Being able to develop self-confidence doesn’t usually happen at once.

An able showman, having complete self-confidence and not depending upon a canned speech, has the ability to ad-lib when unusual circumstances occur.
For instance, when a college professor was introduced as a speaker for an audience of business executives he didn’t get any applause. In fact, his audience just sat and looked as though they were angry for having to be present.
Of course the speaker expected some applause, but when he didn’t get any he completely changed the beginning of his speech. Instead of starting immediately with an illustration, as he had planned, he applauded himself as he said, while grinning widely, “Why shouldn’t I applaud me? The good Lord knows if any¬one needs encouragement I do!”
Then, entirely unplanned, he continued with this illustration:
College professors can be dull. I know! — because two of us were on a speaking program recently. One’s bad enough, but think of two!
Well, he spoke first, and I went to sleep.
Then I spoke and he went to sleep.
Now I don’t blame him for going to sleep, of course, but why did that buzzard have to snore?
A fat man in the second row grinned. Other listeners loosened up a bit. And soon they willingly listened to a speaker they thought would not be worth hearing. The speaker had used showmanship to get interest. What would have been the effect if he had showed himself displeased with his audience, if he had reprimanded the listeners for their lack of courtesy or enthusiasm?
A tactful, persuasive speaker recognizes adverse conditions instantly and adjusts harmoniously to them.
Abraham Lincoln, for example, became highly successful in winning the goodwill of unfriendly audiences. Notice his speak¬ing approach to some people in Southern Illinois who had seriously threatened to “nail his hide on a barn door” if he tried speaking to them against slavery:
Fellow citizens of Southern Illinois, fellow citizens of the State of Kentucky, fellow citizens of Missouri — I am told there are some of you here present who would like to make trouble for me. I don’t understand, why they should. I am a plain, common man, like the rest of you; and why should I not have as good a right to speak my sentiments as the rest of you? Why, good friends, I am one of you. I am not an interloper here. I was born in Kentucky, and raised in Illinois, just like the most of you, and worked my way along by hard scratching. I know the people of Kentucky, and I know the people of Southern Illinois, and I think I know the Missourians. I am one of them, and therefore ought to know them; and they ought to know me better, and if they did know me better, they would know that I am not disposed to make , them trouble. Then, why should they, or any of them, want _ to make trouble for me? Don’t do any such foolish thing, fellow citizens. Let us be friends, and treat each other like friends. I am one of the humblest and most peaceful men in the world —would wrong no man, would interfere with no man’s rights. And all I ask is that, having something to say, you give me a decent hearing. And, being Illinoisans, Kentuckians, and Missourians — brave and gallant people — I feel sure that you will do that. And now let us reason together, like the honest fellows we are.

Understanding your audience is an important part of succeeding as a public speaker. If you want to learn more about being a successful public speaker, try out our free e-course delivered direct to your inbox by typing your name and email into the box to the right and get sent direct to you.

An effective speaker thoroughly prepares for each time they speak, so they can speak with confidence because they know their audience, their subject and the speech is benefits their listeners.

After they have researched the audience and their subject they  consider the type of speech they are going to make. Are they going to:

(a)    impart information;
(b)    persuade;
(c)    inspire;
(d)    make an after-dinner speech which might well incorporate all three, or perhaps just be something in a lighter vein ?

The above, in the main, covers the majority of speeches.

Impart information
This comes very close to a lecture. However, many speakers do have to impart information so that listeners can form their own judgments. For example, a shop steward talking to the men in his union about the new rates is imparting information. A sales mana¬ger at a conference imparts information. A technician, talking about the technical aspects of his work, imparts information . . .
In a speech of this kind, some important points must be remembered.

(a) Don’t try to cram years of experience into twenty minutes. Preferably, take one aspect of your subject and deal with that thoroughly.
(b) You must be ruthless, and cut and cut. We often elaborate merely to show how able we are. Keep to your time-table, and leave the audience wanting more information. Better that than that the speech should fail because the audience has heard everything and under¬stood nothing.
(c)    Don’t talk over the heads of the audience to prove your ability. Only deal with intricate technicalities if the audience understands
them.
I once heard a speaker talking in public on aero¬dynamics and not half a dozen people in the audience knew what he was talking about. He could have sim¬plified matters considerably and cut out many words which only experts understand, or he could have re¬fused to speak to an audience not made up of aero¬dynamic engineers.
(d)    An effective speaker makes every point clear. If you feel that you have not done so, you can repeat a part of your speech, but word it differently.
(e)    However involved their subject may be, an effective speaker is not as dry as dust. They make their speech interesting. Anecdotes can be told to liven up the most difficult of subjects.
(ƒ) An effect speaker will summarize their main points both during the speech and at the end of the speech.

