Make your next presentation your best with these public speaking exercises.

Look into the mirror, and tell yourself a story. If you are able to carry out this task effortlessly with sufficient charisma, chances are you are well on your way to be an expert speaker. However, you will be facing the same fear that all the big icons out there do, the infamous fear of public speaking. Susan Jeffers said, ‘feel the fear and do it anyway’, though it is alright to be afraid, but wouldn’t you want to jump at any opportunity to reduce that fear?
Here are a few simple exercises you can do at home to help you with just that.
Record yourself
This public speaking exercise is another alternative to evaluate yourself. Make sure you take a frontal footage to ensure that every movement of yours is captured. When reviewing the video, think of yourself as the audience, thereby criticizing the speaker down to every detail. Take note of small gestures, especially subconscious tell-tale signs that you are nervous. These can include feet shuffling, nose rubbing, scratching, and various unnecessary movements. Once you have seen yourself doing all these, you will be more aware during the actual speech, and it will be easier for you to control them.
Impromptu speech
Another powerful public speaking exercise is the ‘on the spot game’. Grab a partner, get him to give you a topic, and you start babbling on. Take this exercise seriously, and include all your body gestures while treating your partner as an important audience. This may not be easy at first, but as you practice more and more, you wouldn’t want to stop at any topic given. Try to vary your speech timings, so you can learn how to bring your important points across whether it is 1 minute, or 5 minutes. Having a partner is also a great way to learn from your peers.
Toning your speech
The last part of your public speaking exercise should comprise of tone practice. What you have to achieve in this stage is to vary the pitch of your voice, to emphasise certain points and more importantly, so your audience will stay engrossed and not be dozing off. A monotone speaker is the worst nightmare for any listener. Make it exciting, give some affirmation, whisper into the mike, all these need practice, and a lot of practice will allow you to deliver an excellent speech even with the worst content.

The public speaking exercises mentioned above are only part of the many alternatives available. Ultimately, the key to improving is definitely through repeated practice. However, do not make the fatal mistake that many people make, to practice the wrong thing. As the old saying goes, practice makes perfect. But I beg to differ, practice only makes permanent. Always be humble and do not be afraid to seek help from the pros when in doubt.
Good luck,
Kay