Last week was a busy one for me- I spoke at two well-respected institutions before leaving the country for a month. The first was at the
The other speaking engagement was at FIT (The Fashion Institute of Technology) where I sat on a "Talking Trade" panel for their International Trade and Marketing division in conjunction with the African Fashion Fund. I was part of a panel discussion about African luxury fashion and E-commerce. Also on the panel were Julien Labat- CEO of Bono and Ali Hewson founded/ LVMH acquired Edun (Labat was formerly involved in the re-launching the French fashion brand Carven), Afua Dabanka, founder of Mo'saique, London and Stevie Boi from SB shades. It was an incredibly lively and exciting discussion.
After the NYPL ceremony, one of the winners approached me and said my talk hit close to home for her, almost making her cry. After the FIT panel, a woman approached me saying that my comments were powerful, commanding and felt genuinely from the heart. It was really surprising and validating to hear the comments of these two women, as I previously was someone who, like most, did not naturally gravitate towards public speaking.
I have spoken in front of ten people and in front of hundreds of thousands of people at institutions like the World Bank, Capital One, The Global Good Fund, and on the radio. I love public speaking because I love the public. For me, public presentations are just another opportunity for people come together and share the ways in which we are similar, our common obstacles and to offer guidance to others who may be facing the same challenges. It makes you feel like maybe your aren’t such a mess-up, and that other people have the same problems and insecurities as you do. It takes a brave individual to admit those flaws aloud, but once they are out in the open you can focus on correcting them.
I know a lot of people have a hard time with public speaking, and for some, it’s their worst fear. For this post, I want to share what I’ve learned in the years I’ve spent public speaking. I started with no experience and today I’m someone who engages with the public on a somewhat regular basis. All of my public speaking lessons have been intuitive and self-taught.
Act Like You Are Talking To One Person Or A Room Of Friends
I usually conduct my speeches like a conversation and act like I’m talking to one person or like everyone in the room is a friend. I do this whether there are 10 people in the room or 100,000 listening on the radio airwaves. This tactic makes the entire experience less daunting for me while making the audience feel more comfortable with me as presenter- like we are in a cozy sitting room having a chat.
Embrace the Adrenaline
I get butterflies in my stomach when I know I’m about to go on stage and face an audience. Even in school, when students would go around in a circle and share, I'd get butterflies while the person before me spoke as I anticipated my turn. I’m sure I’m not the only one who has experienced this. It doesn’t matter how prepared I am or if the outcome is that I gave a killer speech- I get nervous every time. It’s normal to be nervous. Sweating is totally normal too. Embrace that nervous adrenaline as a tool to propel your interaction with the audience forward.
Keep In Mind: Public Speaking is Nerve Racking For Most
When I used to get overwhelmed by the prospect of giving a public presentation, I would think back to the worst public speaker I ever heard. It was someone pitching a company at in investment conference. It was a painful presentation, full of long pauses, ‘um’s’, ‘oh yeah’s’, and sighs. And guess what- the company still got funded due to that presentation! Whenever I feel overwhelmed about giving a speech, I think back to that presentation, knowing there is no possible way that I could do a worse job. This may sound awful but amazingly I feel much more confident in facing the stage.
Be Prepared
In order to be a valuable public speaker, it’s important to spend time writing your speech and practicing. The worse job I ever did giving a speech was because I wasn't well practiced. In turn, when I got in front of the audience, I was nervous: timidly holding on to my notes for dear life. I lacked the natural fluidity and self-confidence I needed to command the room independently of that piece of paper. Instead, I used my notes to shield myself from the audience. You should practice enough that you are comfortable looking up from your notes and looking audience members in their eyes. I practice my speech 5-10 times before the event and at least twice the morning / day of the event. If it’s a really important event, I try to memorize it so that I won't need notes at all.
Keep the experience exciting and interactive by asking the audience questions relevant to your topic. I also like to keep my talks on the shorter side to leave them wanting more. I think creating a genuine connection is the most important element- support your talk with facts and quotes relevant to the discussion. Include jokes. Making people laugh never hurt in connection building. If you can make them laugh and cry in the same speech you don't need to be reading this article and should be writing books on the subject!
I’m currently flying to Nigeria with my mother. We are on a layover in Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. I asked my mother, "Mom what do you think about public speaking?" She's a physician and has lots of experience speaking at medical conferences and the like. She replied, "It takes some getting used to, but once you start you’ll be ok." Behold a master example at keeping it simple: It becomes easier the more you do it.
Autumn Adeigbo is an ethical fashion advocate, and the founder and Creative Director of eponymous fashion label AutumnAdeigbo.com.
