Tommy FishbackA theoretical whiteboard for my life.

1. Know the room. Be familiar with the place in which you will speak. Arrive early, walk around the speaking area and practice using the microphone and any visual aids.

2. Know the audience. Greet some of the audience as they arrive. It’s easier to speak to a group of friends than to a group of strangers.

3. Know what your talking about. If you’re not familiar with your material or are uncomfortable with it, your nervousness will increase. Practice your speech and revise it if necessary. If you have speech writers and they write you the best speech in the world, and you don’t understand the topic of which you are speaking of, then you will have a hard time getting the point across to your audience.

4. Be funny.  When speaking be sure to incorporate a few jokes and personal stories that pertain to your topic.

5. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear, and assured. When you visualize yourself as successful, you will be successful.

6. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative, and entertaining. They don’t want you to fail.

7. Never apologize. If you make a mistake, then just take a pregnant pause for a couple seconds to gather your thoughts back into order, and begin again.

8. Gain experience. Experience builds confidence, which is the key to effective speaking.

9. Maintain eye contact. A major part of good public speaking is to keep stable eye contact with your audience members. Focus on a specific person, then a few a seconds later switch your focus.

10. Be yourself. Simple as that.