Giving a speech, especially to a crowd of people can be terrifying especially if you are not used to it. This is why we have come up with these great tips that will help you give a good speech and let your audience five you so much applause.

#1. Prepare early

Procrastinating is never a good idea. Waiting till the last minute and rushing your speech can just have a negative effect on your speech and yourself and it might not be as good as it could have been if you started early and your confidence might also not be intact. Try as much as possible to prepare at least weeks before the day. Gather up all your ideas then take your time and write.

 #2. Know Your Audience

It is important to know who your audience is, so be sure to make your research on that before you write the speech. That way, you’ll be able to speak directly to their interests, needs, goals and dreams. Talking to highly educated people is quite different from talking to semi- illiterates and in the same way talking to a group of young people is quite different from talking to older people. You can’t use certain jargons with younger people while older people won’t understand it.

#3.  Engage your audience

It definitely will get boring if people have to listen to you giving your speech and at some point you might even lose their attention. Try to make it interesting and interactive by asking questions. That way not only will it get more interesting, it will be more of a dialogue than monologue and you can tell if the audience really understand the message you are putting across or not.

#4. Rehearse

Practice! Practice! Practice! This make you feel more comfortable and familiar with the speech. Get people you trust and feel comfortable with and practice in front of them. Make sure you ask for their feedback and pay attention to the loopholes they pointed out and improve on them. Remember practice makes perfect.

#5. Be Yourself

Giving a speech is not acting so try to be yourself as much as possible. Trying to be like someone else will be too much work. Not only that, it can get you intense and won’t allow you to flow naturally as you would like.

#6. Don’t Memorize

Not everyone is good at this and even those that are sometimes have disappointments. This doesn’t also mean you should read from the start to the end of your speech. Instead of trying to have everything in your head, get a small piece of paper and write down your important points. This way you will be at ease and flow naturally.

One major key to giving a speech is to be relaxed. Remember your audience are not only listening to you but also looking at your body language. So be calm, smile and look  nice.