THE ART OF PUBLIC SPEAKING

“Anyone who’d like to volunteer to step up on the stage and say a few words?”

*NO! I wish to, but I can’t. People here are too judgemental. I don’t wish to be the fool of the hall*

Seems like a familiar conversation. Doesn’t it? Well it’s not just you. It’s me too. It’s everyone. I’ve been working on overcoming stage fear since a month. Cared to dig a bit further and guess what I found….

 I am not a psychologist nor a psychiatrist. But, I am a psychology enthusiast. After reading a bit more about the psychological effect of stress, discovered that stress literally shrinks our brain. (Gulp) Well, the whole sort of brain thing? No. Just a part of brain called Grey Matter. Well this grey matter contains most of the brain’s neuronal cells. It includes the regions of the brain that govern the muscle control, sensory perceptions (Seeing and hearing), memory, emotions, speech, decision making and self control. Let us see what kind of effect does the volumetric shrinkage of this Grey Matter have on these things.

Muscle Control: Feet tapping, shivering legs.

Sensory Perceptions: Unable to connect with the audience visually.

Memory: Forgetting half of the stuff that you planned to deliver?

Emotions: Sounding monotonous, Unable to deliver a powerful speech that should touch the audience

Speech: Fumbling

The conclusion of things mentioned above tells us that stress actually makes it difficult to deal with future stress and breaks down your capacity to tackle it.

SUCH A HORRENDOUS CYCLE DEAR LORD!!!!!

Fortunately, every cloud has a silver lining. So does this. All you have to do is to prioritize managing stress to the apex. I’ll explain this further.

Now imagine you are person (A) and your brain is person (B). (A) has to deliver a speech on a topic in a couple of minutes to a huge crowd. (B) is collecting the data about the topic and briefing it to (A). But (A) is highly engrossed in knowing what’s going on the stage, what it is to be there and speak in front of such a huge audience, remembering past failures and everything spare the concerned the topic. Now it’s time for (A) to deliver the speech. He walks up and doesn’t remember a single thing and his confidence collapses like the walls of Jericho. Now why does this happen? Firstly, when he was supposed to be listening to the points (B) (the brain) was telling, he was inattentive. He had lost his confidence far before. This is exactly what happens with us!

So, the bitter truth is that, at some point or the other, you have to be there. The sooner you start managing stress, the more responsive will your brain be. Once your brain starts facing the challenges, it encourages you to step again and again and boosts you to stand above the ground level and address the audience.

 I’m mentioning a few points below that will make you an effective speaker, ASSUMING YOU HAVE THE NECESSARY KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE TOPIC TO BE DELIVERED.

 When you are sitting in the waiting room and few people walk in, how do you distinguish the Boss? It’s the posture and the gesture. Only 7% of the deliverance comes from your speech, 38% from your voice and 55% from your body language. Here are a few tips that will come handy even further.

• Say NO to NO

Every time there will be an opportunity to address and communicate with the audience, your brain will glue you to your seat and take your confidence off.

Say NO to “I don’t think I can” or “ I don’t think I’m prepared”. You never will be totally prepared. Remember, ‘CARPE DIEM’!!! Seize the moment, seize the day!!

• THE AUDIENCE OWES YOU MONEY!
  Literally? NO! The best way to embrace confidence is to imagine that the audience owes you money. Would you be nervous talking to someone who owes you money? Never. Sounds like a stupid idea. Works as a great hack! Try it!

• TRUST CHAPLIN

Sir Charles Spencer Chaplin, one of the most iconic name in the Film Industry till date, was once addressing a mob of budding actors who were inspired by him. In his speech, he mentioned that the audience never knows what it expects. Give them just the best and they’ll still be unsatisfied because they don’t know what to expect out of someone who isn’t the last person they saw.

The audience will never be a part of your speech until you make an effort for them. Look them in the eye, one after the other. Seek attention. Be exceptionally slow with your words till you have the attention of the most reluctant person in the room.

• KICK OUT TOXIC PEOPLE

I’ve had “Friends” who’d tell me to be in my place and not be a hero by volunteering to speak in front of the audience. Well, as a fact, these aren’t the real friends too! Real friends push you up and compete with you too. The next time you think you’d have a chance to speak, avoid sitting in the ‘Toxic Zone’.

• Practise Mindfulness

Another worthless thing successful people keep bragging about. Yeah? Think again. It has a huge impact. Not just in case of  public speaking. Be it exams, dates, sports, races, absolutely anything. Visualize the environment you are going to be in. Go for the worst case scenarios and figure out the solutions. This will take a sacrifice of keeping your mobile away for a moment. But it is worth it! Keep your mind sound. Face the anxiety beforehand. Be confident for the big game.

• Club it all together

Of all the things I mentioned earlier, if one seems absent, it will take a huge toll on your speech and your presence of mind. So try working out an amalgam of these parameters and next time you step up there, ROCK IT!



-Your best wisher, Anurag Salunke.