by Marc Adams

Created on: June 01, 2009

One of the most thrilling, challenging (and for many people) frightening opportunities is that of public speaking. Whether your job requires it, or you find yourself in a position where you have to give a public presentation, you may be overcome with nerves at the thought of standing in front of a group.

It's normal to be scared. After all, most people in your audience would be just as nervous in front of a crowd. The great Jerry Seinfeld noted that public speaking is the #1 fear among people, higher than the fear of death. As he creatively put it, that means more people would rather be in the casket than actually giving the eulogy.

If this describes you, don't worry. There's hope. You don't have to be a professional speaker to give a good public speech. You can not only survive in giving your talk, but you can thrive in it. Follow these tips and you'll be on your way to not only keeping your audience awake, but you will be able to ignite and move them to action.

Here are some public speaking tips for conquering your fear and becoming an exceptional speaker:
1. Remember that anything worth doing is worth doing well. If it's worth your time, and especially if you're getting paid to make the speech, then it is worth doing it well. This is a great life lesson: Do your best, or don't do it at all. Try your hardest. Don't just phone it in. Your audience deserves better.

So what's the best way to do your best? Practice! There's an old saying that goes like this: Practice makes perfect. Wrong! Practice only makes perfect if you know how to practice. So you have to learn how to practice the right way. Read some books on speaking. Take a course, hire a speaker's coach. Learn how to practice right, and then do it. Know your talk inside and out.

2. Make sure you know your topic. Even if you don't know everything about your topic, you should know enough about it to make it through your speech. But not only that, do your best to learn everything you can about that topic. If you have a Q & A time, or if people approach you afterward to ask questions, you will want to know more than what was in your talk. If not, you will regret it, and you will look like a phony. So do your homework, and know your topic.

3. Speak with enthusiasm. Passion is a powerful thing, and when we let it show (notably as enthusiasm), great things can happen. An enthusiastic speaker is compelling. You can have nothing to say, but if you say it with great enthusiasm, you can keep your audience's

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