5 simple tips to become a great public speaker

May 18th, 2018

 

As a mortgage broker, a big part of your role is educational. You may find there are many opportunities to stand up in front of large audiences to make presentations. You could find yourself presenting at community events, appearing in videos and running your own financial workshop sessions. Perhaps you’ve thought about organising your own First Home Buyer or Property Investment Seminars. Activities like these can be valuable ways to help you build your reputation and grow your market audience.

If you’re not familiar with public speaking, you may be thinking “How do you do it? How do you engage the audience?” “What happens if I get nervous?” The truth is that knowing your stuff is the most important thing. So, today we’re sharing 5 simple tips that with practice, will help to build your confidence and make you a great and engaging public speaker.

1. Prepare

An inspiring, honest and engaging speech is one that has been carefully prepared. Being prepared doesn’t mean you have a completed script to read out – being prepared means knowing the audience that you will be addressing, knowing your topic, understanding the location and venue, and having a solid grasp of the industry.

2. Rehearsals

Rehearsals are fun! A prepared speaker always arrives at the venue well before the doors open. Get yourself comfortable with the environment – stand in front of the lectern and rehearse how you are going to deliver the speech to your audience.

Next time you need to deliver a presentation, take some time to look at how the room is setup. Ask yourself: What is the layout of the room? Is it a classroom format, or tables? How is the room arranged? Can you move around the room, or do you want to stand in one spot? Knowing the space before you ‘go live’ will put you at ease.

3. Entertain

Entertain your audience! This is your moment in the spotlight. Embrace it. Feel the warmth of the spotlight (if you don’t have one, get one). Never just read out a script. You need to understand the words and be passionate about the meaning that you want your audience to take away. For example, when talking about a product, you need to paint a picture to your audience to make it feel real. The colour, the shape, the feel.

Most importantly, never forget the golden rule of entertaining and that is SMILE.

4. Listen & Feel

Listen to your audience and feel the mood of the room. If it’s quiet and everyone is looking at their phones, you may need to elevate your tone to command attention. If you do that and the audience is still not looking at you, then you need to find another way to give the room some energy. Experienced speakers have many tricks to do this –  a great example is a speaker who got up on stage, asked everyone to stand up and proceeded to lead a 2-minute yoga session to get everyone reinvigorated and focused. Sure, there was a bit of resistance to begin with, but he commanded the attention of the audience. There were lots of laughs and everyone was engaged for the serious part of the presentation.

5. Breathe

It sounds so simple, however it’s amazing how easy it is to forget to do it when you are nervous! B.R.E.A.T.H.E! Taking deep breaths before and during your presentation will ensure you have enough oxygen to keep your nerves under control.

We hope these tips give you the confidence to give public speaking a try. If you practice them and prepare carefully for your presentation, you will be able to engage your audience and achieve success.