Ever found yourself freezing up on stage when it’s your turn to speak? Does the thought of leading a team presentation or speaking in front of an audience give you chills? Here’s how you can conquer your fear of public speaking and nail your speech every single time.

Tell a Story

Storytelling is one of the most underrated yet critical tools used for public speaking ability. It makes the difference between your audience simply hearing you speak and actually listening to what you’re saying. It allows you to connect with your audience by creating a scenario that they find relatable.

When you use an anecdotal style of speech, you’re more likely to grasp your audience’s attention. Interesting stories and anecdotes stay with us more than other chunks of information being presented. It helps us stay engaged and fascinated enough to want to know what’s being said by the speaker.

Build a narrative using humor, wit, and relatability. When your audience feels like they can relate to what you’re saying, they’re more likely to not just listen to you but also interact with you. The more invested your audience is, the more confident you’ll be to continue speaking and sharing your experiences and knowledge with them. This will help you become better at public speaking.

Don’t Memorize Your Speech

You don’t need to rote-learn your speech to be able to deliver your content with confidence! Instead of memorizing your speech word-for-word, you should focus on the different concepts you’ll be covering.

This isn’t to say you shouldn’t prepare a speech at all. Even the most experienced public speakers plan ahead about what they’ll be speaking about. You need to have a structure for your speech with room for flexibility and improvisation. Make bullet points for each section of your speech so that you know what topics you’ll be covering, but don’t force yourself to memorize everything verbatim. This way, even if you forget what you had to say midway, you’ll be able to recall the main points and continue speaking naturally instead of going blank.

Don’t Forget to Breathe

Sometimes when we get nervous, we forget to pace ourselves while speaking. We tend to speak faster with each sentence until the shortness of breath finally catches up to us. This, then, causes us to take a break from our rambling and gasp for breath halfway through our speech.

Breathing exercises are extremely effective in helping you breathe easily throughout your speech. Start by taking a deep breath as you begin speaking, and continue to take short pauses every few sentences. This will help you stay calm and focused, will enable you to speak more coherently, and allow your audience to understand what you’re saying.

Rekha Shrivastava at Blossom Hypnosis uses subconscious mind healing techniques to help her clients overcome the phobia of public speaking and learn how to express themselves better. She also offers Skype sessions to clients not residing in Rochester, NY. Get in touch with her now!