Pay attention to your Eye Contact: Look in the eyes of people. Move your eyes in slow smooth cycles to cover the entire audience, especially corners. It catches attention. It creates rapport with the audience. Or, you can just pretend to have eye contact by looking out just above people’s heads.
Easy does it—take your time: Don’t read your speech word-for-word and don’t rush through it. When you are nervous or pumped up to be speaking, it’s easy to completely rush through your words. This makes it difficult for the audience to understand you. Make sure you are articulating; say your words clearly and pause at the end of sentences. When practicing, it helps to exaggerate. When you are nervous or have adrenaline in your system from being in front of a group, you tend to speak twice as quickly as normal. So overcompensate by speaking r-e-a-l-l-y slow.
I can’t hear you! Project your voice. Talk clearly and loudly; even if you think you are being loud, you probably aren’t. It’s much better to talk too loud than to be so quiet that you can’t be heard.
What is your body language saying? Don’t stand up there like a stick, clenching the podium at both sides. Be natural and animated, yet keep a center, with your feet about shoulder length apart, your arms down in front of your lower abdomen, and your hands slightly spread. Use hand gestures, move around a little, then come back to your center. Try to avoid rocking back and forth—that conveys nervousness.
Hear the question—take a moment: As soon as a question is asked, you don’t have to jump right in with the first thing that comes to mind. Take a moment to digest the question and think about the best answer/approach to provide the audience.
Less is More: Keep it short and simple. The appropriate length varies according to the setting, but be aware of your audience’s attention span. Say each thing that you have to say once. If the audience needs more information or doesn’t get it, they will ask questions later.
Know What You’re Talking About! Understand what you’re speaking about; don’t make up things, because people can generally tell when you’re faking it. Also, if someone asks you a question that you don’t know the answer to, it’s okay to admit that you don’t know. Your honesty will impress the audience. You can also tell them places where they might be able to find the answer to their question.
Include lots of first-hand experiences: Everyone likes to hear about first-hand experiences—things that really happened to you. When you include real-life, personal anecdotes, you virtually guarantee audience interest. Of course, a humorous experience will add greatly to your speech.
What’s that, you say? The language you use should be comfortable for you & the audience. Use words that are natural to you, and use terms that anybody in the audience can understand. Avoid bookish language, or too technical jargon (this includes saying “LGBTQ” and other phrases that we all know but outsiders might not be hip to; if you use those phrases, make sure you explain them the first time you say something like “COLAGEr”). Don’t feel like you have to impress the audience with really big words—just speak the way you normally would. Be conversational, like you are talking to a group of friends.
Mistakes are OKAY! Remember that if you forget where you are going with what you are saying, it is better to take a pause and regroup than to stutter or use fillers like “and, um, like…” Everyone makes mistakes, but chances are, only you are going to notice your own little mistakes.
COLAGE is the only national youth-driven network of people with lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer parents. Living in a world that treats our families differently can be isolating or challenging. By connecting us with peers who share our experiences, COLAGE helps us become strong advocates for ourselves and our families.
1550 Bryant Street, Suite 830
San Francisco, CA 94103
www.colage.org
415-861-5437