How To Make Public Speaking Suck Less and More Enjoyable in Six Easy Steps.
Today is the day you become a better public speaker. Here’s how.
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Nothing strikes more fear into people’s hearts than public speaking.
Even thinking about speaking in front of a group of people gets my heart racing and palms sweaty.
But public speaking is a critical skill for gaining influence and achieving success. Any career you have will have some component of public speaking.
Whether that’s 1–2 people in your team to an audience of over 100, you will have to do some element of public speaking. So it pays to invest in it.
Warren Buffett regards his Dale Carnegie training in public speaking as one of his best investments. This is coming from a man who had made billionaires of dollars from his investments in equities.
Public speaking has given me opportunities that have transformed my career.
Whether it was winning projects, expanding my networks, or helping me build my brand, public speaking has a big ROI for my professional and personal development.
1. Minimize saying ‘umm’ and replace it with ‘well’, ‘and so’ or a short pause.
It can be jarring to hear someone constantly saying umm.
I personally find it grating to my ears and shows me how nervous you are.
You won’t ever be able to get rid of every umm but you can minimize the amount you say it. Most people do it automatically to fill any gap or lapse in their thinking.
Whenever you feel like saying umm. Just take a pause instead. That’s what your brain is looking for. This pause is probably less than half a second and your audience won’t even notice.
Once you’re able to slow down and think, you can start replacing your ‘umms’ with ‘well’ or ‘and so’.
Being able to minimize your umms will improve your public speaking dramatically and convey a deeper sense of confidence to your audience.
