If you are not a professional speaker it can be very intimidating to have to make a speech or presentation in front of your peers or strangers.
Professional speakers have a lot of training to fall back on but with a little effort you can present your speech in a very effective and professional way.
1.
Show commitment in what you are saying.
Use hand gestures and your voice to project concern, anger or worry where it is appropriate.
Also, be enthusiastic and cheerful where it is appropriate.
Be natural.
Overdoing hand gestures can look like you are acting and take away from your sincerity.
2.
Use personal stories and anecdotes to illustrate your points.
A speech containing a lot of facts can easily become boring without the use of personal stories and or anecdotes.
A fact or statistic will be more easily remembered when a person connects it to an interesting story.
3.
Use descriptive words.
You want to paint a word picture.
Lead your audience into using all their senses.
You want them to touch, taste, smell, see and hear what you are saying.
This also helps them to remember what you say.
4.
Ignite their emotions.
You message is based on facts but it is emotion that creates action.
Your audience must "feel" your message.
5.
Take advantage of humor.
Often starting a speech with humor can diffuse a possible tense occasion.
Humor can put people at ease and increase the chances of their listening and agreeing with your point of view.
6.
Maintain eye contact.
Making eye contact is a symbol of sincerity.
Failure to meet another person's gaze can lead to a lack of confidence in you and hint that you might not be honest or credible.
By looking your audience in the eye you show them that you are sincere and care about them.
7.
Look the part.
Your appearance suggests a lot about you.
You want to be clean, neat and dressed appropriately for the occasion.
Don't let your appearance detract from your message.
8.
Pay attention to how you sound.
You want to be loud enough to be heard but not too loud.
Speak clearly so people can understand you.
Do not speak too fast especially if you have an accent.
Try to use what is called vocal variety.
That is to say, change the speed and or pitch accordingly.
Show enthusiasm, sorrow, etc.
by your tone of voice.
Pause to add emphasis to a statement you just made.
Practice your speech or presentation out loud so you can monitor how you sound.