I like public speaking, but I haven’t always liked it. It started when I read Dale Carnegie’s book on public speaking, “The Art of Public Speaking,” while in college. If you’re interested, google search for a pdf on it, I believe at this point it’s available for free.
What I want to emphasis from this book
The whole book is 285 pages. That’s a lot of information, so I’ll summarize what I found to be the most useful.
Treat public speaking like a conversation with one person
I don’t recommend having a specific script with words that have to be said on each slide. I also don’t memorize the slides. If you’re reciting a script word-for-word, your presentation might come off as a textbook.
If you approach public speaking like a conversation between you and the entire audience (representing one singular entity), you can talk to them just like you talk to people every day.
If you mispoke in a 1-1 conversation, would it bother you?
I guess it depends on what you said, but I don’t think it would be a big deal. React the same way in your presentation. Mistakes happen, and the audience will understand if you correct yourself.
If you enjoyed this post or found it useful, please read some of the book. It seriously changed how I felt about public speaking.
Thanks for reading! Stay tuned.