4 Effective Tips to Overcome Stammering In Public Speaking



At Pep Talk India, one of the most common enquiries we receive from our students is regarding stuttering or stammering while speaking on the stage or during a presentation. There are many people in this world who are well-versed with most aspects of the English language, but when it comes to giving a public speech, they fumble, hesitate, and repeat stuff to the point that it breaks their confidence. Being unable to express yourself is an incredibly frustrating experience and finding yourself tongue-tied during a crucial presentation that could significantly impact your career can push down your morale for the future. After taking into account the experiences of hundreds of students, and actively training them to overcome their fears and hesitation during public speaking, the Pep Talk India team has come up with some extremely effective tips that will help you overcome your stuttering:

1. Practice Deep Breathing



One of the main reasons why your words come out like a garbled mess while on the stage is because of inconsistent breathing. If your breathing is not controlled and focused, your heart starts racing and you start stammering. It is strongly recommended that you practice deep breathing techniques to reduce anxiety levels, lower your blood pressure and boost blood-oxygen concentration. If you haven’t had any breathing exercise for a long time, then you can take inhale and exhale long, deep breaths that will calm down your heart rate and make you more relaxed before you speak anything.


2. Rehearse a LOT, Familiarize With The Venue



If you are preparing for the grand stage, then be it a dance, a musical performance, or a speech, it is quite obvious that rehearsal is a must. Rehearsing makes you familiar with the content, the way you present it, and helps you gauge the possible reactions from the audience. If you can rehearse at the venue you are supposed to speak, then that’s the best option. Alternatively, you can rope in your friends and family, get yourself video recorded, and see what all mistakes you have been making. Honest feedback and critique will help you improvise your speech and avoid stammering on the D-day. 


3. Get sufficient sleep


More often than not, we become restless before a grand event and are unable to catch up on any sleep. Over-preparation or staying up all night only exacerbates the tension, makes you feel tired and your speech all slurry and stuttered. You won’t be able to focus and make a mess of your presentation. Thus, getting sufficient sleep is a must.


4. Slow down




When on the stage, you are usually numb and conscious of a hundred eyes staring at you. You don’t remember any tip or trick and just want to get done with your speech as quickly as possible. In such cases, there would be such a rush of words from your mouth that you inevitably start stammering out of nervousness. An easy way to deal with this is to speak slowly. You can over-articulate and exaggerate your word pronunciation to the audience, which you can imagine as a bunch of old granduncles who are hard of hearing. The fact that your audience cannot talk back to you should instil more confidence inside you, as no one can specifically point out any flaws, giving you total power over your speech.  

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

8 Interesting Idioms You Can Use With The Word ‘Inch’

Image
There are several idiomatic expressions in the English language that use units of measurement to describe different things figuratively or to make an observation. A commonly used word in such idioms is ‘inch’. If you want to be amazed that how many ways can inch be used in idioms, then read on! 8. Every inch a (something) To ‘be every inch a (something)’ or ‘every inch the (something) is to resemble or embody a stereotypical look or trait to nearly an exact match.     E.g. Once he got into his new Armani suit, he looked every inch a Hollywood starlet 7. Within an inch of (one’s) life This means to beat someone so severely that the person comes very close (within an inch, figuratively) to death. E.g. The rioters beat up the man so badly that he within an inch of his life at the hospital. 6. To move by inches/inch by inch This means to move or progress very slowly, either physically or in a task. E.g. Rahul’s project moved inch by inch and his teachers
Read more

8 Characteristics Of Effective Communication

Image
We all communicate with each other on a daily basis. Sharing and conveying information is the foundation of all business in the world and it is of crucial importance that one learns how to become an effective communicator . What is effective communication? When the sender and receiver of the message are on the same page regarding the information that is being shared, then it can be termed as effective communication. In advertising and PR, effective communication holds immense weightage as any vague message can lead to a complete disaster for the people involved. To know what effective communication really constitutes, it is helpful to keep in mind the characteristics of the same. Here are 8 of them: 1. Complete: The message should be complete and there should be no scope for questions. 2. Clear: The communication should be clear and self-explanatory about why it has been transmitted and what the nature of its transmission is. 3. Correct: The informatio
Read more

How To Use Unbiased Language To Improve English Writing

Image
Whenever you write, your aim is to get your message across clearly. This involves a careful selection of words so that your ideas and opinions are expressed in a lucid and forceful manner while also do not offend any particular community, group, or race. For this, you need to write using a bias-free language i.e. words and phrases that are not denigrating or demeaning to age, race, gender, physical conditions, ethnicity, and religion. Here are some detailed suggestions on the same that will help you improve your English writing skills: Refer to a group by the term it prefers Language changes as per the evolving social structures. What was deemed acceptable some fifty years ago could be seemingly offensive today. For example,   Black people were referred as ‘colored’ or ‘negro’ earlier, but now the acceptable terms are African American and Black. Asian is used instead of Oriental. Latino/Latina is used for males and females from Central and Latin America, r
Read more