Business Speech Tips
When you are about to make a business speech, it can be somewhat unnerving. Particularly if you are prone to severe nervousness, panic and stress symptoms can begin to take over.
If you are getting the thought that anxiety keeps me from working out the points of the speech, here are some tips about how to focus on the speech and get it done without falling victim to an attack of nerves.
These are mistakes which you should take action to avoid:
- Last minute garbage. Do not think that a proper business address can be done at the last minute. Put it on your calendar as an action item every week, until you have created something awesome that your professional peers will appreciate.
- Novice speaking. If this is a major address, get some practice beforehand with a coach and in some non-threatening speech formats. Yes, you may have given speeches before, but a large auditorium and sound system can bring their own weirdness, so be prepared for a large room.
- Nothing new. The only thing worse than a bad speech is one that brings nothing new to the table. This is the perfect opportunity to call some mentors you have idolized and see what advice they would offer in a speech. By bringing their names into the presentation (with their permission, of course), you will gain a little bit of status yourself and also have the advantage of bringing the scoop of new info to your seminar and conference participant colleagues.
- Lack of humor. You don’t have to be David Letterman, but you had better bring a smile to the group somehow at the onset. Otherwise, it is going to be a very long speech.
- Not understanding the audience. One of the biggest mistakes speakers make is not understanding their time slot and how the audience might be feeling. Are they sleep deprived because they stayed up late and just woke up? Are they wanting to head to the cabaret, because you have the last slot of the day? Are they sophisticated professionals who have no need for a speech addressed to novices? These are things you must ponder and be aware of.
So the bottom line is start early, and work and re-work your speech until you are proud of it. Although you are busy with other job responsibilities, if you have been tapped for a major business speech, that task has to move to the top of your day planner every day until the speech has been given. This will keep you calm and without any need of severe panic.