We have all the notes, all the information, but wait we have not the skill to relate all our knowledge to a large crowd.
This is a very common feeling with most of us who are new to public speaking.
To allay this fear, preparation is the key.
We must prepare very well to the last detail so that we do not unnecessarily panic during our speech.
Preparations basically can be divided to 2 stages, short term and long term, where short term is focused mainly on preparations made just before a speech even while the long term is focused on how to improve oneself confidence and skills in public speaking.
For short term, many beginners prepare the contents of the speech, but forgetting the important factor which is who are the listeners.
Knowing who the listeners are can help a speaker to meld the contents of his speech to create a suitable approach.
A suitable approach basically encompasses the style of presentation which includes the visual and audio aids used.
Long term encompasses the continued effort of the speaker to improve his or her skill of presentations skills by going for training or doing more presentations.
Note that the long term preparations actually help reduce the time for short term preparations.
So a balanced training in both the short term and long term preparations skills will help us to a better skill in public speaking.
Here are some tips to help you out for the short term.
*Always have a backup plan for anything planned, for example if the slides are prepared with a newer version of the power point software also save it in the older format.
There are times when the venue will only have an older version of the power point software.
This avoids you from panicking when the file cannot be run in the presentation room.
*Always make clear and concise visual aids.
*Re-iterate the points that you want to deliver in the beginning, in the middle and at the end.