Riandy Kurniawan asked:
Have you ever “get blank” when you talk in front of numbers of people? have you ever “lose” everything you’ve remember when it’s time for you to present any speech? or, have your face turns pale,covered in white, shaky and don’t know how to act when you face a crowd that are looking at you? Do you ever want to fight your fear and get even better performance when the crowd goes larger? I want to share some of my experience, how to win the crowd and make them believe of what you tell them.
1. Prepare your “weapons”, know your “enemy”
First step I’d like to suggest, prepare everything you need for your appearance. Make some notes, practice and try to get familiar as much as possible to the subject you’re gonna present. Especially to the beginner, who never been standing in front of the crowd or seldomly does, practice makes perfect. Knowing who you’re gonna face is another thing. Find any information about the majority of the crowd, what they know, what are their basic, how far they know about the subject, their ages, any particular behavior and so on. This might help you to prepare what to say, and bound your speech around their likes.
2. Mirror mirror on the wall, who’s the charmest of all
Next step, especialy for you who just started to do this field of activity, try to do the speech, facing your own image in the mirror. This I find useful, as we usually find it hard to be serious when we feel like talking to ourselves. Win and gain your confidence by beating yourself first. Beside that, it’s your first step to face “someone” with your speech.
3. Enough rest holds the key
Don’t be overpractice! this is one of the common mistake. When your body and brain goes tired, you won’t be able to appear in your best. Trust me, you won’t like it when the crowd mumble and discuss about a heavy black bag under your eyes, your reddish eyes, pale face, and so on. Appearing fresh is an important step. Before you even make the speech, people will get the first impression that you’re ready and qualify for this speech.
4. Calm and steady as the deepest ocean.
Be as calm as possible when you’re waiting for your turn. The waiting game usually make people nervous, and that can be the start of the disaster. You can try to memorize and practice inside your head first, but what i suggest is you go have some small activities, like talking to others, listening to what others who appear before you say. What you have to avoid is, thinking and looking at the podium as if it will be your place to be executed to death.
5. First Impression shows who you are
Now,we reach the step when you’re already standing and ready to give your speech. Relax. No one’s gonna kill you right? try to get first impression by making a little joke, introduce yourself in the nice, friendly and if it’s possible, fun. Remember, first impression will be a small but very important step to your success.
6.Your eyes is as sharp as the sharpest dagger
Now, I know a lot of people say, when you’re nervous, don’t look at the people, instead look at the wall or even the ceiling. I don’t know if they successfully done this using that method, but I personally disagree. I suggest you to look as deep as possible into their eyes. Look at them like you’re gonna travel inside them through their eyes. Imagine your eyes is the sharpest dagger, stab their eyes with yours, and get the first win just with your eyes. When you look at them, they will get the impression that you’re talking personally to them, and before you know, you’ve already controlled them by this simple step.
7. I can speak clearly now, the rain is gone
The next step is speak clearly. Don’t rush. People believe more when we speak clear and calm than fast and mess. You can always go to your note when you need help (my, we do need to go to the surface and breathe the air when we take a dive right?)but never ever do the speech by fully reading everything you wrote in your note. The note is just your aid, not your whole life. By looking fully to your note, people will get impression that you’re not ready fully and depend only by reading, which whoever can write it for you.
8. Pause here and there
You can always take a pause between subject, between sentence, or everytime you lose your concentration. You can always say some little joke, or some question like, “is it clear enough?” or if you have no idea what to say during your pause, just pause it and drink. Taking some pause will give yourself a breathe, so you’ll continue your speech with a brand new strength.
9. Who’s afraid of the big bad Q
Doing the speech is one step, taking question is another. There are lots of people who are afraid of getting the question. Why worry? we’re only human.We can’t know everything, neither do they. Just give the chance for them to ask, and then calmly take it and think what to answer. When you’re calm, you’ll be able to think clearly and able to give the best possible answer. What if you don’t know the answer? I suggest you to be honest. I always do, and that never make me lose my credibility. Don’t act like you’re mr i-know-everything-cause-i’m-all-that, because once they know you’re wrong, you’ll lose their respect instantly. Just tell them that you never tried it, never done it, never really try it, but give them the possibilities as far as you know. The crowd usually respect that.
So there, I already share you the tips to win the crowd during your presentation/speech. I hope this will help those who need it. The last word from me, remember, you’re only facing another human, the same species as you, so there’s nothing to worry about.