An effective speaker is able to speak with confidence when imparting information because they are delivering the speech for the benefit of the audience, not to impress them with their knowledge. They are providing worthwhile content.

In my next posts I will cover further the next 3 types of speeches.

To be able to speak with confidence in public speaking is much easier when you know your subject and can give the audience what they want. This knowledge comes from;

1.From your own experiences

2. Researching other sources such as newspapers, the internet etc.

3. Asking questtions

Audiences like to hear stories about themselves. They also like to hear their own names mentioned.

In the new building for a golf club example introduced in part 1 you could;-

Ask the members about their experiences in raising money to support the club’s activities. Ask the grounds­man to tell you some stories about how the ground was developed. Try to find stories of determination which have resulted in the building being built in spite of difficulties.

After this work has been completed you will have dozens of facts around which you can build your speech.

Now prune. Discard all those facts which you find you can do without — duplicate stories — historical facts which are of little interest to the audience; these must be abandoned to enhance the value of the one histori­cal fact that is worth talking about. Remember now, you are planning your speech step by step, and if you keep to the steps you can’t go wrong.

So far, therefore, you have learned that a speech is an accumulation of facts, either thought out for your­self or found out from others. Having obtained this information, you have the framework of your speech.

You now have a good foundation to build your speech on. One of the keys to enable a speaker to speak with confidence is having this knowledge of the audience. The confidence to prepare and deliver an effective speech is based upon understanding the topic and the wants of your audience.

Your personal experiences primarily are your foremost source of speech material; those things that happened to you and around you in the course of your lifetime furnish a storehouse of material. You have talked about these incidents and now you extend those conversations to a larger audience.

Another source of material is the written word. The effective public speaker broadens his understanding by extensive reading. He keeps his storehouse from becoming lopsided by digesting editorials, news columns, sports pages, and even the comic strips. By reading, he can mull over the material and what he reads has more time to register than the things he hears. A further source of material covers the broad field of luncheon meetings, dinners, banquets, the theatre, concerts, lectures, and regular radio and TV pro¬grams covering current events.

The outcome of any or all of these is your own analytical and imaginative thinking in reviewing the experiences you have had and the things you have read, heard and seen.

In my previous post on effective speech building I gave the example of the golf club= to follow on that example your research phrase for the golf club could cover:

Can you dig up some little-known historical fact about the club? It isn’t always a good thing to give past history, but on this occasion all the listeners will want to hear how the club achieved success. When was the old clubhouse first built? How was it built? Did the members of the club put it up with their own hands?
Visit the offices of the local newspaper. Ask to be allowed to look through the back files. You may well be able to impart some information to the audience which may not be known even by the oldest inhabitant.

My next post will cover the asking questions step.

Speaking with confidence is very important to being truly effective in your personal and business life. Acquiring skills in public speaking can also help in gaining confidence in day to day conversation.
However, there is a stumbling block for many of us. It is the fear of public speaking. But in overcoming that fear it helps with our everyday communications, such as speaking to groups, presenting at work, social gatherings, family discussions, interviews etc.
The skills attained from public speaking such as preparing your speech and presenting in a clear and effective way are the same skills required to being effective in other speaking situations.
Speaking with confidence comes from making the decision to make the first step. The first step need only be brief, you may only give your name and position or something similar and the first bud of confidence will appear. With careful nurture that first bud will bloom into a truly confident speaker.
I have made a number of recent posts on how to speak with confidence:
How to use your voice to speak with confidence
How to use your body language to convey confidence
The importance of preparation and preparation in confident public speaking

Eric Dana Hansen in a comment to my post on how preparation and practice build confidence made a great suggestion on how meeting the audience before you speak can help with overcoming the nerves.
Nerves, jitters or fear felt about speaking in public probably never goes completely away. This is a good thing! As many experienced speakers mention the feeling before they start to speak. However, the feeling is usually not as strong and they use it s a motivation to deliver their best.
Speaking with confidence comes from doing, practicing, preparing and learning the techniques of confident and effective speaking. Most people have the ability within them to become confident public speakers and in conversation. It starts with the decision to get started.

For further information on speaking with confidence please visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com to recieve a free preview of The Art Of Great Conversation

Your voice is vital to the success of the delivery of your speech. When “nerves” come into play there is a tendency to talk too fast, too quietly and your voice to be high pitched.
Before you start take a few deep breaths to steady the nerves, smile and look up and out at your audience. Adopt a posture as described in my previous post on speaking with confidence. The posture conveys confidence and it helps you to feel more confident and this will be reflected in your voice.
Start out slowly, but not too slowly that it drags. Talk in a conversational manner as you would a friend in conversation. Enunciate clearly but don’t be too precise.
To help in the first few moments when you feel the pressure, have your first few lines memorized, so you don’t have to think too much while you get going.
There are other voice bad habits that can detract from effective public speaking, such as a monotonous drone, nasal twang, a strident voice etc. To discover if you have any of these record yourself while speaking and work on improving any that you find.
Almost all of us have the makings of a good voice if we take the time to improve the quality of it.
Many voice faults (including those caused by nerves) can be remedied by reading aloud. Put feeling into the reading aloud practice, reflecting the emotion conveyed by the words, experiment with words that convey hatred and compare it with words that convey love and compassion.
By using deep breathing to relax, taking a positive confident stance, committing the first few lines of your speech to memory and starting out slow your voice will be steady and convey confidence to the audience. You will be on your way to speaking with confidence.
Practicing reading aloud a variety of materials with feeling will help remedy most faults and help you become a more effective speaker in public speaking and private conversation.

