Sunday, July 25, 2010

Avoiding Signs of Nervousness

Everyone is nervous when he stands before a group. It is learning to hide nervousness, or disguise it, that is the trick. A quivering voice trembling hands, quaking knees-none of these inspires confidence. You must learn to relax and give the impression of quite self-confidence that will make your audience respect you.

The fist step in appearing confident is to be confident. Know well what you are going to say and how are you going to say it. When you are sure of yourself, your audience will sense your confidence and they will be interested in hearing what you have to say.

As you wait your turn to speak, you may find yourself questioning anxiously: Do I remember the opening? What was that statistics? Did I jot down enough notes? This last-minutes tenseness is common but controllable. You have already prepared your speech; remembering that fact will help you to remain calm. Try breathing deeply and imagine the feeling of satisfaction you will have when your speech is successfully completed. Focus your attention on the speaker now giving his talk. When it is your turn, step forward calmly, glance at the audience, and begin speaking to them confidently.

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