Opinion: 4 techniques that will effectively increase your public speaking skills

Public stpeaking is described as the greatest and most common fear of today. In fact, research shows 74 percent of Americans suffer from speech anxiety, while 41 percent of the world’s population is terrified of speaking appointtments.

Basically, everyone is scared of public speaking — but why?

People are afraid of public speak­ing because they don’t know the true extent of what public speaking is. Public speaking is nothing more than a simple conversation with multiple people — and it is definitely not a performance. Great speakers confer they bring people together and get them to focus on a specific topic.

Stepping up on stage to give a speech can be quite terrifying. It is especially nerve-wracking for those who weren’t given opportunities to practice public speaking or taught rhetorical skills in school.

Of course — with finals creeping up — many professors expect stu­dents to speak about their projects in front of the class.

No matter the university or the major, public speaking is always universally loathed. Speaking in front of a large audience is almost always mandatory — and almost always as scary.

To help fellow students out for finals week, here are four techniques that you can use to effectively in­crease your public speaking skills:

TALK WITH YOUR HANDS AND NOT JUST YOUR MOUTH

When you see someone, what part of the body do you look at first? Many people will say the face, eyes or mouth. But research shows we actu­ally look at their hands. This dates back to prehistoric times — the in­stinct comes from the desire to see if an approaching caveman is either a friend or foe.

When we can’t see someone’s hands, it can get a bit uncomfortable because it can be harder to decipher their intentions. Hand gestures play a significant role in speaking and we often use them to emphasize certain aspects of our speech. For example, if you are talking about certain num­bers or amounts of something, you could demonstrate that number with your fingers. Interestingly enough, when people think of the word “com­munication,” they often register it with spoken language — which only makes up 7 percent of communica­tion. This leaves out the 93 percent that is nonverbal, and the nonverbal component is made with 55 percent body language and 38 percent tone of voice. In short, hand gestures aid intention and trust, as well as expla­nation. It also shows confidence, as hand gestures prove to the audience that you know your material so well that you can effectively communicate in two different languages.

USE THE RULE OF THREES

Three is the magic number in rhetorics. Think of the saying “Gov­ernment of the people, by the people, for the people.” By putting things in three, it makes the phrase sound more compelling, more convincing and more credible — and we can actu­ally find the rule of three everywhere. Even William Shakespeare used the rule of threes while writing “Romeo and Juliet”: “Romeo, Romeo, where­fore art thou, Romeo?”

You can also put your sentences in three. By putting three repetitive sen­tences together, you make your point sound more passionate. Use this famous Winston Churchill quote for reference: “We shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight on the field and on the streets.” All great speakers use the rule of threes to make their speech both compelling and engaging to audiences.

WARM UP YOUR VOICE

Warming up your voice is impor­tant before giving a speech or pre­sentation. Similar to a car, our voices don’t work as well without being warmed up first. Follow these vocal warm-up exercises to warm up your voice:

First, stand up and loudly in­hale and exhale — swinging both your arms up and down along with your breathing.

Second, warm up your lips by re­peating “ba, ba, ba,” loudly for about 30 seconds.

Third, repeat “la, la, la” loudly for 30 seconds, as this will help stretch out your tongue.

Finally, repeatedly say “wee” and “aww” simultaneously like a police siren — the “wee” in a high pitch and the “aww” in a low pitch.

Speaking with a lower voice will also make you sound credible and memorable. To locate your deep voice, speak from your chest and not your nose. A lower and deeper voice is often associated with power and authority.

USE SIMPLE LANGUAGE

Simple language can be easily interpreted and understood by all. Most people will throw out so much data and content trying to prove that they’re intelligent, but using those big and fancy words only make it more complicated to the recipient. In fact, research shows that using fancy academic-sounding words makes people think you’re less intel­ligent — and frankly, quite phony. Participants found that the more they understood what was being said, the more intelligent they con­sidered the message.

When giving a presentation, one should also use a more inclusive con­versational language. For example, make sure not to use step-by-step processes such as “step one, step two and step three,” — you’re not writing a research paper, don’t bore the audi­ence. Instead, use inclusive language like “today we are going to cover this, this and that.” Use more words like “we,” “me,” “us,” and “I” — conversa­tional language aims to target the audience and directly addresses them. Make your speech sound like a con­versation and not a textbook — re­member, a good speech is like a good conversation. Even though the audi­ence might not be speaking, there’s still nonverbal communication they’re sending — facial expressions, nods, eye contact and body language.