23 Powerful Public Speaking Tips to Boost Your Pitch Skills
Public speaking skills aren't just for speeches: you need to be ready to pitch your ideas, products, services or business opportunity at a dinner party, in an elevator or during a meeting. Presentations are a skill that salespeople, entrepreneurs and small business owners can learn and practice. Here are 23 public speaking tips from experts that you can practice and perfect.
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Impromptu, Off The Cuff Speech Tips from The Wall Street Journal: https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-to-overcome-your-terror-of-making-an-off-the-cuff-speech-1543851913
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Shift your focus toward your listeners and away from yourself.
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Asking yourself, “What are people waiting to hear from you?”
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Keep answers succinct and clear.
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3 easy to remember steps to get your points across without rambling: State the problem, describe the solution and summarize the benefits.
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Use a “what, so what, now what?” mental road map—stating the issue or topic, explaining why it matters and laying out next steps.
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Practice speaking off the cuff: Speak up in meetings, volunteer to give toasts or step up to the mic to ask a question at a conference.
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Be aware of your body language under stress and avoid misleading tells.
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Treat your anxiety as a normal response and tell yourself: I’m excited.
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How to Hide Your Nerves When Giving a Speech from Fast Company: https://www.fastcompany.com/90269420/5-ways-you-can-hide-your-nerves-when-giving-a-speech
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Breathe: focus on the exhale.
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Pace Yourself: Take a whole body approach to speaking, control and grounding your speech in your natural rhythm.
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Move From Your Center: Move from your core–not just your arms, to control nervous hand gestures.
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Stretch Your Vowels: Focus on stretching out your vowels, slurring your sounds together, so you sound sharp and clear.
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Stand Solid: Put one foot slightly ahead of the other–shoulder width apart to avoid swaying from side to side.
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Public Speaking Tips That to Reduce Anxiety and Improve Your Performance from Harvard https://www.extension.harvard.edu/professional-development/blog/10-tips-improving-your-public-speaking-skills
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Practice and Prepare: Take the time to go over your notes and practice presenting your speech - record yourself, or get a friend to watch and provide feedback.
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Know Your Audience: Learn about your listeners and create your speech for them.
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Organize Your Material: Grab the audience’s attention in the first 30 seconds.
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Adapt to Audience Feedback: Watch your audience and adjust your presentation to their response to you.
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Be Yourself: Let your personality shines through so your audience will trust you.
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Tell Stories: A story provides a personal touch in a speech that audiences like.
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Don't Read: Maintain eye contact with the audience and use a brief outline to jog your memory and keep you on task.
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Control Nervous Gestures: Use nonverbal communication that delivers your message.
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Limit AV Aids: Audiovisual aids can distract your audience so use them sparingly to enhance or clarify your content.
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Start and End Your Speech with Strong Messages: Capture your audience right from the start with a bold stat or story, not a canned introduction. Conclude your speech with a strong summary.
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Learn More: Pitch Tips for Salespeople, Entrepreneurs and Small Business Owners http://www.thesalesassassin.com/sales-blog/pitch-tips-for-salespeople-entrepreneurs-and-small-business-owners
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