Many people will face a dilemma when speaking in public - does what I say please them? Do they laugh at my accent or mannerisms? Are the examples I use in my story appropriate? A friend of mine who is very good at giving a speech told me about his experience when he gave a speech for the first time.
He had just entered high school at that time. During a student union election, he was chosen as a "sniper" - a person who asked all kinds of tricky questions to the other party's candidates. It was the first time he had taken on such a big responsibility, and he was so nervous that he was sweating from head to toe.
As expected, he asked a very tricky question that day, which caused a round of applause from below. But at the same time, he was also shocked by the applause. Having never encountered such a scene, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and shouted "Don't make a noise", which caused a burst of laughter from the audience below. The sniper attack will naturally end in vain.
This fear is actually the fear of expressing yourself. It is the most common form of social anxiety. Often this fear is primarily about appearing stupid, unattractive, boring, obviously anxious, or incompetent. Therefore, people subconsciously always avoid being the center of attention because they believe that letting others observe them will only lead to terrible results.
Every day, people in every corner of the world give poor presentations. They made all sorts of mistakes—dressed inappropriately, talked about boring topics, and were so anxious that they sweated from their brows...but they got by just fine and suffered no dire consequences. It can be really frustrating when you're at a loss in front of others and feel like you're doing something stupid. Even if the audience doesn't like what you say, or it costs you an opportunity, it's not a big deal. The idea of ??"having to be perfect" is one of the main culprits of anxiety. If you worry less about what others think of you, your performance will improve.
The most direct way to be calm and calm when being the center of attention is to practice more until you are no longer bothered by it. Psychologists have put forward the following suggestions for this:
1. Speak clearly and make sure that every word you say can be heard by the person sitting at the back of the room. Some people like to speak very vaguely when they are nervous, hoping that the audience will let it "slide" by. As everyone knows, when you deliberately lower your tone or try to "slip" a certain sentence over, people will be very interested in this sentence. The softer the voice, the more focused they will be. If you have a loud voice, they may get distracted. At the same time, the louder the voice, the more confident you are in what you are saying.
2 Make sure the pronunciation of each word is accurate. If you are unsure of the pronunciation, look it up in a dictionary. This is not only true for people in Western countries, but also for Chinese people. Chinese characters are so vast and profound that many presenters are not sure that their pronunciation is accurate. And once your audience discovers that you have mispronounced a simple word, they will immediately lower their opinion of you. If you initially give them the impression that you are illiterate, that's fine. But if they think you are pretty good at first, but as the number of "landmines" in your language increases, their evaluation of you becomes lower and lower. That's not true. What a good thing.
3. When you speak, your body can move and your hands can make various movements. Never put your hands in your pockets or cross your chest. You know, people are still very superstitious about the power of body language, and good body language can indeed add a lot of color to your language. Generally speaking, the movements should not be too big, and don't be artificial. Don't let others see that you are deliberately doing the movements like a hip-hop dance.
4 The audience’s attention cannot always be highly concentrated, and they may pay attention to other things, so they may miss some of the statement content. You need to repeat your most important points frequently so that the audience can follow the flow of your presentation and know what you are talking about.
This is often overlooked by some poor speakers. They like to list "first", "second", and "third" like writing a composition... In fact, your audience is not energetic enough. Take notes. It is impossible for them to look back 20 minutes later and think about a certain point you said 20 minutes ago. Therefore, if you want to deepen your memory, you must keep "first", "first", "first"... repeat this way. According to psychology, an idea repeated 7 times can leave an impression on a person's mind.
5. Show your true colors. Many times, the last person a speaker wants to impersonate is themselves. They will think: I am not capable of speaking well, so I have to be like so-and-so in order to be charming. This is what is called learning to walk in Handan. Most of the audience is very tolerant. They are already prepared at the beginning to hear a less than exciting speech, so they can be tolerant of your failure, but for you The success of imitation may not be so forgiving. They will attempt to challenge you, to conquer the person you are playing by conquering you. So no matter what, it's not worth the gain.
6. Try to be prepared to answer questions, whether you are in a large or small venue. If you're in a large venue, you may need to repeat the question to make sure everyone hears it clearly. If it's a small venue, that's not necessary, as long as you look into each other's eyes like friends and communicate directly and face-to-face with each other. But be aware that if you don't know how to answer a question, it's best to admit it frankly. Hemming and hawing will only cause trouble.
Through these trainings, you will find that attracting the audience's attention is not that difficult, nor is it the exclusive preserve of some geniuses. If possible, try to put these tips into practice before the next time you have to speak in public. Then record the differences in your notebook to find out which skills or methods worked particularly well for you. (Double Peng)