
Introduction to Public Speaking - jakubgarfield
http://chodounsky.net/2013/07/17/introduction-to-public-speaking/
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M4v3R
Some additional tips:

\- You have to understand the topic you will be talking about. While this may
seem very straightforward it's very easy to overlook some key things. The
better you personally understand (and believe in) things you are talking
about, the better talk you will give

\- Try not to eat too much before you have a talk. Even if you don't feel
nervous or have some experience, your body could give you a hard time if
you're too full

\- Before starting talking, while at the microphone/stage, take few deep
breaths and look around your audience. Find a friendly and smile to him/her.
It will eat up a lot of stress for you.

\- Drop in a joke or two in some non-critical parts of your speech. Especially
if something went not as you expected (demo went bad, you forgot something or
tripped over something). It can do wonders to your stress levels and makes the
audience more comfortable. There's a caveat though: too much jokes and you
won't achieve your goal since people will remember only the jokes, not the
core of your talk.

\- Have eye contact with people you are talking too. There is nothing more
boring than listening to someone who always looks in his notes and never on
his audience.

\- Make sure everyone hears and understands you. Speak louder than you
normally would. If you use a microphone, have it 10-20 cm from your mouth, at
height of your chin. Listen to previous tip and occasionally scan the audience
for reactions that would suggest that they can't hear you well. If that's the
case - raise your voice levels.

Source: As a JW I gave hundreds of talks in my life, some worse than others,
until I found the proper way to do it. I still don't consider myself as a pro
in this topic, though.

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klinskyc
Two recommendations if you want to learn more,

How to Win Friends and Influence People [http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-
Friends-Influence-People/dp/06...](http://www.amazon.com/How-Win-Friends-
Influence-People/dp/0671723650)

and Romancing the Room [http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Room-Engage-Audience-
Success...](http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Room-Engage-Audience-
Successfully/dp/0609805975).

Both of these definitely helped a lot with my public speaking.

