90% of college students report moderate to high levels of anxiety around public speaking. As teachers and researchers, we frequently find ourselves in public speaking situations. Here are a few tips to help with public speaking anxiety:
- Plan and practice your movement for during your talk
- Don’t begin until you’re ready
- Practice concepts, not words
- Exercise before your talk
- Do deep breathing exercises
- Warm up your voice
- Drop your hands when you aren’t gesturing
- Acknowledge your anxiety and address any unrealistic fears
- Have a gimmick in each part of your talk
- Mingle before your talk to increase your comfort level
- If maintaining eye contact makes you nervous, look at the audiences ears instead.
Attention Graduate and Post Doctoral Students: The Kaneb Center will be hosting a worksop titled “Communicating in the Classroom: Tips for TAs” on Thursday November 8th from 9:30-10:45am in the ND room of LaForutune. This workshop will focus on an introduction to public speaking and teaching techniques that will enhance classroom communication. While geared towards communication in the classroom, the tips can be translated to all public speaking situations. To register visit http://kaneb.nd.edu/events/
