I'll never forget my first time standing in front of an audience, it was exhilarating! Of course, it didn't quite start out that way, as a matter of fact, there were some bumps in the road along the way, and I hope today that I can increase your confidence as a public speaker.

The first thing you need to realize is that everyone that you're speaking to is human. The people that you are talking to have made mistakes and they are not perfect, so they're not necessarily expecting you to be perfect. As you're speaking, many of the people in the audience are wanting you to succeed!  Hey, we all need confidence in public speaking .

Practice relaxing your mind and your body. Do not let yourself feel like you're in a hurry or that you need to talk fast, instead think peaceful and tranquil thoughts. Take your time and start to speak when you're ready. If you get off track a little bit with what you're saying, stop speaking, wait a minute, and then start speaking again. Remember, no one is making you hurry, so relax and take your time.

My favorite part is connecting with the crowd and realizing that they really want to connect with me. As you're speaking look at the people you're speaking to and find one person and give them a great big smile. It that moment when you give that person a big smile, the whole audience is experiencing your emotion. The key here is not to get focused on yourself, but keep focused on your topic and be interesting.

If you were to take a video camera and film yourself doing a speech at home alone, you could then watch the speech and see where you need improvements. You may find after watching the video that you were not trying to make eye contact or that you were not smiling. Always remember, that the way you see yourself, may not be the way that others see you, so using a video camera for self critiquing can be advantageous!

If you have a couple of friends that you really trust and value their opinions, I would suggest doing a speech directly to them and afterwords let them critique you. This is just another way where if you are really serious about becoming a good public speaker, in the shortest amount of time possible, then give this a shot.

Please keep in mind, that there is no perfect way to do anything, because we are all always learning and always improving. Tony Robbins calls it "constant never-ending improvement" and he could not have come up with a better saying than that one.

I'll never forget reading a joke online one time and laughing for about a good five minutes, because it made so much sense. The joke goes like this, "don't be so serious, because no one gets out alive!" You might be saying to yourself, that's a pretty serious joke, don't you think? That's the whole point and in life, we shouldn't sweat the small stuff and try to be so serious all the time.

What we should be doing is poking fun at ourselves and cracking a few good jokes while public speaking. Using some good humor at the right time will not only loosen up the crowd, but it just might make you a crowd pleaser!  Here are my secrets for you click here .

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