When in front of a large crowd, picture yourself naked in front of all the people that rejected you or made your life such a bucket of crap(y insecurity). Take a deep breath. Realize your current speaking situation is so much better than that.

If all else fails, wait for 10 years to go by until you stop giving a crap.

well, I don't think my life is a bucket of crap. I only want to make my public speech more fluent and well-structured.

How old are you?

Certain things fall into place with age.

In the mean time be loud as you possibly can when you speak in public. It really works.

As long as you have something interesting to deliver, speak up! The only boring presentations are the quiet ones.

Speaking from first hand, and observational experience.

I'm already old as I'm 28. And I also hate boring presentations! Maybe it's my perfectionism that gives me a headache.

as i get older i've learned that a presentation goes much better if i think of it as a conversation.

i don't talk at people so much as talk with them. this both makes me more comfortable AND makes me more conscious of actively engaging those to whom i'm presenting.

it allows me to be more casual and makes the occasional flub less of an issue. (i.e., if i feigned some sort of authority and spoke formally, a mistake would be more apparent/jarring.)

pro-tip: instead of saying "um" when you're not sure what to say next, substitute the word "now". instead of sounding nervous or uncertain, you actually come off as authoritative.

Steven Ward,
good advice, thanx

huh,
sounds a bit bossy, but I'll try )

Talking OVER people just makes one seem like an asshole. It doesn't win conflicting desires over to your point of view. It may work in the short term, but there might be the chance that your firm would like another project with that client/municipality/developer/consultant and if you steamroll your collaborators, well, shit, you're an asshole.


Now I'm a bit shy as well so here's how I cope:

When I'm giving a presentation I literally write out what I'm going to say for each and every single slide. Right down to 'How are you, my name is X and I'm from X firm' Literally every single word as I would imagine the ideal presentation to go. I re-read this and rehearse it a bit, BUT when it's time to actually give the presentation I don't even glance at my notes.

Why? If it seems like you're reading from a prepaired statement, then A its boring B it comes off like you don't really know your subject and C it's easy to get blindsided by a question that throws your whole train of thought off the rails.


So that's how I deal with a presenation. Now the flip side is impromptu questions and discourse and dialogue. And for that I have no recommedation other than practice practice practice in real world situations. There's almost no way to prepare for zany off the cuff questions other than to have experience in fielding zany off the cuff questions.


Hope that helps.

jplourde,

That's true. I wrote it down and repeated word by word in front of people but this made my speech too unnatural. And I've always had a fear of forgetting a word so during my speech I mostly cared about how not to forget the next sentence and not of artuculation of the phrase I'm saying.


Thanx!

Well, maybe you misread the entire point of my post.

Writing things down and rehearsing them is a mechanism to learn what you yourself want to say. I know that a lot of projects are way too complex for the mere architect to be wholly responsible for. But rehearsing can stem a lot of hemming and hawing.


Likewise, I in no way condone notes or catchphrases or canned blurbs or anything of that nature at all. The 'writing' is a way for you to think through your thought process in order for YOU to know what YOU believe. It's not a canned presentation.



A truly good presentation comes naturally. If a client sees you give one that's difficult, then they may very well believe that you can't produce.


In essence: learn everything beforehand so you can improvise off the top of your head without it seeming forced.

Good luck.

No, I understand your point, I just described the failure of my tactic to learn everything by heart ) I agree with you it's better to repeat the text beforehand but at the same time to have space for improvisation.

I was once advised to not look directly look at the people in the crowd, instead look over their heads and move around.. No eye contact means you're addressing all of them without talking to any of them individually!

Remember the famous poll that came out years ago that showed that Americans listed "fear of public speaking" as something they were more afraid of than public speaking? This led comedian Jerry Seinfeld to make famous his comment that, if this survey is true, at a funeral, more people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.

It doesn’t matter who you are or what you want to be in life, you must be able to effectively communicate to achieve. In my years of public speaking I've discovered that almost anyone can be a great public speaker by utilizing some basic techniques along with preparation and practice. Maybe they’ve heard about a few, but don’t know how to apply them. Maybe they have an underlying assumption they don’t possess enough smarts or talent to learn some of these things. Not true! You can be a better communicator.

Google: "Divine Knowledge Transfer"
www.libatique.com

practice.

don't read, do. be willing to fail and after awhile you will be cool.

myself, i rehearse. but i like public speaking and am not afraid of being thought a fool. can't remember when i ever feared public speaking actually, but i do know i am much more comfortable when i know my material, so i practice. for important presentations i practice a lot. it makes a difference.

steven's advice sounds good. a conversational approach is a great way to go.

shoot I think I must be drunk, I read fear of nude beach

It's an old trick given to vocalists in rock bands. Look at the wall past last row of spectators. Most musicians do this to a point where seeing a performer look into the middle of the crowd looks very weird.

The problem of transferring this to speaking to groups of people is that you will probably not be on an elevated stage, and if you are short enough you're pretty much f'ed. Bring a milk crate to all your public appearances!

Practice.

I've known people who've found Toastmasters helpful.

That there
That's not me
I go
Where I please
I walk through walls
I float down the Liffey
I'm not here
This isn't happening
I'm not here
I'm not here

In a little while
I'll be gone
The moment's already passed
Yeah it's gone
And I'm not here
This isn't happening
I'm not here
I'm not here

Strobe lights and blown speakers
Fireworks and hurricanes
I'm not here
This isn't happening
I'm not here
I'm not here

^song written by Radiohead about having stage fright. Michael Stipe (REM) told Thom Yorke (Radiohead) that the way he overcomes stage fright is by saying 'im not here, this isnt happening' over and over to himself before going on stage

there is also a blood pressure medicine that you can take in low doses before you have to speak that will calm you down. I will find out the name of it

Thanx to everybody!

mdler
that might be helpful as sometimes I can't breathe. Alcohol helps, but it smells))

architechnophilia
;)

I hated presenting/speaking in public, but after many many presentations in grad school, I got really used to it and became quite comfortable with it. Some basic tips:
1) speak LOUDLY. It's not what you say buy HOW you say it
2) practice practice practice. I'm one of those people who blanks out when I get in front of a crowd full of people. I'll always write notes for each slide and then practice speaking them a few times.
3) always remember that the people you're presenting to are just ordinary people - they're not necessarily smarter or better than you, so why be nervous? If you mess up, who cares? No one's judging.

That problem with public speaking has a lot of students and moreover most of them are just scared to handle it. It is considered that the most complicated part of it is to start the speech , if you start it good, you will not have issues later on. The easy way to start your speech you is to relax and start with some quote or with some light joke. Also there are some good tips about public speeches at http://www.speaking.pitt.edu/student/public-speaking/basics.html that would be useful for you.

You need to get over your fear and seek out opportunities to speak as much as you can.  I'd suggest joining your local toastmaster's club.  I had a fear of speaking years ago or more of projecting my voice and pronunciations etc.  I took up a job in a call center as a part-time job.  It was probably the best thing I did.  First week was tough but then you get used to talking on the phone all day, and you start to naturally speak clear and loud and in a natural flow.