Atlas Outsourcing’s Must-Read Guide for Overcoming Public Speaking Nerves

Atlas Outsourcing’s MD Matt Stewart wowed guests with his speech on ‘Driving Sales’ at last week’s Birmingham Business Development Conference. After hearing he made such an impact on many new entrepreneurs at the event, he offers a guide on how to overcome nerves and become an inspirational public speaker.

At the end of August, Matt Stewart of Atlas Outsourcing travelled from Reading to attend a Business Development Conference in Birmingham where he was a key note speaker. Matt Stewart made a detailed and informed speech at the event, on the topic of driving sales, using his extensive knowledge of the subject.

Matt Stewart’s speech was a huge success and many new and aspiring entrepreneurs said that it had made a huge impact on them, providing them with knowledge and aspirations. On hearing that he had made such an impact, Matt Stewart has decided that in order to encourage more industry professionals to share their knowledge and experience by speaking at events, he will develop a guide to public speaking.

Atlas Outsourcing believe that these events are very important for entrepreneurs and aspiring business owners to attend because they are a great place to learn new skills. But in order for this to happen, existing owners and industry leaders have to be willing to speak and share their wisdom. However, Atlas Outsourcing understands that many people, although confident business owners, are not confident in public speaking. Matt Stewart hopes that his guide will help business owners learn how to overcome nerves and become inspirational public speakers.

Matt Stewart’s public speaking guide includes several handy tips to becoming a confident speaker, including:

Record the speech and play it back.
The first step to becoming a great speaker is to learn how the speech sounds to other people. Using today’s technology such as smart phones this is very easy to do.

Identify and break bad habits.
Experts say people should listen back to their speeches intently and identify all the things they dislike about how they speak. Two of the most common problems are filler words such as ‘um’ ‘er’ and ‘uh’ and trailing off at the end of sentences, which makes people sound less confident.

Be aware of body language.
Often amateur speakers will fidget, shift their weight uncomfortably and generally behave in ways that show they’re nervous or defensive. To fix this people should find positions that look natural and echo stances we take when we are relaxed and open. For example, speakers shouldn’t cross their arms as this comes across as a defensive position but instead should use hand gestures for emphasis.

Find the ‘optimal pitch.’
Some people become insecure about their speaking voice because they do not like its pitch, they think it sounds too high, or too low. Experts say that everyone has an ‘optimal pitch’ that should be used for their natural speaking voice. To find it you should make the “mmhm” sound of agreement and the pitch used is the same pitch a person uses most comfortably.

Let the enthusiasm show.
The previous tips won’t mean a thing if passion and enthusiasm isn’t bought to the speech. The best public speakers are confident, relaxed and interesting. Bring personality to the speech and try to enjoy it.

Atlas Outsourcing is an outsourced sales and direct marketing firm located in Reading. The firm specialises in improving their clients’ customer acquisition, brand awareness, brand loyalty and generating sales. They do this by connecting with consumers through face-to-face interaction and building long-term personal relationships that keep the customers returning to the brand.