How to mentally prepare for public speech

• Posted on July 17, 2015
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

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• Practice your speech using your outline. Do this a couple of times and each time use your outline less and less.
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  Condense your outline into fifteen words that you can put on your note card. As you become familiar with the flow of your speech this will become easier. These should be key words that help you to remember the flow of the speech. Don’t memorize the speech but memorize the flow.
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  Practice your speech using your note card. If you are using any visual aids incorporate those as well.
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  Time yourself. When practicing, time yourself to make sure that you are near your time goal. At this point, your presentation should be a little too long (couple minutes or so for a ten minute speech) because when you actually present you will go faster than when you practice (This will not happen as much as you gain experience).
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  Recreate the location where you will give your speech and practice there, as realistically as possible. This will allow you to get a realistic picture in your head as to what your presentation will look like. Bring some friends along to listen as well. Feedback is always good.
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  Don’t overdo it! You don’t want your presentation to look rehearsed, it should be very natural and conversational, so don’t practice too much.
• Get a good night’s sleep. You want to be refreshed when it comes time to present!
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  Eat a good meal, but don’t overeat. You don’t want your stomach rumbling, but you also don’t want to be groggy.
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  Deal with those nerves. The tips below should help you to deal with your nervousness. Remember though, a little bit of nerves is good, it will help you to present excitedly and passionately.

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