<p>I have to give this major speech to the entire junior class (i'm a senior) about applying to college and I was just wondering if anyone has advice... what helps you when you have to give a speech? I just get sooo nervous before I have to give them. I end up being fine in the end (many times people say that they didn't even notice that I was nervous) and just aggravated with myself for having gotten so worked up and hyper about it. What helps you when you? Any advice?</p>
<p>Know your stuff well before hand, practice in front of a mirror, and spend the hours prior to your speech doing something calmly. </p>
<p>When the time for the speech comes: deep breaths, deep breaths.</p>
<p>thanks! anyone else?</p>
<p>Remember the audience does not know exactly what you are going to say, so if you slip or forget something noone knows.....use humor, find a quote...have cards with bullet points to keep you on track....speak slower and louder than you think you need to....have a couple of stories to tell....don't take any caffiene before hand, will just make you nervous and rememeber to go to the bathroom!!!! I find brushing my teeth before hand helps, its calming and refreshing ; )</p>
<p>hahahaha! thanks for the advice / warning!</p>
<p>wow tashi...that's exactly like me! I always get nervous before a speech, but once i get talking, i'm fine! </p>
<p>In terms of the speech you have to give, i'd say that you should definitely have a good idea about what you're going to say. If you are going to have cards with you, than make sure you KNOW what's on them, and don't have to keep looking at them over and over.
Also, practice beforehand with a group of people, and if that's not possible, like jimmy said, there's always the mirror :)
And finally, be cool. You yourself acknowledged in your post that after being nervous for a bit, you're always fine with your speeches. So, whenever you start feeling nervous, just remember, you're going to be great.</p>
<p>..and that's my $0.02 :p</p>
<p>thanks a bunch, anita! it's great to know that i'm not the only one. i need to explain the common app to the group of juniors and their parents and explain some other application procedures. so at least i'm familiar w/ the topic (after all, i've had enough practice filling out apps lol).</p>
<p>how long is it supposed to be?</p>
<p>i dunno, probably around 20 minutes. i wasn't really given a limit / set time amount, but they said between 15-20 minutes.</p>
<p>As long as you know what you're going to say like the back of your hand you should be fine. Speak loudly and with authority. That always helps me. Oh, and humor. Everyone loves a joke.</p>
<p>20 minutes isn't too bad...i'd just suggest maybe having something that keeps the audience interested..
I'm a junior myself, so we're having plenty of this kind of speeches by seniors these days. To be honest, most of them are reallly boring because the speaker usually sounds really mechanical and doesn't seem to be too interested in what he/she is talking about...
...yeah, so just make sure you sound interesting, i.e. change of tone frequently,no reading off notes, humour, loud voice etc. :D</p>
<p>thanks, but how can i be funny when i'm talking about the common app... any advice...</p>
<p>Well, whenever you give an example (like what to put in an ec blank) pick something wierd like "Captain of the Jell-O team" or something. That's not really funny, but hey, you'll have to come up with your own material. If you are able to make a presentation using slides or something that is a good way to use some funny pictures or something. Like in my hepatitis presentation I was in the middle of talking about transmission and said "And now for a picture of a dancing condom" and switched to a slide with nothing but a huge dancing condom. I don't think the administration liked it much but the students loved it. Anything zany or wierd usually does the trick for me.</p>
<p>omg, that's hilarious! hahaha!!!!!!</p>
<p>I just wanted to update everyone- your advice had helped me a lot!
The speech went really good- a junior came up to me after and said that I was such a good public speaker. I couldn't believe that she was talking about me! but anyways, I really committed the speech to memory and that helped me tremendously. I also changed my tone of voice (thanks anita!) and I hope I wasn't too boring! I took deep breaths, and even tried the whole brushing teeth thing to relax me beforehand. After this experience, I think I'll be much more comfortable w/ public speaking. Thank you so much to everyone who helped me through this! I couldn't have done it w/o you guys!</p>
<p>Hopefully you had a slide of a dancing condom. ;)</p>
<p>Sorry, I didn't have to do a powerpoint... but I seriously considered it ; )</p>
<p>Powerpoints are the best!</p>
<p>congrats on the great speech tashi! :D</p>