How To Be A Confident Public Speaker

Have you ever needed to speak in front of a crowd or stand up at the front of the room to deliver a speech?  How did it make you feel?  If you were nervous leading up to it, or felt your stomach turn whilst making your way to the front of the room, then this technique is for you!

By using this technique you will be better prepared to deliver a speech, seminar, or any other public performance without experiencing the nerves and the apprehension that has previously plagued you.

By using this technique along with our Lockbox Technique, you’ll be sufficiently equipped to deal with almost any public speaking situation.

The Technique

1. I want you to relax and think back to the first time that you had to deliver a public performance and felt nervous.  For most people, this goes right back to primary education.  It might have been a “show and tell” experience, or reading a paragraph from a book in class.  Once you have the earliest reference you can find, keeping searching and thinking back further.  Does anything else spring to mind from an earlier time?  Once you’re confident that you have the earliest memory of a nervous public performance, please move on to the next step.
2. Focus on the memory that we established in step 1, and start to play it through in your mind.  Re-live that experience and notice the way in which you approached and handled the situation.  How could you have done things differently to change the experience into a pleasant one?  Consider your body language and your thought process leading up to the occasion.  Given the experience that you have at your disposal now, could you have handled the situation differently to your advantage?
3. Realise that you now have many more references and abilities in your arsenal than you did when this experience took place.  Compare yourself now to the person you were when this original event took place, and be aware of these differences, and the way in which you would handle the situation if it happened for the first time today.
4. Now cast the previous memories aside and imagine that this is the very first time that you will be delivering a public speech.  Imagine a time when you became excited about the unknown – It could be the excitement leading up to the anticipation of buying a house, a car, or visiting a new place.  Any time in the past where you were excited about something you’ve not experienced before.  Now remember how that made you feel.  It was something unknown, yet you were excited about it… so in that case why should you be nervous and anxious about something else that you’ve never experienced?  In the same way that you became excited about the “good things”, transfer this feeling of excitement into the prospect of delivering a great public speech.  Imagine yourself walking up to the front of the room with your shoulders pushed back, chest puffed out, and head held high.  Give yourself a proper smile – don’t just crunch up your mouth muscles, take it right up to your cheeks and your eyes, and even feel your forehead starting to pull.  As you approach the front of the room, see yourself up there from the eyes of a third party sat in the audience.  See how big you look?  See how confident you look and the respect you’re commanding in the room?  Everyone is there because you have something that they don’t have, and they want it.  They want to know what you know – you’ve got one up on them and they’re waiting for you to share this knowledge with them.  Now continue to play out the scene.  There’s a gently buzz of noise in the room, and then you stand up and begin to address the room. The room becomes silent as the audience listen to your every word with intrigue.  They want to know what you have to share with them, and they’re engrossed in your speech.  Notice as your words light up the room and the audience sit attentively waiting to hear more.  Play through your whole speech.  Everything is going to plan.  Everything is just right.  Now when you’ve finished your speech, see yourself wrapping it up and concluding your talk.  Notice as the room becomes alive with the buzz of a satisfied audience.  Notice their positive reaction to the end of your speech and the sight and sound of the occasion.
5. Now reflect on this event.  Did it go how you planned?  How does it make you feel about delivering the speech now?  If you’re still unsure about it, or feel that the way it plays out doesn’t suit your needs, then repeat Step 4 again, this time substituting the negative aspects of the event for elements which better suit your needs.  If you need an extra boost of confidence, now is the time to combine this method with the Lockbox Technique.
6. Now you should be raring to go and full of confidence.  Keep playing through this new imagery at least once a day, ideally twice a day until the night before you’re due to deliver the speech.  Each time you do this, create a physical cue to associate with this new feeling of confidence.  It could be pressing your finger and thumb together, tapping your hip, scrunching your toes, or any other quick and simple physical gesture to yourself.  On the day that you’re due to deliver, play it through in your mind first thing in the morning – you can do this whilst you’re in the shower or eating your breakfast – by now it’s so matter of fact that you don’t even need to concentrate on imagining it – you’ve done it so many times before.  It’s as much of a natural occurrence as sneezing, blinking, or itching your nose.
7. It’s now time to enter the scene for real!  Remember how you’ve played it through in your mind so many times, it’s become a natural event.  You’re full of confidence and you’re sure of yourself.  Your physical cue is armed and you’re ready to use it to invoke that extra boost of confidence and familiarity whenever you need it.  You know what you’re talking about and your audience and there because you have information that they want to hear.
8. You’re ready!