Getting Started: Your First Speech

Imagine you’re in a classroom. Who do you think speaks excellently? You may select those who look smart or those who often recite in clas...

Imagine you’re in a classroom. Who do you think speaks excellently? You may select those who look smart or those who often recite in class. You may think that these people are actually more confident than you think they are. Or perhaps, they are born speakers and you are not.
Well, it may surprise you that they’re probably thinking the same thing about you! They may also feel that you are a born speaker and envy you because they have fears in public speaking. Some may have special interests in public speaking, but most people do not know anything about it.
Then again, you may actually be a good speaker without realizing it. It pays to find out by actually doing it and by seeing you doing it. You may be just like this speaker during his first speech in front of an audience.
He needed to prepare a long speech. Two Days before, he had started writing his speech. He could not sleep at night. In fact, the night before his speech, he did not sleep at all. However, when he finally did his speech and saw it on video, he realized that it was not as bad as he expected it to be. He did not experience the usual symptoms of speech anxiety, such as going blank while speaking, or speaking very softly and hearing chuckles in the audience. Through the video, he discovered that he has actually improved in public speaking. If no video of your speech is available yet, you can watch yourself speak formally in front of a mirror.

Preparing Yourself to Speak

Here are the basic rules of public speaking:

Gain an understanding of who you are. Discover your own knowledge, capabilities, biases and potentials.

Gain an understanding of your audience. Ponder upon what the audience wants to hear, what provokes their interest, what they believe in and what they want to know.

Gain an understanding of the situation. Consider how the setting of the place and other unforeseen factors could affect the way you deliver your speech.

Anticipate response from the audience. Make sure you have a clear purpose in mind so that the audience will respond in the way you want them to.

Search for other sources of information. There might be more materials available for you to make your speech more colourful.

Come up with an argument that is reasonable. Make sure that the purpose of your speech is supported by clear and reliable data to formulate a sound argument.

Add structure to your message. Organize your ideas so that the audience will not have a hard time following and digesting your ideas.

Talk directly to your audience. Make sure the language you are using is one that your audience is comfortable with. Consider the occasion in delivering your speech.

Gain self-confidence through practice. It is only through practice can you effectively present your speech. Master the flow of your presentation by repeatedly rehearsing it. That way, you can have command over your speech