5 Mistakes That Makes You Lose Confidence When Speaking In Public And What To Do About It

Why does your stomach turn every single time you have to speak in public?
The minute you have to make a presentation or someone has randomly asked to speak to a group of people you instantly start sweating!
If there is one thing in this life that terrifies you, it’s having to stand up and speak in front of people.
And it doesn’t matter where you speak, it could in your local church/mosque, during presentations, in a job interview at work or in meetings, weddings, etc.
You simply lose confidence the minute you open your mouth.
You start sweating and panting, everything you prepared “evaporates”, you feel everyone is staring at you and judging you.
So why do you lose confidence during public speaking? Are there things you do that cause you to lose confidence when speaking publicly?
Or maybe you are just one of those people who believe they weren’t born to be good public speakers.
This Will Really Benefit You >>> How To Speak With Great Confidence In ONLY 7 Weeks
In case you didn’t know, confidence is a BY-PRODUCT of preparation!
So today let us keenly look at these 5 mistakes that cause you to lose confidence when speaking and how to avoid them!
Mistake #1: You have NO understanding of your content
So you know you will be presenting on something but you have not done your due research.
Imagine making a presentation in an area you haven’t thoroughly researched on, only to have someone in the audience correct you or embarrass you.
Automatically you will lose confidence in yourself and your audience will lose confidence in you.
Will you then make a convincing presentation? I don’t think so.
So if you know you have an upcoming presentation, meeting what not, please research.
Mistake #2: You have NO structure
Okay, so you now want to start speaking. Are your points laid out in a manner that’s making sense?
Assume you have only been given 5 minutes to speak, how will you start, what will you discuss and how will end.
If ever you want to be a confident public speaker, learn how to arrange your speech in:

1. Introduction
2. Body
3. Conclusion

Mistake #3: You don’t know how to engage your audience
I think you’ll agree with me when I say that human beings don’t like being lectured!
The last thing you want to do when speaking in public is act like you’re giving a boring lecture. And this comes from failure to engage your audience.
It is actually proven that the BEST way to gain confidence when speaking, is to engage your audience as much as possible.
How do you do this? Easy!
Ask them questions as you speak and allow them to answer (don’t use rhetoric questions), ask them to share their ideas, experiences or thoughts, ask them to participate etc.
Start doing this and start seeing your confidence improve!
Mistake #4: Your body language is completely OFF!
When you hear “body language” what comes to your mind?
Body language has to do with things like how you are dressed, how you speak, your use of voice tone and variation, your ability to maintain eye contact, gestures etc.
Now, body language alone accounts for OVER 60% during a presentation. So if you don’t have the right body language, the audience will tell and you will most certainly lose your confidence.
So work on presenting the right body language.
Mistake #5: You have NO goal
What’s the point of you speaking in public when you clearly have no goal?
At the end of the day, what do you want to accomplish? Is it to educate, inform, inspire, motivate, and get people to do something?
If you have no goal during your presentation, then you won’t have the confidence either.
So next time before speaking, examine your goal by understanding what you purpose to achieve.
So what do you need to do next to be a confident public speaker?
You can get to learn how to avoid these mistakes by joining the “7- week Speak With Confidence Training” starting on 4^th of September 2018.
And in ONLY 7 weeks, you will start making the right steps to improve how you speak in ANY public forum.
I really look forward to seeing you then.
Esther Kamau works as a Communication Officer at Corporate Staffing Services Ltd, a HR and Recruitment firm offering trainings, coaching and job placements. To reach her today and sign up for this Public Speaking training, email her on esther@corporatestaffing.co.ke and she will get back to you.