PUBLIC SPEAKING PRO TIP#2 - SPEAK UP! 🎤🎤🎤
1. SLOW DOWN - It’s sometimes difficult to as you tend to speak faster when you are nervous and excited. Slowing down gives more time for your brains to catch up with your mouth and will lessen the chance of messing up or fumbling over your words. (PS. The right pace for public speaking usually feels much slower to you but sounds just right to the audience)
2. SPEAK FROM YOUR BELLY NOT YOUR THROAT - Slowing down and speaking from your belly with a loud deep voice will make you sound more confident and authoritative. Your audience will appreciate hearing a deeper and calmer voice over an excited squeaky childlike voice that comes from speaking from your throat. Again this comes down to calming your nerves and breathing properly before you start to speak. (It’s not easy! I really have to remind myself to lower my voice before I speak)
3. WARM UP- just like a singer warms up before she does a performance, so should you as a public speaker. Warm your voice up with voice exercises or practicing your speech or presentation out loud in the same volume that you would do on stage. This allows you to hear the words clearly as they come out of your mouth and make any adjustments to phrases or sentences that don’t flow easily and could possibly make you stumble.
4. BREATHE - Breathing is the key to everything! Practice where you pause to breathe and after which word, will not only accentuate each sentence properly, it will help you feel more confident in control and clearheaded. Take several deep breaths before you go on stage to calm those nerves. And remember, it’s ok to pause at moments to catch your breath if you need to!
5. WATCH WHAT YOU EAT - Avoid creamy or milky foods before you speak in public as this will only coat your throat and increase mucus secretion. Cold water is also not recommended because it constricts your vocal cords. Stick to warm water with a squeeze of lemon, or in my case a glass of red wine to warm me up 😉 (but not more than that or else you may get silly 🥴)
Let me know which one works for you! GOOD LUCK GUYS!
#cindyprotips #publicspeaking #voicetips #confidentlyyou
