when they think it is going to be the right time. The simplest means to fight your fear is to do the very thing that you are afraid of. As the Nike mantra says, “just do it!” The moment your heart pounds, just do it! Go on stage and speak.

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Practice Proficiency or competence builds confidence. Work on your craft until you are defined by it. First, be a learner in life and stay hungry. If you have the “I-know-it-all” attitude, you miss out on learning. Speaking is about learning every day of your life. Second, practice, practice and practice every day. Do not wait for an opportunity and then you start improving your public speaking skill, prepare before the opportunity comes.

Self-talk Learn to talk to yourself before you speak to others. That is the highest level of communication. Talk yourself to the top. Self-talk either grounds us or makes us fly in life. We do most of the talking ourselves.

The person you spend the most of the time with is “you”. Before anyone talks you down or up, talk rightly to yourself! Do not talk at the level of your current level, poverty or unpleasant circumstances. Do not talk yourself out.

Let your body speak Body language speaks. You carry a presence, aura, ambiance or gravitas. Confidence can be felt and transmitted. The audience buys into a confident and positive speaker. People do not know what’s going on inside of you until you show it off through how you walk, shake your hand, smile or slouch. Sit upright, shoulders back, chin up and have good eye contact.

Be comfortable in your own skin God created us in our uniqueness. How you look is not a problem, but how you look at yourself. Some people are not comfortable about their looks or stature. They prefer to look like others. Probably that is why they have plastic surgery, bleach their skin, even extend their hair, or twitch their voice. All the time you have to appreciate who you are and learn to live with it. Just be comfortable in your own skin. As a public speaker, people have come to listen to you and it means you are important.

Parting point: Gather strength and speak. Author Jack Canfield once said: “People who ask confidently get more than those who are hesitant and uncertain. When you have figured out what you want to ask for, do it with certainty, boldness and confidence. Do not be shy or feel intimidated by the experience. You may face some unexpected criticism, but be prepared for it with confidence.”