'CONNECT' 5 Tips on Public Speaking

Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind.
Rudyard Kipling

Public Speaking is different from conversation. A conversation is carried out casually and informally in a friendly setting. On the other hand, public speaking is more formal and hence has to be structured, planning and anticipation. Public speaking also calls for more self control while delivering the message. Soft issues such as posture, gestures, body language etc are more relevant in public speaking than in a conversation. You may not want to involve the people in front of you in a conversation setting, but 'connecting' with the audience and knowing what they want and how they are receiving the content of your delivery is very important in public speaking.

In a conversation, when someone counters your argument you may decide not to meet the counter argument and even ignore the same. But, in public speaking, since the purpose is to convince the other person, you cannot ignore the counter argument.

Public speaking calls for 'decorative' aspects such as use of idioms and phrases, jokes, stores, metaphors etc. In a casual conversation they may not be relevant. We may even say that while conversation takes place in a friendly atmosphere, public speaking takes place in a competitive atmosphere.

In the next newsletter, I am going to deal with the first and foremost issue: how to deal with stage fear!

N C Sridharan

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