It pays well to be organized and well prepared before facing a live audience for a public speaking. Here are some vital tips on public speaking, especially on how to prepare for it.
Check the Schedule
Before accepting an invitation to speak, check out the date and time of the speaking engagement first. This is among important tips on public speaking. It is exciting to receive invitations like this. Most novices would readily accept any invitation that comes. Before long, they find out too late that they have conflicting schedules. They have several different speaking commitments to do at the same day or time. This would affect how to prepare for public speaking and the quality of the same.
Schedule One Engagement a Day
This is good for both novices and professionals. A speaking engagement can be very tiring and stressful. Moreover if the goal is to goad people to action. Getting their attention alone is hard work and can be very frustrating if unfulfilled. Ordinary speeches take 15 to 30 minutes. But a typical stimulating speech takes about one to two hours to do. Special church service preaching, for instance, takes this long. It is among top tips on public speaking to have one speaking schedule per day. This is especially true if the event takes more than one day to finish. There will be no problems on how to prepare for public speaking physically and mentally.
Speak on a Familiar Topic
Never speak on a topic one is not familiar with. If a topic would require too much research and study, chances are, it would ruin everything. There would be less time devoted to how to prepare for public speaking. There are so much tips on public speaking to consider. This is one of them. Some good speakers fail at one point because of this. They try to speak on what they’re not an authority of. It is okay to decline an invitation to speak. Be honest if the topic is unfamiliar territory.
Use an Outline
After studying about a topic, make an outline. Some tips on public speaking fail to explain the importance of outlines. Outlines make the speaker accurate, relevant, and interesting. An outline should have a title, an objective, a key word or phrase, a body, and a conclusion. Keep everything simple and short. The body should have topics and sub-topics. They should all contribute to the title and objective. Never digress from them. This is the first phase of how to prepare for public speaking. The second phase is memorizing the outline by heart. It’s not important to memorize verbatim the body of the message. Just memorize the outline and then speak extemporaneously.
