Public speaking is one of the best ways to express your personal brand to your target audience. Why? Because it allows you to deliver a complete message while building powerful emotional connections with your audience. There’s no better way to reach an audience on a deep and human level. As a public speaker, I’m often asked how I am able to give presentations without feeling fear or dread. Despite its value as a personal branding tool, public speaking ranks higher than the fear of death in multiple surveys about what Americans fear most (the top three are public speaking, death and spiders - in that order).
If anxiety has prevented you from tapping the power of this transformational tool, these three steps can help you conquer the fear and deliver a compelling speech.
1. Do Your Homework
Own The Content.
If you are presenting someone else’s content or aren’t fully comfortable with your own material, you’re injecting stress into public speaking. The more confident you are about your content, the more confidence you will exude on stage. Take the time you need to thoroughly research and truly master the content.
Take the spotlight off of yourself. After all, public speaking really isn’t about you. It’s about serving your audience by giving them something of value – inspiration, information, knowledge, and validation. To truly support your audience, you need to know who they are and what they are looking for before you build and deliver your presentation. Learn as much as you can about your audience and their needs and expectations before you start creating a presentation.
Be True To Yourself.
Delivering a speech in someone else's style is going to make you uncomfortable. Trying to be someone else is exhausting, and it’s ineffective too. Instead of imitating Tony Robbins, uncover your own authentic presentation style, including which tools you enjoy using.
2. Prepare For Your Performance
Use The Energy.
If you feel a nervous flutter before you go on, don’t be stressed by it; embrace it. It’s the energy that will help you start with a bang. Change your mindset about that feeling, celebrating it as the essential spark that ignites your presentation.
Warm Up.
Just as athletes stretch and practice before showing up on the field, you too need to warm up. Come up with your own routine. You might consider things like taking deep breaths, stretching your arms, or visualizing a peaceful place.
Be Positive.
Don't underestimate the power of positive thinking. If you are delivering your presentation in your style with the purpose of supporting the audience, you will succeed. Tell yourself you are going to be great. One way to capture the positive energy is to remember a previous presentation (even if it was just one-on-one) where you did a great job. Capture that memory, hold onto it, and tell yourself you are a success before you go on.
Own the Stage.
Sometimes public speaking feels strange because the environment is not familiar. I do public speaking as a living, yet every venue is different. Whenever possible, I get a look at the stage in advance, and then I walk on it to see how I will use the space and to familiarize myself with the view.
Practice.
Whenever possible, have a real dress rehearsal. This takes away the stress of wondering if your words will work – and if you’ll have technical difficulties. A dress rehearsal gives you a chance to resolve any issues before you go on.
3. Follow Through
Reward Yourself.
In golf, the follow-through is as important as the initial part of the swing. Being a successful speaker is like that. Don’t put the presentation behind you the second you exit stage left. After you have delivered your presentation, congratulate yourself and express gratitude for being a successful public speaker. With each new presentation, you will feel more at ease and more in control. Public speaking is like any other skill – the more you practice, the better you become and the less fear you feel.
Maximize The Impact.
Capitalize on the many other ways you can use this public speaking opportunity to build your brand. For example, if you have someone create a video of the presentation, you can turn the video into clips and post them to your YouTube channel. Remember to create a PDF of your PowerPoint or Keynote presentation and post it to SlideShare. You can also turn your presentation content into a Blog, article or whitepaper.
If you follow these three steps, you’ll give voice to your brand – and you’ll enjoy doing it!
Learn more about building your personal brand. Download my complete list of 50 eye-opening questions to ask yourself when uncovering your brand here.
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