The day has arrived and you want some public speaking confidence. You have been introduced to the onlookers and the topic of your speech has been announced. From this point on, youare the main focus of attention. You are on your own and all eyes are on you!

This is where you start your performance. It’s not just a question of getting into your speech as quickly as possible, but mentally preparing both yourself, and the fans too, for what you are about to communicate.

A feeling of the dramatic is called for.

It is not simply a collection of words that you’re going to be using ; like any performance it’ll involve the employment of movement, passion, eye contact, dramatic pause, and many other techniques used by actors every day of their working lives.

And this is where the performer in you must rise to the front.

For some people, this is the hardest part.

They are not ‘born actors’ and find that putting on a feeling of the dramatic doesn’t come naturally. The danger, too, is that by ‘trying too hard’ to be a performer they come across as ham actors lacking sincerity and thereby losing credibility.

In this regard, everyone has to find out their own comfort zone and act in a style thatis both cushty and sounds natural. Getting a close friend or companion to listen through and advise on how you are doing can be invaluable in this regard.

When your name is called, you want to look calm and picked up, yet eager and excited that you’ve been honoured by being asked to talk.

When your name is announced, you need to walk intentionally onto the stage with your head held high, your shoulders back, a grin on your face.

You look round the audience. You should wait for silence ; absolute silence so we can hear that self-evident pin dropping. Never be afraid of long silences.

They add drama. They increase stress. And at the very start they add to the overall expectancy of a star performance.

Now you have engaged the audience and you are building your public speaking confidence.

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