Building public speaking confidence

Clammy hands, perspiring forehead, quickened breath, dry mouth and butterflies in your stomach - these are just a few of the discomforts most of us sufffer when we have to speak to an audience.

How we envy those who seem relaxed and confident when they address a gathering! Are those people different from us?

They are not; they have just learnt with practice that public speaking is not to be dreaded but welcomed and used well to impress and convince others of one's viewpoint.

Participants in the recently held University of Wollongong in Dubai (UOWD) Public Speaking Competition attempted to do just that.

Six categories

Students from a dozen universities in the UAE displayed their oratorical skills.

Melissa Bos, competition director and instructor at the College of Business at UOWD, said: "This is the second year that UOWD is holding this competition.

It is a public speaking celebration so to say. We have six categories that cater to different kinds of public speaking. The categories are public address, impromptu speaking, extemporaneous speaking, radio news reading, story telling of original stories and story telling of traditional stories."

What the judges said
Michael McAdam, teacher as well as speech and debate coach at the American School of Dubai, was one of the judges at the Public Speaking Competition. He said, "I think public speaking is very important as at some time in everybody's career he or she will be asked to speak to a gathering or make a presentation or motivate colleagues through an account of a successful practice of business that one had used.

So it is vital to have students develop their public speaking skills both at school and college level."

"We had some very promising speakers and I am sure that all of them would be good in presentation skills whatever field of work they go into," he added.

"Seeing that the speeches were completely memorised with no cue cards or any other device to prod their memory they did very well indeed. I was really impressed by the variety of topics that the students had chosen to speak on."

"The process of going through a competition like this helps them also in being much more logical, organised and courageous to face the challenges of life," he added.

What the students said

Robina Jacob and Aakanksha Singh, participants from MAHE Manipal University, felt that the experience of taking part in a
public speaking competition would help them in future when they start their careers.

It had given them a chance to portray themselves to the world and build their confidence.

Zafar Khan Ghori, a senior student at Gulf Medical College, who spoke on the inhumanity of using animals to test cosmetics and other products, said that public speaking was very important. It not only boosts confidence but also one's knowledge as the preparation needed on a chosen topic is exhaustive.

When choosing the best speaker, the judges looked for:

• How interesting and topical the topic was;
• How the participant had organised the information;
• How much research was done;
• Quality of the presentation skills including using his/her voice to good effect, appropriate tempo, rhythm, volume,
  gestures, posture;
• His/her overall physical presence and;
• The whole impact of the speech on the listeners.

The topics students spoke on:

• Animal rights
• Radical feminism
• Autism
• Prestige wars
• Child labour

Tips to be a good public speaker

• Try not to be nervous. Relax and try to ease tension by exercising and taking deep breaths.
• Arrive early at the venue and get familiar with it.
• Greet some of the audience as they arrive so that you feel that you are speaking to people you know.
• Practise your speech many times so that you can deliver it like an authority on the subject
• When practising, imagine yourself speaking in a loud, clear, and assured voice. That will surely help you succeed.
• Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative and entertaining. So be confident that they are expecting
  you to succeed and continue your speech.
• While speaking do not mention your nervousness or apologise for any problems you think you have with your speech.
• Concentrate on the message that you are delivering to the audience, not on whether you are doing it well or not.
• If you are still nervous, transform that energy into vitality and enthusiasm.
• Experience builds confidence. Don't lose heart if your first speech doesn't go well. Continue to try to find occasions to speak and gain experience.