I have been lucky in that public speaking has never bothered me. In a lot of ways, I’m more comfortable with 50 people than one. But that is a discussion for another day. The Public Speaking Blog recently posted an excellent list of 250 public speaking tips. While I’m usually not all that excited about “lists”, this one is worth a read.
There were a couple I particularly liked . . .
The more you prepare, the less nervous you get.
So true. One of my favorite “tricks” here is the commute. I have given more opening and closing statements in traffic than I can count. You can know in your head exactly what you are going to say but until you go through the process of getting the words out of your lips a few times, you are not ready.
Tell a story, make a point.
Amen!
Start strong (always).
Look at ONE person at a time when you are delivering your speech.
I once had a juror tell me that she never trusted the other lawyer in a case because he never looked her in the eye. Not once in a two week trial! How is that possible?