If confidence could be manufactured, it would be an overnight success. Confidence is a trait we respect in others & grieve the absence of in ourselves. Some people may just be born confident; it is a skill the rest of us can easily obtain. If you are wondering How To Speak Confidently, we might have the answer for you.
As all the best performers & public speakers can recognize, confidence is as much about appearance as it is about the feeling within. So where better to start sharpening your confidence than in your voice, one of the most vital tools you have to give others a positive impression? True confidence is not thinking that you will produce a great result. It’s a feeling that you can handle any result.
How To Speak With Confidence
1. Practice
The key to doing something well is doing it often & speaking is no exception. When you are nervous about a hard conversation, like talking to your boss for a raise, or a scheduled speech in front of an audience, practice what you will say in advance.
Public-speaking expert Dale Carnegie suggested using a real or substitute microphone if you have to use one during the event. Recording yourself is also an excellent way to determine if you are using the best tone & pauses. It also lets you assess your voice for clarity & volume.
2. Present To A Trusted Audience First
A great way to build confidence is by rehearsing in front of a trusted audience before delivering your speech on the main stage. This will allow you to get more comfortable speaking to an audience while getting honest & helpful feedback about your presentation.
By assembling your friends, family, and coworkers, you can practice your presentation without feeling nervous or worrying that you will mess up when delivering it in front of your audience. This will let you practice your eye contact & body language for your speech.
Your trusted audience will act as a suggestion box for how you can improve your speech. They may state that you need to touch more on your vital points, use a more confident voice, make fewer filler words, make more eye contact, make fewer pauses, & so on. These suggestions can help you to visualize your speech from the audience’s viewpoint & include their feedback for the real thing.
3. Believe In Yourself
This is vital to remember when thinking about How To Speak Confidently. Believing in yourself applies to numerous facets.
Firstly, you must believe in your points. You must believe in whatever you are stating. When you speak, you are the expert there, & people are looking to you for support, advice, or knowledge. You must believe in what you are trying to convince the audience.
Secondly, you must believe in your capacity to deliver your message. Even if you are nervous or worried, you must believe that you will be able to make it. Most great speakers will tell you that they were horrified when they stood on stage for the first time, but there is a trick, “fake it until you make it.” You can’t afford to freak out before or during your speech.
Pretend it’s easy. Think that this is not your first time & you are a pro. Keep smiling, stay relaxed, & go for it – you can do it. You will sound more confident to your audience when you believe you can speak confidently.
4. Don’t Place A Statement As A Question
People ask questions when they are missing information or seek approval for an idea or decision. While there is nothing wrong with either of those situations, both can make you sound exposed.
To deliver your ideas confidently, don’t make your voice sound doubtful at the end of a sentence. Maintain a level tone of voice & conclude your statements with periods, not question marks.
5. Use Visual Aids
You must know the old saying: a picture is worth 1000 words. Visual aids, like pictures, charts, and graphs, help connect with your audience and support your points. Given 65% of the population are visual learners, visual aids can improve the presentation & help them to hold the information.
Using visual content increases the number of people who will remember your message long after your presentation. Visual aids help you to highlight your vital points & keep your audience engaged. Particularly if you are just a beginner in your public speaking journey, having visual aids will provide you something to depend on & divert focus to when you are nervous.
6. Experiment With Your Tone of Voice
Whenever you listen to a great public speaker or narrator, you notice how their tone & volume oscillate throughout their speech.
They use their tone to express a mood or highlight a vital point. They will use a lower, deeper tone when talking about a problem. They will then switch to higher volume, in a more optimistic tone, when narrating how the problem was solved. This kind of tone oscillation allows them to express their emotions to their audience & keep them engaged throughout their presentation.
The tone of your speech should always match the subject matter you are addressing, which will make you sound confident during your whole presentation. If you have a positive message, keep your tone light. You can use a serious tone if you want your audience to think about a serious topic. It’s all about delivering the central points in your message.
7. Minimize Use of Caveats & Filler
Never begin your sentences like, “This may be just my opinion,” “Sorry,” “I’m still working on this,” “Well,” “I mean,” or any other negative or ineffectual prefaces. Many people do due to habit or nervousness, but caveats & fillers can spoil the confident tone you are trying to hit.
Instead, say what you want & nothing else. For example, “We must take a different approach,” is much more convincing than, “Well, I think we should take a different approach, but I’m still trying to figure out the best way to take.”
8. Maintain Good Posture
Holding your head high & keeping your shoulders firm won’t just make you look confident; it will also develop the sound quality of your voice.
Good posture facilitates you to breathe deeply in & out through your abdomen; that is how actors & other public orators project their voices to reverberate clearly throughout the space. So to exploit the power of your voice, sit, or stand up straight & remember to take a deep breath. It is the best method for How To Speak Confidently.
Why Should We Practice Speaking Confidently?
The most vital aspect of Speaking with Confidence is to recognize that words & language are just meant to get our thoughts delivered. Once we know what we want to say in an organized manner helps build confidence to deliver the speech or presentation.
Speaking with Confidence offers excellent personal & professional benefits, like building self-esteem, building trust & relationships with ourselves & the people around us, open discussions & effective thinking skills, to name a few. Considering all the benefits, we must learn How To Speak Confidently.
