By: Guled Cirro

Public speaking is something that frightens a lot of folks but in reality, there's not that much to be afraid of. Believe it or not but one can actually improve their speaking skills, how is that possible, you ask?

Well, first of all you have to realize the problem. What particular part of public speaking is difficult, is it the fear of people looking down on you or is it maybe doubting your knowledge on the subject in question? Make sure you have the right diagnosis before you pursue the right remedy, this is essential. Albeit, when speaking in class (or elsewhere) you have to be well prepared and know your subject well. This will enable you to sway and convince the audience, and give them something beneficial.
Here are a few tips to enhance your presentation:

- Be knowledgeable: As I said earlier, it absolutely crucial that you research your subject in before hand to ensure that you know what you're talking about. Practice a lot until you feel certain that you're well prepared. Don't forget to time yourself when practicing, the real presentation usually becomes a little longer/shorter depending on the factual circumstances but it's important that you have a feeling on how long it may take before you start speaking. You have to be sure that you can present your information within the given time limit. Try your best to anticipate any possible questions that may arise and do your best to try to answer these.

- Adjust to your audience: Do you adjust to your audience? Certainly, we don't speak the same to children as we do with elders. Your talk needs to fit your audience's level of understanding and knowledge about your subject as well as their prime interests.

- Do you feel strong about your subject? Be sure that your not only knowledgeable on the subject bu also enthusiastic about it, the strong feelings you have towards your subject can be noted by the audience.

- Never ever read directly from you notes: Remember, you are talking to an audience not reciting a book. Use your notes (if you have any) as keywords only and not as reading material.

- Are your audience involved: People's ability to listen depends partly on their attention, make sure you do what is needed to keep them attentive to what your saying. We all know that there are some subjects that are not that interesting in themselves, your task is to make them as interesting as possible. You have to capture and keep your audience’s attention throughout your speech. A good way to make your speech interactive (obviously, this advice depends on the size of your audience) is by posing questions. This will make them listen and think.

- Control your voice effectively: You can vary the tone of your voice depending on what type of information your conveying, your voice is important in giving the speech it's character. Also, make sure you don't speak to too quickly nor too slowly.

- Start low - End high: A good speech begins smoothly and ends strongly, the beginning and the end of your speech are usually the parts that people remember. A good ending can help fix a bad start, all though I certainly don't recommend you to try that.