The Audience Is On Your Side

One of the reasons people dislike giving speeches is that they are afraid of what the audience will think about them, or what the audience will say about them. Has that ever happened to you?

Rest assured that most audiences don't really care about you. They only care about themselves and what you can do for them. That can be good news or it could be bad news. It's good news because you don't have to focus so much on yourself. It's bad news because you need to focus on the needs of the audience.

To deliver a speech that is effective and useful for your audience, think of applying these principles:

Be enthusiastic: little can be done to save a speech if the speaker doesn't seem to be interested. Enthusiasm means that you speak with an audible voice; it also means that you show interest in getting your message and your information across to the audience. Sighing, complaining that you aren't ready, or other self-sabotaging behaviour can only work against you.
Be confident: no matter how nervous you feel, don't let people know. As the TV commercial used to say: "Don't let 'em see you sweat." One of the worst things you can do in front of the audience is to call attention to your discomfort. Think of it like this: if you were in a chic reception and a piece of invisible clothing made you uncomfortable, would you try to adjust it while all eyes were on you? Of course not! Well, the same thing is true when you speak to an audience. Besides, most of the time, the audience doesn't notice your nervousness too much. If you ask, they will tell you that you looked much less uncomfortable than you felt.
Get them involved: treat your speech as a dialogue, not as a monologue. Invite the audience to participate. Adult audiences hate to be spoken down to; rather, they need to make use of their life experiences in any learning situation. So even if you are an expert on the subject, invite your audience to participate by letting them ask questions, or by letting them provide some answers or their own perspective on the subject.
Use humor: in this age of entertainment, audiences expect a little humour in speeches. If you provide no humour, or if you don't accept humour graciously, it makes you seem stiff an unsure of yourself. It also makes you seem unsympathetic, which makes it difficult to connect with the audience. And in public speaking, the ability to connect with your audience is a key component of effectiveness.
Divulge a bit of yourself: although audiences are more interested in themselves than in you, they still want to know a bit about you. Most of the time, they aren't interested in your degrees, and the number of prizes you've won in your life. However, they are interested in knowing how your life experiences can benefit them. So share a bit of your life with them. Don't make it all about you, though! Also, remember that this isn't the time or place for therapy. If you need to share personal and intimate details about your life, it may be appropriate. But before you do, make sure you can talk about it without breaking down. Otherwise, your audience will feel manipulated.

Audiences rarely want to see you fail. You may say things they disagree with but that is a lesser sin than using up their time and boring them to death. If facing an audience has you worried, change your perspective: see the audience as an ally, not as a foe. Smile, do your best, then move on. Audiences generally won't ask any more of you.