One of the techniques that great public speakers have is knowing their
material.
You cannot be a master mechanic and give a speech on “How to Grill the
Perfect Steak”.
It is very important for a speaker to have a mastery of the topic that he
will present so that his audience will be properly informed.
After all, you want to be known as a reliable speaker so it is really vital
for you to have a mastery of your topic.
Below are 3 easy steps on how you can master you material when you need to
address the public or make an oral presentation:
- Make an outline.
Do not go to a battle unprepared.
When you need to give a speech, make sure that you have all the necessary
equipment to deliver an informative presentation.
First, gather all the materials that you can about the topic.
Second, sift through all the written material that you have and pick out the
useful bits and pieces of information.
Read the articles which you have picked out from the lot. Do not memorize,
though, because this might cause you to be confused if you forget a
particular part of your speech.
Be as spontaneous as possible, yet knowledgeable enough about the topic.
This is so that you can answer any question to come up through the
discussion with enough confidence.
The lesser you know about the topic, the more your anxiety will increase.
- Review the outcome of the actual speech.
Now that you more or less have your actual speech prepared, you need to
review your presentation.
Scrutinize the outline and make sure that you have all the important points
covered
For example, if you are giving a speech on “Hybrid Technology”, you might
have discussed the definition of the term but missed out on stating examples
of the products of hybrid technology.
Give ample attention to detail because there might be someone in your
audience who knows about your topic and point out the things that you failed
to discuss.
- Rehearse and master your final material.
Before you are given a topic to present, you are first informed of the time
that the presentation should run.
It is vital to rehearse your speech and determine exactly how long it will
run.
If you only have twenty minutes to present but you have material enough for
a thirty minute speech, you can still trim it down.
Finally, by “hearing yourself” rehearse the speech, you would have a preview
of how your actual presentation would run and make the necessary
improvements, thus coming up with the perfect oral presentation.