How to overcome stage fear.

10 Fatal Mistakes – What not to do while delivering a speech.

#1 Don’t memorize the whole speech.

Under the pressure to deliver it wonderfully on the stage, you may forget  a part of it or even the whole speech. You know what follows next.

#2 Don’t read your speech out of a paper.

When your eyes are on the paper, you are unable to connect to your audience.

#3 Don’t put too many jargon.

You love showing off your vocabulary or your knowledge?

Save it for some other day. You are here to convey your idea to your audience, not to prove that you have memorized a whole dictionary.

#4 Don’t choke your speech with too much data.

Yes, it’s necessary to include some facts. In facts, data helps you in strengthening your point. But this never means to completely fill your speech with data. If it’s absolutely required, put it there, otherwise just leave it. Remember, you can engage people in a far better way if you convey your ideas through a story they can connect to, than with numbers they are not even interested in.

#5 Don’t speak it too fast.

Delivering your speech at a lightning fast pace ensures two things –

Your audience will not get a single word of what you are speaking.

They will conclude that you have memorized the whole speech, even when you haven’t.

See, speaking at a very fast pace defeats the very purpose of the speech, i.e.. conveying your message to your audience. You might have a really great idea to convey, but what is the point when no one gets even a word of what you are trying to tell?

#6 Don't tell them how awesome you are.

Keep your introduction as short as possible. While giving a short introduction about yourself helps in establishing your credentials, no one loves it if it's a long one. Keep important details like your education and experience, skip the trivial ones.

#7 Don’t sound like a robot.

My reference to robotic voice has nothing to do with tone. It refers to an emotionless monologue. Your voice should reflect the underlying emotions involved in the idea you want to convey. When you are talking about poverty, you should sound concerned. Similarly, your voice should be filled with excitement when you are talking about an upcoming project your firm is taking.

#8 Don’t ignore how you look.

I know that you won’t dress shabbily when you are going for an interview. But there is more to your appearance than just your dress.  Get yourself a well-tailored dress. Shave. You don’t want to look bad when a hall full of audience is constantly gazing at you.

Try to dress in formal. People take you seriously when you do so.

#9 Don’t admit that you are nervous.

You don’t have to tell about the butterflies in your stomach to them.

You forgot a line. It’s fine, carry on. Most probably, your audience didn't even notice that. But once you admit – “Oh! Sorry, I missed something” they will know for sure.

People turned up to listen to you expecting you to be a confident man who is in control of the situation, not a nervous guy who has no idea about what is is speaking.

#10 Don’t make it too long.

You too, must have been tortured by a long speech, at one point of your life or another. And I am sure you must have cursed the orator. You don’t want the same thing to happen to you – do you?