Confidence Building Techniques While Presenting!

“The single biggest reason people are concerned about public speaking is because they worry what other people think of them. The quicker you start learning how to fix that issue and be comfortable with yourself, you become a much better public speaker. Heck, you’ll become a much better and happier human being.”

The quote above was written by Gary Vaynerchuk in his blog post “Three Pieces of Advice to Build Confidence for Public Speaking.” Gary Vaynerchuk is an entrepreneur, speaker, author, and internet personality. For this blog post, I will be referring to his blog post and comment on his tips.

The first piece of advice that Vaynerchuk states in his blog post is to stick to what you know. Vaynerchuk explains that he does not like to talk about topics that he is not comfortable with (such as Bitcoin or foreign-policy) (Vaynerchuk, 2016). By talking about topics you have experience with and are comfortable with, you’ll become a more credible speaker and, more importantly, a confident speaker.

I can relate to this piece of advice because, during my senior year of high school, I had to complete an assignment called a “Senior Symposium.” For this assignment, I had to write an 8–12-page research paper on a topic of my choosing and then present a 5–10-minute presentation to the class. I chose to write about Music Therapy, a topic that I strongly believe in and support. When my presentation came around, I was able to provide credible facts, input my own stories relating to Music Therapy, and give a great presentation. As a result, I deeply agree with Vaynerchuk’s first piece of advice.

Vaynerchuk’s next piece of advice is to walk into the room with humility. Vaynerchuk does this because the world is a really big place. Not everyone knows you or knows what you will be talking about, so try to be humble (Vaynerchuk, 2016). By realizing and accepting this fact, you will feel obligated to explain your point more thoroughly and, as a result, feel more confident with your point (since you will be explaining your point deeper).

Lastly, Vaynerchuk recommends you to communicate the way you are most comfortable with communicating. With this, Vaynerchuk believes that you should make the presentation as organic as possible (2016). To figure out what makes YOUR presentation as organic as can be, you must try out different presentation methods. For example, you could try out scripting your presentation or use cue cards- as long as you are comfortable. Once you start feeling comfortable with your presentation style, your presentation will seem much more relaxed and confident.

Overall, Vaynerchuk gives great pieces of advice for improving your confidence while speaking and they are also achievable pieces of advice. Confidence is key when you are public speaking and following these tips will definitely improve your public speaking skills!

References:

Vaynerchuk, G. (2016, June 3). Three pieces of advice to build confidence for public speaking [Blog Post]. Retrieved from https://medium.com/@garyvee/three-pieces-of-advice-to-build-confidence-for-public-speaking-e4dba7fb975c