Become better at public speaking in three easy steps!

And no, it's not: Imagine the audience naked.
That never helped anyone. At least not that I know of.

The following post was made after an acquintance of mine asked me to tell him how they could improve their public performances.

The following easy guide works both for public performance and for 1 on 1 situations. It's appliccable pretty much everywhere! I'll get into more detail as to why it is applicable everywhere later in the post, but for now, you'll just have to trust me. And since we're here to help you with your public performance, let's focus on that. Do note, though, all of this can be transmitted to just about any other situation in life.

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First of all, it's important to know it all starts before you actually step on stage and have to perform publicly, which is why I want you to:

Imagine yourself in the audience. What do you expect from the person on stage to be like?

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I know you have sat in a room before where the person on stage (or in front of the class) was really bad. And I know you’ve also sat in a room where the person on stage was amazing! I want you to think about the qualities that made one performer bad, and the other amazing.

I also know for a fact that different situations call for different types of presenters. Can you imagine a stand-up comedian trying to teach you math when in-character? Or the opposite, a math teacher trying to tell jokes in the same tone he explains math? Neither of those would work well, right?

That is why it is very important to assess the situation. Are you giving a presentation to the class? Are you giving a public speech? Are you doing standup comedy? You need to know what the situation requires from you. Imagining yourself in the audience helps you figure out just that!

Let's try a quick and easy exercise at this point:

Your schoolmate is giving a presentation to the class about what he did over the holidays. Something very simple, something he knows everything about and should be relaxed.

Now, you're just sitting in the classroom, and you're watching them talk. Here's a couple of questions you could be asking yourself:

Are they talking too fast?
Are they making eye contact?
Are they stuttering?
Are they visibly nervous?
Are they ...
The list goes on, and you get the idea.

I want you to figure out the qualities needed to give a good presentation for the given task. For the aforementioned presentation to the class, you would probably want to be:

relaxed, speaking slowly and clearly, make eye contact with the audience and perhaps even make a joke or two because the topic allows it.

When you've assessed the situation and determined what qualities are needed, you may proceed to step 2.

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Think of a character you know that fits the description you’ve come up with in step 1.

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And I mean any character. Fictional, real, your imaginary friend, ... whoever has the qualities required for the given situation.

The following may sound silly at first, but bear with me, please.
Here are some examples of characters you can think of paired with their respective qualities that I used in the past.

Does the situation require of you to be calm and decisive, speaking slowly and clearly?

• Darth Vader (from the movies: Star Wars)

Does the situation require you to have an oiled tongue with a reply to just about anything?

• Nick Naylor (from the movie: Thank you for smoking)

I usually impersonated Nick Naylor in every situation, simply because I loved the character.

Does the situation require you to be strict?

• Police officer

Does the ..... You get the idea.

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When you've chosen the appropriate character for the situation, ask yourself;

What would "insert character name here" do in this situation?
How would "insert character name here" handle this?

Which brings us to the final step. Step 3.

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Impersonate that character.

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For the time needed, become that character.
And best of all? You don't need to be good at acting. At all.

One of the reasons this works so well is because it takes focus off the situation you're in.

Are you suffering severe stage fright? Well, can't have stage fright when you're busy trying to imitate Darth Vader.
And Lord Vader never talked fast, did he? And trust me, if you're impersonating Lord Vader, you're not going to speak fast either. You're going to relax and take it slow.

And instead of thinking "Is everybody looking at me?"
you're going to ask yourself: "How would Nick Naylor tell these people all about his vacation shenanigans?"

It shifts your focus and keeps your mind busy regardless of your acting skills:

And as I mentioned, all of this applies to other situations as well:

Approaching someone you like; going to a job interview; winning an argument; ... .... ....

The reason it is applicable just about everywhere is because you are assessing the situation and acting accordingly. It's like you're bringing forth your own qualities that are needed in that exact moment. The mentioned method is just here to help you realise what a certain situation requires from you. Calm and decisive? Comedian? Strict? ....?
It helps you realise what kind of behaviour the situation expects of you. And because you then impersonate a character with the needed qualities, you act accordingly to the situation. It's an easy win!

Now before you tell me it's not a good idea to act all the time as you might lose your own self, let's proceed to step 4:

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When you’ve done it enough times, you no longer need to do it.

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Just like with everything else in life; when you've done a certain thing enough times, it'll become easy to do.

Same applies to public speaking and this very method. When you've done your fair share of public speaking you will no longer need to think of a character to impersonate, because you will find the needed qualities for the task within yourself and you will KNOW you can do it. You will trust yourself. You will have enough self-esteem to go on that stage and be yourself!

What once was "I can't do this, but Nick Naylor can." will ultimately become:

"I can do this!"

And you can. All of you can. Each and every one of you can go out and do it! Whatever it is. You can do it!

I believe in you. Now it's time for you to believe in you!

Today Nick Naylor can talk to that girl you've always liked. But tomorrow it's you who's going to talk to her! ;D

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It's like they say;

Fake it 'til you make it.

And it's mostly true because when you "fake it", you believe in yourself. Or at least fake that self-esteem.

Bottom line, trust yourself. Believe you can. And you most definitely can! The method I mentioned is there merely to help you achieve that.

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Here are the aforementioned steps yet again:

1. Imagine yourself in the audience. What do you expect from the person on stage to be like?
2. Think of a character you know that fits the description you’ve come up with in step 1.
3. Impersonate that character.
4. When you’ve done it enough times, you’ll no longer need to do it.

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Thank you for reading this article, I sincerely hope you found it helpful.
Give it a try and tell me how it goes. After all, what have you got to lose anyway?

If you have any comments on it, let me know,
and tell me if there are any other methods you've used to battle stage fright.

'Til next time! ;D