Appearing Relaxed in Front of an Audience

In the world of speaking, you can easily tell the difference between two types of presenters.

1. The nervous
2. The calm

Even polished, professional, and prepared speakers can stand up in front of a room and stutter their way through the material. So what is the real key to being calm, cool, and collected during the moments of delivery?

Many trainers will try to get you to be prepared, dressed sharp, or to avoid actual eye contact with audience members to help calm your nerves. While any and all of these techniques might work, there is really only one thing that needs to be done throughout your speech to insure a calm and secure presence. This action step is not difficult. In fact, it is something you do all the time, on your own, naturally. So what is the answer to being relaxed in front of an audience?

One word: breathe.

When looking back on my personal speaking experience I can now recall being in front of diverse audiences for more than 15 years. My speaking experience began as an interpreter for many formal and informal types of meetings. This background continued well throughout my career life in the financial services industry where I gained knowledge as a sales agent, then trainer, and ultimately a presenter. In the hundreds of speeches and presentations I have given you would think that nerves would be a thing of the past. Though mostly they are, the one thing that would make the evidence of that unclear is my desire to sometimes speak way too long in between breaths.

If I am not careful and prepared I can give you paragraphs worth of words and then realize I am out of breath. This has been one of the best improvements of my speaking career. Until I realized this I would try to fit in many more words than usual, all because I had to fit them into the one short breath. I would end up speaking much too fast and then have to dramatically stop and take a deep breath to regain my bearing.

What I have done to grow from this and what you can do to ensure a better speaking experience is to pace yourself while you are in front of your audience. It may almost feel like you are speaking a little slower than what you are used to doing but the pacing allows two things: clarity of words and plenty of air to your system.

When you take your time with enunciating words you give the audience a clear and crisp understanding of what your are offering. This even gives them an opportunity to take down notes that would benefit them to review. If you are clear in your words and you pace your breath you will not sound nervous you will sound steady. You will not worry about distracting others with your need to speed talk or take long exaggerated breaths to catch up.

Making sure that you breathe smoothly during your speech will go a long way for your credibility as a speaker and the impact of your message. It would be silly to throw away all of your preparation, thought, and effort only because you could not pace your breaths.

The best way to feel confident that you are going to start and continue on the right path is to breathe in deeply for three seconds before speaking your first word. You can do this on your way to the podium or even once you are positioned smack dab in front of your crowd. Smile, look around, take your breath through your nose and exhale softly through gently parted lips. You will set the tone in your body for calmness and you will be reminded to breathe throughout your speech. A novice can look like a pro with this simple strategy.