Experiencing the jitters about public speaking (or any important occasion) is perfectly normal. We all want to do our best.  Effective speakers have learnt to use the nerves to spur them on to be their best and speak with confidence.
In my first post in the series on How to Speak With Confidence I went through the actions to take before your speak to build self-confidence through the choice of topic, careful preparation and thorough practice.
In this section I am going to run through the actions that you can take on stage to act confident and convey that confidence to the audience.
When it is your time to speak, walk with purpose to the spot where you are to talk from.  Stand up straight and tall, with your feet slightly apart. Distribute you weight evenly on both feet. Your hands should hang at your sides in a natural fashion when you are not using them.  Look out at your audience, smile, pause for a few seconds before you begin. While you pause briefly take a few deep breaths to relax and calm any nerves.
Maintain eye contact with your audience. Each section of the audience should get about the same amount of attention. I know this is difficult, because of what you might see. Force yourself to look at them and you will discover that there was no reason not to.
Your movement and gestures should be made with purpose and be natural. Use both movement and gestures to support and emphasize the point you are making.  Up and out is the best way to think about gestures. They need to be seen by all the audience. Avoid any distracting gestures such as fidgeting or scratching. Let your gestures and movement be a natural expression of you and what you are talking about.
Your appearance should be neat and tidy and appropriate for the occasion. As a general rule do not wear any eccentric apparel. It is your ideas you have come to convey and you do not want your dress to distract from this.
Your facial expression should be relaxed and a natural expression of your personality. If you are sufficiently relaxed your face will naturally reflect your meaning and emotions without any conscious trying.
Confidence is best conveyed by being purposeful and natural while avoiding bad habits such as fidgeting, slouching etc. By using your body in a confident way it will help you to speak with confidence, i.e. to be confident, act confident.
To learn more about how to speak with confidence visit http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking.com  to receive a free preview of The Art of Great Conversation

The fear of public speaking (nerves, jitters etc) is experienced by many of us. To speak with confidence does not come naturally to us especially when starting out (either in public speaking or present). Importantly it is not a fear we are born with. It has been learnt by us . It is therefore possible for all of us to overcome it. (It is more difficult for some than others, but it is possible).

For the majority, there are certain actions that can be taken prior to speaking that help to build confidence.

If you have the choice, speak on a topic you are interested in and have a good level of knowledge in. It is easier to speak about a topic the better you know it. You will have spoken about it in day to day conversation and you are merely extending that conversation.

Prepare the speech in detail. Write it out word for word, this will enable you to work through the speech and make sure your ideas are fully formed. Do some more research to fill in any gaps in your knowledge. Knowledge is power and more you know on your subject the more confident you will feel.

Confidence also comes from practice. Practice your speech as you can in the manner that you will be delivering it – memorized word for word, reading it aloud, or from notes etc. Practice in front of your friends so they can give you pointers. And if possible practice the speech in the room that you will deliver it. When you come to deliver it for real you will be in familiar surroundings.

The choice of topic, careful preparation and thorough practice will greatly assist you in being able to speak with confidence. In my next post I will discuss tips on platform performance that will convey to the audience that you are a confident public speaker and help settle the “nerves.”

Public speaking, more than any other human activity is learned by doing and improved by practice.  Taking every opportunity to speak in public will far outweigh any instruction in developing the skills and confidence. The way to develop self-confidence in public speaking is simply by speaking in public plus careful preparation.

Any person can become successful in public speaking by being natural, practicing and following certain rules. By working at it a speaker will become better. A little courage is needed to get started and ensure the talents are not lost to the world. The forest would lack music if only the birds that sang were those that were the best.

For a novice swimmer, the first swimming lesson requires summoning enough confidence to “give it a go.” There is many thousands of word written, about swimming or diving techniques. These mean nothing to the novice until the swimmer discovers that it is not the water they fear but themselves and he takes the plunge. The novice speaker is in the same situation, they will lack confidence until they realise that it is not the audience they fear but themselves.   

For more information on public speaking and conversation vist http://www.SelfConfidentSpeaking,com to claim a free preview of The  Art of Great Conversation