Public speaking can be an intimidating experience for many people. However, with the right techniques, you can turn this stressful situation into an opportunity to express yourself with confidence and self-assurance. In this article, we’ll take you through the five essential techniques for mastering public and video speaking, focusing on aspects such as eye contact, voice and much more.
1. Make eye contact:
When you’re speaking in public, eye contact is essential to establishing a connection with your audience. Looking directly at the people in the room shows that you’re engaged and really want to connect with them. Sweep your gaze across different sectors of the audience, making sure you look at each person for a few moments. This makes everyone feel included and listened to. Eye contact also allows you to perceive your audience’s reactions, enabling you to adapt your speech accordingly. When it comes to speaking on video, it’s important to look at the camera and not at your notes, your surroundings or your own image, as this gives the effect of word-searching and lack of confidence. To ensure good eye contact with the camera, you can use an auto-scrolling teleprompter, which is already integrated into all Rapidmooc studios.
2. Control your voice
The voice is a powerful tool for conveying your message clearly and convincingly. Make sure you speak audibly and articulately, avoid speaking too quickly or too slowly. Vary your tone of voice to capture your audience’s attention and express different emotions. Adopt a comfortable pace and use strategic pauses to emphasize important points.
3. Use body language
Body language is an essential component of your image and what you exude. Your posture and gestures can reinforce your message and help communicate your assurance and conviction. Stand up straight, with relaxed shoulders and your head held high, to project an image of confidence. Use natural, expressive gestures to accompany your words, avoiding excessive or repetitive movements. Gestures can be used to emphasize key points, illustrate ideas or add emotion to your speech. Bear in mind that your body language should be consistent with your speech and convey an image of self-control and commitment.
4. Prepare and structure your speech
Good preparation is crucial to effective speaking. Before your presentation, take the time to familiarize yourself with your subject and organize your ideas in a clear and logical way, using smooth transitions between each point. Identify the key points you wish to make and determine the best structure for your speech. Start with an engaging introduction to capture your audience’s attention, using an anecdote, a hard-hitting statistic, or a provocative question.
End with a gripping conclusion that summarizes the main points and offers a concrete perspective or action to take away. Use visual support such as slides to reinforce your points, but make sure they don’t become the focal point of your presentation. For an impactful video shoot, all you need to do is prepare a PowerPoint presentation in advance of the recording session, to unfold an original and creatively daring presentation! Find out how to organize this preparatory stage in this article.
5. Train regularly
As with any skill, practice is essential to improve your public speaking. Practice your speech regularly in front of a mirror, or record yourself and watch yourself afterwards. You can also ask friends or colleagues to listen to you and give you constructive feedback. Identify your strengths and weaknesses and work on them. Practice will help you gain confidence, perfect your articulation and feel more at ease when speaking in public. With Rapidmooc studios, you‘re completely autonomous, alone in the recording room, and you can start over as many times as you like, as well as cut and merge several videos.
