During icebreaker activities at the beginning of this year, the question, "If you could have any superpower in the world, what would it be?" was extremely popular. I would always answer that I would like to be able to fly, but if I were being honest, I should have answered that I would like to be able to give flawless, riveting speeches.
In my past public speaking experiences, I have had a generally rough time. I suffer from nerves, a lack of confidence, stuttering, sporadic eye contact, body language, and a plethora of other things that make giving a speech extremely difficult. Last year, I had to speak at graduation. Even though I knew my speech inside and out and felt well-prepared, I can't even remember giving the speech because I was so caught up in my nerves and was constantly worrying about how the speech was coming off to the audience.
I am always much more confident expressing things through writing than by speaking. When I go into an argument or have something really important to say to someone, I always write it down so that I am able to say exactly what I mean in the exact way that I want to say it. One of my strengths is writing speeches and putting my thoughts on paper, but I consistently struggle with the delivery.
In order to help myself to give the best speech possible, I will make sure that I have solid ideas and organization so that I am confident in my written speech and can fully concentrate on the delivery. I will practice my speech as much as I can and try to relax and connect with the audience so that my ideas come across clearly. I am determined to make this speech the turning point that will lead to more positive public speaking experiences.
I think since you have a natural gift of being able to write down your thoughts in an organized and meaningful manner you just need to practice the actual speaking part. I can totally relate to be overwhelmingly nervous and not sure what to do with yourself when you're in front of other people.But you already have the writing down so just practice the speaking and you'll get the hang of it!
ReplyDeleteI loved your title! It is good that you have a firm grasp on what your problems are and how you can fix them, and I definitely think that if you follow your own tips, you'll make progress. (However, I remember your artifact speech and I think you did a fantastic job!)
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