How to Speak in Public and Impress the masses

        The first thing any Speaker requires is confidence. Whether you are trying to tell vacuum cleaners or to address the Townswomen’s Guild on the Emotional Life of the Common Earthworm you must first of all look as if you mean what you say, people will not easily listen you. A certain well  Speaker once put it in a nutshell. If you have nothing at all to say, don’t say it.” If you to speak, then make sure that it is on a subject about which you have more real ideas, and that you are sincere in putting  those ideas forward. Even if you simply want to second a vote of thanks, and the few words you are able to summon up really spring from the heart, your audience will forgive all of you other shortcomings.      On question in which you feel deeply you will find yourself forgetting your nervousness, and your confidence will become complete when you have learnt how to put your ideas in order.

        Never speak, then unless  have really been asked, and unless you are sure that remarks are wanted, or are going to be helpful  to your audience; but on the other hand, once you have decided to speak, make sure that you do it well. Stand up as if you mean it, say what you have to say, and sit down. One of the best pieces of advice ever given to speakers is till the famous old saying “Stand up, speak up, and shut up!”

      Many speakers read their speeches; if you have ever listened to a certain well-known wireless programme (in which an announcer interviews various celebrities) you will know how painfully dull a conversation can be if it is all written down beforehand. Did you ever listen to Wilfred Pickles in “Have a Go”? Do yo remember hoe almost everyone who came to the microphone held your interest? Every one spoke without notes; what they said came straight out without any thought of arrangement or grammar, and so everyone listened to them. You will have to decide whether you speak without notes altogether, whether you will use a few notes to help you, or whether you will read your speech. Think of your own feeling in listening to various speakers you enjoyed most were the ones who looked straight at you and who at least appeared to be speaking without notes. Try not to read your speech if you possibly can; but if must read it, then keep looking up at your and make it all up as you go along. Practice your reading, and read the chapter on “Reading” very carefully.

      If you have been to a concert and heard, say, Grieg’s Piano Concerto played by a famous pianist, you may have thought how easy it all sounded. Yet you know perfectly well how many years of hard work that soloist must have spent before he could have appeared on a concert platform. A famous paintist once said “ I practice six hours hours a day ; If I miss a day’s practicing my audience notice the difference. “panists work hard learning the rules of the game and making their fingers supple, and sop in speech-making you must, if you want to do really well, learn the rules and practice hard.

     Was this helpful? Leave your comment and share because a friend might be in need of it.