Stand Up For Yourself

You have a big presentation coming up, but it is not easy preparing yourself for it. Feeling anxious or being nervous before a speech is normal, and it may be written all over your body. Your arms and limbs may shake a little, with shoulders slouched. Perhaps you have your hands tucked away in your pockets. None of that works to your advantage.

When you are presenting, an audience will form their first impression of you from how comfortable you appear in front of them.

Of course, it is hard to perfect every aspect of body language when preparing for your speech, but there is one thing you can do easily, and it will ALWAYS make a big difference.

Stand up straight.

Standing in front of an audience, with your shoulders back, comes with far more benefits than you realize. Here are three of those benefits.

1. Vocal Projection

Your voice will reach the back of the room when you stand up straight. Allowing your diaphragm to contract, puts more power behind your words. When you slouch, it’s easier to mumble, seem monotone, or just project downward instead of up to your audience.

2. Confidence

When you “walk the walk, you talk the talk.” Remember to stand up straight. That will let you be in front of the room with a new-found dose of confidence, even if you feel nervous inside.

3. Credibility

When you stand up straight, you project body language that makes the audience feel you have something worth listening to. This can foster credibility as well as establish immediate engagement.

Everyone battles some anxiety before a presention, but let your body language tell a different story. When presenting, doing something as simple as standing up straight, with your shoulders strong, yet relaxed, will help you present in a confident and credible manner your audience.

This information is from our Public Speaking curriculum. If you’re looking for ways to improve your communication skills, register for one of our public classes.

Image by Pexels from Pixabay

Other references on posture and body language when speaking:

A Beginners Guide to Reading Body Language – Healthline

Public Speaking Tips: Posture (Video) by Dan Howden, Public Speaking Skills

4 essential body language tips from a world champion public speaker (Video) by Toastmasters International world champion of public speaking Dananjaya Hettiarachchi