Many people find it very hard to speak confidently in public, or even, they cannot do so, stage fright. Good communication is key to success, a leader must know how to communicate with confidence so that his workers will admire him and trust the work they are doing.

Good communication is not only necessary when you have to give a lecture, but also in any field, in relationships with friends, in class, in a presentation in front of your classmates, etc. Here are a few simple steps that will help you a lot.

• Express your opinions with conviction. It is very important that you know the subject you have to deal with well, the more you know about it, the more sure you are of what you are talking about, and that is reflected. Avoid hesitant expressions such as “I think…”, “maybe…” that will only make others doubt your words as well.

• The importance of eye contact. First and foremost, it is well-bred, and secondly, it will help you listen carefully. Look for the faces that give you confidence, and speak for them. Finding accomplices in your speech will help you get your message across more clearly. Always try to keep your eyes on the eyes of these people.

• Check the space. It is good to arrive early and know the area where you will have to speak, practice with the use of the microphone and fix some visual points such as: the dimensions of the room, how far the audience will reach and where you will have to look.

• Visualize the success of the speech. Imagine your voice, loud, clear and confident and the applause of the audience at the end.

• Know the profile of the audience. This step is important to you. If you can get to know part of the profile of your audience, you will know what they are interested in and what they are not interested in, and in which parts of the speech you will have to make more emphasis.

• Safety in expressions. You must take care of your body language and try to have a good posture, don’t bend over, don’t play with your hands, don’t turn around a lot, always look straight ahead and don’t transmit tension with your body posture.

• Know the subject. Choose a topic that you know or like. You will convey the enthusiasm for the subject, and the more you know, the more convinced you will sound. Many people panic to be asked questions they won’t be able to answer, if you know your subject of exposure, this will not happen and you will have nothing to fear.

• Adequate voice tone. You shouldn’t shout, but you should speak loud enough for everyone to hear you, and the tone of your voice is also a sign of confidence.

• Expand your vocabulary. The more you read about it, the broader your knowledge of vocabulary will be, the better it will help you to speak well and corroborate that you are an expert.

• Don’t be afraid to take a break. A pause is good to sort out your thoughts and think about what to say next. Verbal pauses like “eh” are signs that our mind is working, all great speakers use them sometimes, just try not to use them too often.

• Concision. Focus on what you want to say, and don’t give examples that confuse the audience about the important idea of the message. Don’t repeat part of the message.

• At the end of the speech, repeat the main points. This is important so that the public is clear about the main ideas and your message is more defined.

• Use concrete examples. To convince your audience it’s important that you present reliable facts to corroborate your message, choose anecdotes, statistics or stories that will allow the audience to better understand the topic.

• Find a routine to relax in. Coping with the audience helps you to overcome your nerves, try to transform nervous energy into enthusiasm. Find the trick that works best for you, it can be drinking a cup of tea, drinking water every 5 minutes…. Something you can do in your daily life and also when you speak in public, to make the situation more familiar.

• Don’t apologize to me. Even if it’s hard for you to talk, don’t apologize, go ahead and people will forget about your mistake. If you apologize, you’re more interested in mistakes than you are in successes.

• Focus on the message. If you focus less on yourself and more on the message you will feel like a simple messenger and this will relieve your nervousness a lot.