How introverts can improve their public speaking skills

Hello and welcome to 

The Traveling Introvert want to talk about public Speaking speaking

skills, presentation skills. So many times I hear people who are introverts say

that they don't like public speaking speaking because they're introverts. And

it's really interesting to hear that because then it kind of perpetuates the

myth that introverts can't do public speaking, which is not the case. What

tends to be the case is that there are some levels of anxiety, of fear, of

nervousness around public speaking and possibly just not even knowing the right

tools that you might need to channel your anxiety or how to calm down or just

being confident in what you're saying that makes you think that it's because of

your introversion. But as we all know, introversion is about how you channel

and use your energy, right?

So I want to talk about ways to channel your anxiety, if you

do have that, and how to improve your public speaking skills. Now, there is no

public speaker in the world that hasn't felt nervous, some butterflies before

going out on stage because it is something that can be electrifying and

lifechanging. And you're telling people who want to listen to you about

whatever it is that you're speaking about. You are commanding that attention.

So it is only natural that you feel maybe a little nervous and some butterflies

in your stomach and that is fine.

Now, first of all, there's so much inspiration. If you need

some inspiration when you're thinking about public speaking and the type of

public speaker that you would like to be, or even just presentations or talks,

look for recorded videos like Ted Talks or that sort of thing, giving speeches

about maybe a similar topic as you. What have they used for props or visuals?

How have they arranged things? How have they even crafted their speech?

What has worked and what hasn't? And then another thing is

when preparing for a presentation or a speech, consider the wants and needs of

your audience. What problem is it that they need solving? How can you help

solve it for them? And what do they really want to hear from you?

And last but not least, actually it should be first is what

is the goal of your presentation? Why are you doing this in the first place? Is

it to make a sales pitch? Make sure that people are informed about X, Y and Z?

To let people know about a service that is available or an event like why are

you doing that?

And that will help channel some of the things that you want

to talk about. Use your body language to advantage facial expressions, gesture

and good posture all help make an impact when telling your story. Look people

in the eye, smile, walk around if possible, to give more passion and more

credence to what you are saying. The best speakers present themselves as being

friendly, confident, enthusiastic and energetic. Wow.

Well, that is the first of the podcast and I am not going to

edit it out. Practise breathing from your diaphragm instead of from your chest.

When we are anxious or nervous, we tend to do a lot of shallow breathing, and

it makes it really hard for us to get deep breaths and to be able to slow

ourselves down. So just think about breathing from your diaphragm. It really

helps if you're standing up instead of your chest to better control your voice,

the tone of your voice, the pitch and the volume.

Because what some people find is when they are nervous or

anxious, their pitch and their tone changes in their voice, which makes it more

difficult for people to understand, which helps them feel more nervous, and

then they get faster and all of those things. So stop thinking about those and

remember, take a good outline. You don't have to fully write out your speech.

And if you have slides, please, please do not read from the slides. Have some

bullet points and talk around it.

It's going to make you sound more natural because you're not

reading word for word. Engage your audience, ask questions and encourage

participation. That way they're more likely to remember what you're talking

about and not just be like, staring at the PowerPoint presentation that you

have in front of them. People love hearing stories. Stories help bring the

message home for them.

So if you can tell a good story that's related to your

speech topic, please do so. And practise. Practise again and practise some

more. Thank you for listening. This is Janice at The Career Introvert, helping

you build your brand and get hired.

Have a great rest of your week.