First speech tomorrow
Anyone have any tips for my speech tomorrow? It’s the first one of the semester (Intro to Public Speaking). I’m going to give the non-computer person explanation of how the internet works. If there is interest I’ll publish my outline/notes.
I’m not too nervous—public speaking is kind of fun—but this is the first time I have been graded on my speaking performance.
Update: Thanks for the tips. I did fine. A little short, but I kept it simple so all was good. It’s really easy to get over non-technical people’s heads (my goal was to KISS). My next big public speaking gig is the Apple store, and that’s a whole other monster :).
Do not turn your back to the audience, rarely make eye contact with one person, but if you do, make it the one that’s paying attention the most. Try to make eye contact with random people, if not the whole group. Make it fun, bring in some jokes, don’t have a monotone voice. Other than that, good luck.
No decent advice from me. I LOATHE speaking before an audience and I finagled my way out of public speaking. Convinced my advisor that interpersonal communication was a far better course for me.
Don’t gesture with your hands below your waist. Don’t say “um”. Don’t chew gum during your speech. Don’t faint. You’ll do fine.