These days Public Speaking is becoming an essential skill and the higher you go up the career ladder, the more you are expected to present.

Whenever you Publicly Speak you are on show, so you need to ensure the speech you deliver is truly effective and remembered.

Here are the specific steps you need to take to command the audiences attention, have a lasting effect on your audience and get the results you desire.

Now, guess what most people think they can get away with?

The preparation!

Believe me, you can’t.

Make sure that you know the subject you are presenting on, inside-out and your audience want to know it.

You will not be able to ‘wing it’…casue you never know what questions you will receive so make sure you know the subject well. Be passionate about the subject.

The last thing you need is to present to an audience that doesn’t care about the subject you are publicly speaking about.

As I mention above, one way to know whether or not you have a good understanding on your subject is, “Could you have a Q&A session after your speech and answer all the questions that arise”?

Once you have your subject matter well and truly learned, you will want to organize your subject in a logical sequence.

It must flow for your audience to be interested, understand, and retain it. Your organization of your points should continuously support the big idea. Providing evidence, data and reasoning are a strong part of the persuasive process!

Getting to know the subject matter and it organized in the right sequence…you are well on your way to an effective speech.

Now, you have heard first impressions count. When it comes to Public Speaking, they sure do…and last impressions!

So prepare and practice you opening and closing words.

How you are going to get started and how you will end?

You could write them out.

I am not suggesting that you write out your whole speech, but do write out the start and end.

Now to bring the presentation to life…through stories.

People love real life stories!

Audiences love real life stories.

At this point you have a feel for the speech and now, it is time to add some illustrations or life stories to each point.

Illustrations will enable your audience to relate to your subject and remember it.

At this time you should have the opening remarks on paper, the outline of the message with your stories to bring the speech to life, and the ending written out.

Now you must practice your speech. Talk it through in your head. Talk it out loud.

Can you complete the speech within the allotted time given?

Do you have enough material to take up the time frame?

If you answer “yes” to both questions, you are ready to present your message.

If you answer “no”, then you need to tweak your speech until you can answer “yes”.

When you are ready to present, take a maximum of only one sheet of paper with you. If you take too many notes you will have a tendency to read or pay too much attention to your notes.

Present your material in a conversational manner, but be sure to speak up so that everyone is able to hear you.

Speak to the furthest person away from you.

Ensure that you are giving the whole audience eye contact.

It is not necessary to look everyone in the eye, but you must be scanning them so that they get a feel that you are conversing with them.

Go and enjoy yourself and present like you have never done before.

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