Public Speaking

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  • designbot

    I have had several things come up where I've been asked to present in front of my entire company. For some reason I have always been pretty terrified of speaking in front of large groups.

    I am curious how many of you QBN'ers have to do this regularly and how you cope with nerves etc. Anyone used to have similar fears, but conquered them over time?

    In a way I am glad to be "taken out of my comfort zone" and asked to do these things, since I know I will only get better with time. Nevertheless, I can't help that sinking feeling and nervousness.

    Any advice or personal experiences are appreciated :-)

  • brandelec0

  • d_rek0

    Um... in all honesty as a designer i couldn't imagine NOT having to get in front of a group of people and present my ideas and work...

    I was introduced to the idea of public speaking long before I became a designer and once I started going to school it then became second nature to speak publicly in an open-forum, group-crit environment.

    • yeah, It's always been tough for me to sell my concepts etc, I know it's one of my weaker points.designbot
  • juhls0

    Apparently practice helps a lot. Try doing it in front of a smaller group of friends and/or family first, as if you were speaking to your company.

    I've never been able to get used to it, but hopefully you can.

    Good luck.

    • Get feedback from them as well.kgvs72
    • Yeah, that's good advice. Thanks :)designbot
  • kgvs720

    You could try videotaping your speech and then watch it. It's always good that someone else watches as well. Eat a good meal before your speech and don't drink or eat something that will make you hyper.

    • Cheers! You think drinking coffee would make it worse?designbot
    • Yeah something like that. If I drink more than two cups in a day, I'm jumping off the walls.kgvs72
    • Or drinking or eating something that will make you feel lagged.kgvs72
    • yeah, maybe one cup of coffee just to wake me up, but no more. and food, also important, thanks!designbot
  • d_rek0

    That being said there are a lot of things to consider when speaking publicly and most of those considerations can be applied to both small and large-scale speaking events.

    A few quick pointers:

    1) Rough out your presentation and talking points beforehand in an outline format so you have a guide to go off of.

    2) Practice speaking in front of a mirror or into a microphone. This way you will be able to view yourself when you speak and be able to watch for nervous habits (hands on face, using your hands to talk, always looking down, etc).

    Talking into a microphone will help you understand more about the way you speak. Some people have a tendency to mumble or to no annunciate. Others are very soft spoken.

    3) Time yourself. Keep talking points concise. Nothing worse than when you're trying to present something and you not only bore people to death because you've blown 30 minutes of their time by rambling.

    4) Practice your speech/presentation before hand and run through ti at least 2 or 3 times until you feel comfortable giving it. Have someone sit in with you if you aren't comfortable talking to a wall or imagining a group or crowd.

    5) And... it's really not as bad as it seems. Just like anything it takes a little practice to get used to but eventually it becomes second nature. Cheers! :D

    • Thanks for the advice d_rek, great stuff. This is really helpful. Cheers!!!!!designbot
  • kgvs720

    Even Eric practices.

  • Mal0

    Avoid speed

  • twokids0

    The best speakers are the ones who talk naturally about material they obviously know a lot about. They just talk as if they are talking to you directly from their head. When presentations are overly staged they are not as effective.

    So:

    1) Know your material really well. Prepare five times as much as you need, and when you deliver the actual presentation, you can just talk, and not worry about covering everything exactly. Use slides as guidelines, not reading material. Nothing is worse than someone reading bullet points to an audience. I am assuming you are being asked to speak because of something you know about(design?) so that should not be too hard for you.

    2) Forget that there is a group. You know more than they do. Imagine talking directly to someone, which I assume you can do about something you know about and are passionate about. Look at someone in the audience (maybe someone you know?) and speak directly to them to get yourself started that way.

    3) You will be nervous. So what? If you do #1 and #2 you will be fine.

    DO NOT videotape yourself. That will make you self conscious.

    • Great thanks! I agree speaking naturally is the way to go, I'll just be sure and have bullet points so I don't lose my place and can keep it moving.designbot
    • keep it moving.designbot
  • ceiling_cat0

    Donal Trump said he just doesn't think about it. He just does it.