Preparation is key when it comes to making a good impression when speaking in public. Know what you want to say. Do research to support your statements if necessary. Write down what you want to say. Practice your remarks over and over until you know them by heart. Being well prepared allows you to feel confident when the time comes for you to make your actual speech.
Face you audience at all times when you are giving a speech. Never allow yourself to be distracted by anything else that is going on in the room. You are trying to convince your audience of something, which means that it is very important for them to have your full attention.
Make sure that you know your audience. If possible, find out some of the individuals that will be in the crowd. If you can, greet some of them as they walk in the door and learn their names. Having a personal familiarity with a few people in the crowd can make it a lot more friendly feeling.
If you realize you missed a sentence of your speech, just keep going. By stopping in the middle of your speech to go back to the missed sentence, you may blow the whole speech. Plus, people are less likely to realized you skipped a sentence if you do not bring any attention to the matter.
Dress nice, even if the public speaking is to be at a casual event. If you feel and look sharply dressed, it will reflect in your speaking. Men should consider wearing a necktie when possible, as it does direct audience eyes to the face and head so they focus on your speaking.
Avoid drinking alcohol before your speech. Although it may seem like a good idea to help bolster your confidence, it is a bad idea. Nothing is worse than getting up on the platform and forgetting what you are going to say because you have imbibed in alcoholic beverages before your speech.
Before you even give your speech, get your audience on your side. Smile at them as they enter the room and if you are able to, even shake some of their hands. When you give off a positive vibe prior to your speech, the audience will be more interested in what you have to say.
Practice your speech daily. This will really bolster your confidence because you will know your material inside and out. Although you may have your speech memorized, you should always take your notes to the podium with you. That way if you forget what you are to say, you can glance down at your notes and refresh your memory.
Once you have prepared your speech, practice it as often as necessary until you have it memorized. Practice in front of a mirror where you can try using various hand gestures and facial expressions to help make your points. Get feedback from family members or friends by doing a dry run for them. They can help you make improvements to the content and delivery of your remarks.
If you want people to remember your speech, try to make them ending as memorable as possible. While at parts of your speech are important, the ending is what people will probably most remember. Ending with something boring is not going to keep your speech on their mind for too long.
Use notecards if necessary. While it is best to have your speech committed to memory, having a hard copy handy is not a bad idea. You need not have the entire speech written down word for word, but having the key points you wish to make written on notecards can help ensure that you do not leave out any important information.