If you’ve ever asked for advice on public speaking, chances are you’ve heard some rather absurd responses. True, imagining your audience in their underpants may distract you from your anxiety momentarily. However, effective public speaking requires more than the absence of anxiety. These tips offer up a host of ideas to improve your experience speaking in front of groups.

Make sure you wear a supportive pair of shoes when you do public speaking. You want your posture to be tall and confident, with open and relaxed shoulders so you portray confidence. If you get tense on stage from feet, knee, or low back pain, it will affect your speech greatly.

Use your most powerful voice when you are delivering your message and it will be received much better. People listen harder to people that have confidence, and speaking loud will convey that message. Even if you are not 100% confident, no one will know that if you seem to be while you speak.

Familiarize yourself with the venue where you will speak. Listen to how well your voice will be projected. Try out any equipment you will be using. Utilize any visual aids around. Consider the amount of eye contact that you must make with the crowd.

If you will be speaking in public, watch some video footage of some of the most famous speeches. Study their delivery of the speech, what information was included in the speech, and how they actively engaged their audience. Then, use this information to help you deliver an unforgettable speech.

Know your topic well. Take the necessary time to research your topic and learn all you can. When delivering your speech, try to be flexible. Allow participants to ask questions. If you do not know the answer, tell them that you do not know, but you will find the information out and make it available to the group at a later time.

Before starting your speech, try to win over the audience. Smile and shake some hands when you enter the room. Your audience is sure to show great interest if you have a good attitude.

If you want people to remember your speech, try to make the ending as memorable as possible. All parts of the speech are equally important, but your ending is the thing people are going to remember most. Do not end with something boring so you can stay memorable.

Don’t leap right into your topic. Be sure to start your speech with a nice greeting for your audience. This will help put everyone at ease. It also gives you a chance to settle into a position and prepare yourself to speak. Of course, it is also simply the most polite thing to do.

Do your best to deliver unique information to your audience instead of telling them things they could have easily gotten from someone else. You need to make it clear that it is you that they need to listen to. Do research to make sure that you are not giving them duplicated content.

Try to find humor in the situation if things do not go as planned. There are many variables when you speak in public, which means that there are many opportunities for things to go wrong. The microphone or projector may not work, there may be an interruption in power or someone may enter the room in the midst of your speech. Try to take things in stride. Taking things too seriously can result in you having a meltdown, so try to laugh off any issues that may arise.

If you use a computer program to present pictures and information, be sure that you know how to operate it. The last thing you want is to waste the time when you are supposed to be speaking with a lot of computer fiddling. Practice your speech and your visual aids presentation thoroughly.

If you plan to give multiple speeches within a short period of time, take care to protect your vocal cords. A hoarse or inaudible voice is not likely to sway audience members’ opinions. Sleep with a humidifier in your room, sip hot tea and drink plenty of water throughout the day.

Avoid nervous gestures and mannerisms. Don’t cross your arms or rattle your keys in your pocket. Use your hands to convey your points, but not too much. You don’t want to distract or annoy your audience by waving your arms around. Get a friend to watch you rehearse your speech to identify any gestures or movements that may be problematic.

Set up a video recorder and practice your speech a few times and record them. then you can look back and what yourself in action. You can take notes, make changes to try for the next time you practice. Having a video of yourself in action can help you assess how at ease you are and how confident you seem.

Include examples and stories into your speech as illustrations. This will make your audience more interested in the information you are presenting. By including information about your family through stories and illustrations, the audience will see you as a person instead of another guest speaker. Limit the stories to one or two for best results.

When you have s speaking engagement coming up, practice the delivery on a couple of trusted friends. They can give you some suggestions about your delivery and your appearance. They may be able to observe negative things that you cannot see in yourself. They can help you iron out the kinks in your speech.

Use quotes to your advantage when speaking in public. A good quotation can form the basis of your remarks, or you can intersperse quotes throughout your speech. When using quotes, be sure to give credit to the source. Practice delivering the quote is an effective tone of voice and with the proper inflections for best results.

Experiencing anxiousness before and during your time in the spotlight is normal, but it’s also unproductive. Your best bet is to take a more comprehensive approach to public speaking. Before your next engagement, practice following these important guidelines. You will find that your confidence is improved and that you are better able to communicate your message.