Train your butterflies to fly in formation
Public speaking is tough. Almost everyone experiences anxiety when asked to speak in public. Public speaking is even more challenging for speakers who have to do it in foreign languages. As a Kenyan developing a speaking profession in the US, I know full well the challenges that immigrants face in speaking in a second or even third language. I grew up speaking Luhya and Swahili and only started working on my English at age 14. My passion for speaking in public started when I was a student at the University of Nairobi in Kenya. I had spoken to many students in my country before I came to the US. My speaking was chiefly in my second language, Swahili. After coming to the US, I have had to work hard at speaking in my third language, English. One of the things that I have experienced as a speaker in both cultures is the anxiety that comes with the task of speaking. All communicators face anxiety, even the most seasoned communicators. This phenomenon has been referred to as “having butterflies in the stomach”.
I have come to love these “butterflies in the stomach”. I never know when they will start flying but I’m always thrilled about them. They are scary yet they symbolize opportunity - the opportunity to go beyond my personal limitations and do something worth remembering. This becomes particularly important when speaking in public. I want to be so used up after each speech so that they will literally carry me off the stage. I think a speaker is a performer. Like an athlete, he or she needs to be spent at the end of the performance. But that’s a completely different topic. Let me give you five strategies for training your butterflies to fly in formation.
1. Select exciting topics
This is very basic and fundamental to speaking. Your topic has to appeal to the audience’s interests and senses. A good speaker can make any topic exciting but a boring topic cannot make a good speaker exciting. Careful choice of speaking topic is therefore essential to moving your audience.
2. Build your knowledge
Once you have chosen your topic, you need to study widely and deeply. A knowledgeable speaker who has done his or her research well is usually more interesting than one who hasn’t. Building your knowledge also includes learning about your audience. What are their interests? Where are they in life? What are they trying to accomplish?
3. Develop some visual aids
Visual aids help in enabling you to come across as a professional and utilizing all the senses of your audience. You can use items like charts, graphs. powerpoint presentations, overhead projectors, models and many other different objects. The use of visual aids also encourages you to gesture and gesturing enables you to maintain composure.
4. Master your message
You master your message by practicing it. Practice makes permanent. The more you practice, the more permanent the skill of speaking will become to you. As you master your message you become comfortable with speaking. Your expectations arise and your butterflies begin to fly at your command.
5. Love your audience
Expect your audience to like you. Go in with a belief that they will be attentive and will respond positively to you. Smile. Be confident. Visualize yourself being successful. Be at ease with talking to your audience. Audiences are not your enemies, they are friends. Enjoy getting to know your audience as you speak to them.
