Do your hands sweat when you stand up in front of people to talk to them? Do you feel like there are a thousand butterflies in your stomach and every thing that you have worked hard to learn has just disappeared from your memory.

Speaking in public can give jitters to anyone who is doing it for the first time. But it is essential to hone up these skills as you may be required to do so at some point of your life. One can easily work to overcome the fear of public speaking and can speak with confidence in any given situation.  Public speaking is something that we normally do at least one time in our lives, even if it is in school. If you are a parent you would be amazed at how many times you will stand up to speak in public. Some people are comfortable with it while others dread it. Here are some ways to make public speaking easier for you.

Time it out. Be it a simple office presentation or a debate or group discussion, it is essential that you time your speech. No one wants to listen to long and boring stuff that keeps going on for what looks like hours. Longer speech also means that your audience may lose interest quickly and your efforts would be worthless. But this does not mean that to keep it within a time, you rush on with your speech. Public speaking is effective when done at an easy pace and in a coherent manner.

Keep it to the point. To make a truly effective speech, do not include worthless information. It would not only make the presentation unnecessarily long, but the focus of the discussion will also be lost. Also, prepare the speech keeping the audience in mind. An office presentation may include a lot of corporate lingo, but the same might not be appropriate for a general audience.

Breaking your speech in smaller chunks is another way of refining the presentation. Use subtitles and smaller phrases wherever possible. This way, not only will you be able to remember many of the points, but your presentation would look more organized. An effective introduction and a good closing statement is must for every discussion.

Always maintain an eye contact. Many people lose out on the opportunity of “communicating” with their audience; they keep on reading papers. Maintaining eye contact at various levels shows that you are thoroughly prepared and it gives an aura of confidence. Include some anecdotes and involve your audience by asking questions. This is particularly helpful when the topic is a complex one. It ensures that you are making your audience understand your points. You can also use Audio-visual material to make your speech more interesting and easy to understand.

Confidence is important for every public speaking activity. If it is your first time or you are nervous, you can practice speaking in front of your mirror. This way you would be able to improve upon any section that needs specific attention. So speak with confidence.

Learn more about goals and goal setting and overcoming procrastination for even better performance.