According to Wikipedia,
Public speaking is the process and act of speaking or giving a lecture to a group of people in a structured, deliberate manner intended to inform, influence, or entertain a listening audience. Public speaking is commonly understood as face-to-face speaking between individuals and an audience for the purpose of communication. It is closely allied to "presenting", although the latter is more often associated with commercial activity. Most of the time, public speaking is to persuade the audience.
So, we can say that public speaking = speaking in front of people. It doesn't matter if it's a meeting, a campaign, a lecture, every kind of activity that make people speak in front of public, it's public speaking. (The way I said it, it's kind of confusing ^^;;)
Is it frightening? Yes. It is nerve-wreaking!!
In this article, I will give you some tips to help.. (I hope it helps)
- you have prepare topic or ideas (sometimes you have to give a speech so suddenly. just make sure you have a clear idea) make sure you know what type audience you're dealing with.
- master the topic. it helps if you master it, so you don't get nervous on stage.
- practice in front of your friends and make them criticize you. because criticize make your performance better.
- focus during the speech. if you start to think they stare to much, remember it's because you're the one who speak. it's not bad, it's good. you have their attention. well, to entertain the audience, you can pick a well-known topic, funny one, or interesting.
- BREATH!! if you start getting nervous, just pause a second, take a deep breath and continuing your speech again.
- It's okay to fail. Even though it's a bad speech, remember what you have done wrong, so you can fix it for the next time you try public speaking again. After all, practice makes perfect!!
That's what I think summarize my personal experience. If you have some tips, please just comment below. Thank you and see you ^^
