Here’s a fact: Everyone is afraid of public speaking. I really mean EVERYONE, including native English speakers. Here is another fact: Like it or not, you will have to give a talk to a group of people at one point during your graduate study. You just cannot avoid it. In this blog, I want to provide you some tips and resources to improve your public speaking skills.
- Self-assessment:
What are you most nervous about when you have to talk in front of a group? Ask yourself and start writing down on paper. If you know what you fear the most, you can take time to prepare so it doesn’t happen when you start giving a talk. Once you realize what you fear the most, you can figure out a game plan to combat it.
- Practice makes perfect:
Once you have identified your fear, tackle it. But you wonder: How do I start? It sounds cliché, but the one and only way to be good at public speaking is to practice, and practice a lot. For example, if you normally speak too quickly, practice taking extra pauses to naturally slow you down. If you are afraid that your English pronunciation isn’t clear, try to control your tempo and practice key words of your talk, so you won’t fumble.
- Develop a motto to re-center yourself:
Have you ever noticed that right before you give a talk, you unconsciously have an internal dialogue, and something like this come up: “Oh no, I don’t know how people will think about my talk”, or “Oh no, I don’t know if they will understand me”?
We all talk to ourselves, whether we want to admit it or not. Our mind is constantly full of dialogue. Sometimes this voice is helpful, other times, that internal voice can send us into a downward spiral. This commonly happens when we are stressed out and preparing for an important event.
That’s why developing a motto for yourself is essential to gain confidence before a talk. This motto sets you up for your entire talk. Ask yourself: What would be the best thing I can tell myself that makes me feel at the top of my game? For example: “This is my time to shine” or “I am amazing”.
This motto will come in handy before you start your talk. You can use it if something unexpected comes up and you need to re-center yourself. You can also use it whenever your brain starts telling you how everything could go wrong.
- Relax and have fun:
If you think too much about how people will judge you, you can’t focus on what you need to say. Understand that everyone is afraid of public speaking just as much as you are, so if you make a mistake, it’s not the end of the world. However, keep track on what you have done wrong, or what you could have done better, so you can improve next time.
Finally, there are a lot of free public speaking/communication training courses offered through UCI Graduate Resource Center (Link: http://www.grad.uci.edu/professional-success/communications-and-cultural-fluency/index.html). I highly recommend taking these courses to receive training from professional speech coaches.