Overcome Public Speech Nervousness
Speech Writing Process
Step 10: Prepare, Plan, and Practice
Now you have all of the information, you have done the research, but you are not ready to give your speech yet. Step 10 is the most important step. You should give yourself two days before the speech to practice.
Why do you need to practice? Your physical, vocal and visual messages are going to determine whether people listen to you. How you stand, use your voice and interact with the audience is key in keeping your audience’s attention.
Practice in front of friends or classmates to determine if you are (or are not) sending these messages.
You want to:
- use eye contact
- use visuals (for ideas, see Appendix D)
- speak loudly
- include new vocabulary
- wait until the end to hand out written materials
You don’t want to:
- sway
- fidget
- read from your notes
Have your friends check off the ones you need more work on. If your friends can't help you, try recording yourself on video and checking off the list above.