9 Ways to Increase Confidence as a Speaker

It’s a difficult thing to be a speaker. You never know what will happen, and you have no idea how people are going to react. But if you want more confidence as a speaker, there are 7 ways that can help! In this blog post we’ll talk about 7 quick tips on how you can increase your confidence as a business speaker.

1. You Need to Know What Type of Speaker You Are

What is it that makes you nervous? Is it speaking in front of big crowds or maybe its public speaking in general? Maybe the thought of being judged by others scares you. Whatever your fears may be, acknowledge them and don’t let them control how well prepared/how much effort you put into giving an awesome talk! It’s okay if there is something about public speaking that intimidates you – everyone feels this way at one time or another. Being able to push past those feelings will only help build up more confidence for future talks down the road.

2. Embrace and Allow it

This is one of the most important things to remember when you’re speaking. Allow your body language and voice tone to speak for itself – don’t try too hard, be natural instead. If you’re having trouble with this one, just think about what makes you feel confident in everyday life. Is it the way that people speak to others? If so, then try and mimic their tone of voice when speaking yourself.

3. Clarify and Challenge it

While it’s always good to have a structure in place before your speaking engagement, don’t be afraid to change things up if you think that something isn’t working. Maybe the audience is getting restless – why not ask them questions about what they’d like to talk more or less about? Or maybe there are certain points of your presentation that seem too complicated for the crowd- consider simplifying those ideas and building on others instead.

4. Don’t Be Just a Speaker

It may seem like there is a lot of pressure on you as the speaker, but that doesn’t mean that it’s all about you! Remember to include your audience – ask them questions and let them know how much their input means. Speak with confidence but don’t be afraid to show vulnerability either. We’re all human after all. It would also help if during some parts of your presentation, you turned things over for someone else in the group or even an audience member so they can share their own thoughts/stories.

5. Take Breaks During Your Presentation

If speaking itself makes you nervous then why not try practicing breathing techniques? This will allow more oxygen into your lungs which will give you more clarity while speaking. You can try taking deep breaths while you’re on stage and then exhale slowly to calm yourself down. You can do this a few times or even more if needed. Another great tip is to take small breaks throughout the presentation, that way your mind will have time to recharge before diving back into it. This also helps keep the audience from growing restless too quickly.

6. Be 100% Authentic

There’s no room for faking it here! You have to be 100% authentic or else your audience will see right through you. If you’re going to speak about a topic that is personal, don’t be afraid of saying how you truly feel. This can help build up more trust with the crowd and encourages them to open up as well. Just remember not everyone has been in your shoes before so they might not understand what its like/how certain things make you feel until they hear from YOU directly.

7. Be Funny

If you can make your audience laugh, they will love you for it. This doesn’t mean that you have to be the class clown in order to get laughs but instead show them a new side of yourself with different kinds of humor. Try using self-deprecating humor if possible or even telling stories about mistakes/failures that lead into lessons learned along the way. Letting your audience into a more personal side of you will show that they are important to you and not just there for the laughs.

8. Know your Outcome and Work Backwards

This tip is basically about knowing what you want to get out of your presentation. Maybe it’s just sharing something that has helped you along the way, or maybe its inspiring others with your story? Take some time beforehand and write down all of these outcomes – this will help you create a roadmap for how everything should be structured during your talk.

9. Practice, Practice, Practice

Practice makes perfect! Try practicing in front of a mirror if you have the time or even video tape yourself so that you can see what others might be seeing. If possible, try practicing your presentation with someone else who will give you feedback along the way, they may notice things about your body language/tone of voice that are difficult to catch on one’s own.

Another way that can help give yourself confidence is by using these marketing funnels. If you’re not too familiar with marketing funnels, they are basically a series of steps designed to get leads/customers so follow along the line. It’s also important to remember that marketing doesn’t stop once your funnel has been set up – at least not if you want it to continue being effective. You have to keep testing and tweaking things here and there in order for everything stay fresh all the time.

Whether you’re a rookie starting your business or a veteran in the field, your focus should always be on your craft and growth. This is why we provide easy-to-follow funnels for speakers and course creators as a blueprint for your business’s operations. If you want to gain more leads and sales without doing the heavy lifting, contact us today!

I hope that these 9 Quicks Tips to Increase your Confidence as a Speaker have helped you out! Remember that even the most experienced speakers are nervous before they get on stage, but with some practice and good preparation there is nothing at all stopping you from being the best speaker ever. If you enjoyed this blog post then please be sure to share it with others!

John Lawson is one of the most trusted and experienced eCommerce professionals in the industry. John is the founder of The Ecommerce Group, which he started in 2011 to share his knowledge with other entrepreneurs in the industry. It’s the oldest eCommerce group on Facebook with over 8,500 members from around the world!

John speaks at conferences all around the world, including Retail Global, South by Southwest, Etail, Digital Summit, Hubspot Inbound, Ad-Tech and more. He also writes for several international publications such as Power Retail, Small Business Trends and Disrupt Magazine.