View video – Joseph Norman: Public speaking & presentations – Facts, myths & helpful tips.[7:20 min.] Norman offers practical tips to build confidence while also making your presentation more effective. For example, moving around the presentation space will engage audiences more than standing still behind a podium. Speaking in a conversational way, rather than reading aloud, will help your audience relate to you more easily. The key is to rehearse your speech so you can speak naturally. Greeting audience members as they arrive will also help you feel more comfortable and help the audience connect with you, especially if you can address them by name in your talk. Give handouts only after your speech is finished to avoid distraction from your talk. To close with positive energy, recognize audience contributions. You can also include an uplifting message at the end, light humour during your talk, or randomly give a little prize. Norman’s message is to be so well prepared you can have fun.

View video – Dianna Booher: Presentation Skills: 10 Tips to Conquer Fear and Develop Confidence as a Speaker. Part 1[1:47 min.], Part 2 [2:50 min.] and Part 3 [2:06 min].

In the first video, Booher advises being clear on your purpose and roadmap, and remembering you have valuable information to share. After you view this video, review the purpose statement of your informative presentation to see how well it responds to Booher’s question: “What do you want the audience to do, think, know, buy, approve, or consider when you finish your talk?”

The second video describes six more techniques, which include making your presentation tell a story, using visuals wisely, rehearsing, varying your paralinguistics, focusing on your audience, and being passionate about your point.

The third video suggests a variety of relaxation techniques.

Booher also provides complete transcripts of these video presentations to aid viewer understanding.

View video – TEDxYouth@Singapore: Benjamin Loh – Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking. [15:29 min.] Loh, a life coach and community organizer, provides guidance on how to overcome public speaking fears. He observes public speaking has a learning curve like any other skill, so requires practice to improve. The only difference is that public speaking must be learned in front of an audience. Loh uses humour and stories to illustrate how others helped him overcome his own fear of negative judgement and inspired him to learn to love public speaking. In his view, the joy in public speaking is having an opportunity to influence others to see the value in ideas you believe are worth sharing, and maybe change the world for the better in the process. Loh says, and shows, that the way to do this is to get to know yourself, stand in your own truth, and embrace the vulnerability of sharing with your audience. This is the key to helping your audiences connect with you and your message.