Many experts recommend public speaking as an excellent way to promote your small business. When addressing a group, you have a captive audience and a chance to position yourself as an expert as well as persuade attendees to buy your products or services. The problem is that not all of us feel confident about our public speaking abilities. Anyone who knows me would not describe me as shy or lacking in self-confidence. It is a little-known fact that I struggle with speaking in front of large groups. And, sometimes it’s worse if I know many of the folks in the group. I’d rather do it anonymously for some reason. But, I can’t always control the audience, so I’ve developed some ideas and techniques to help small business owners prepare for — and nail — their speaking engagements.

Rule #1: Believe in Your Message
In college I took a class that involved delivering a speech every week. While usually a straight A student, I was getting a C in the class. I was nervous while delivering the speeches. I tried to pick topics that were humorous but my jokes fell flat. My professor was not impressed. But, for my final speech, I decided to get serious and talk about something that I really believed in. The speech was about the need to end apartheid in South Africa and it earned me an A+. What’s more, I was not nervous at all while I gave that speech. And, my professor made me realize that my confidence and passion showed because I was being myself and talking about a topic that meant something to me. So, the moral of the story here is always talk about something you really believe in. If you’re not a natural joke teller, then don’t tell jokes. Just be yourself and show your passion for your business.

Rule #2: Be Prepared
In small groups or one-on-one, I have no problem “winging it”. But, important speaking engagements demand your full preparation. Pick your topic, develop your presentation (think of every word you want to say and get it on paper), and prepare handouts and visuals. Preparing presentation materials can be a daunting task for some of us, so consider getting professional copywriting and graphic services so that your visuals are as effective as possible. The more prepared you are, the more confident you’ll be. During your presentation, you should plan to engage your audience with questions and answers to make it more of a conversation. This will help you relax as not all of the focus will be on you for the entire presentation.

Rule #3: Practice
You can do all the prep work in the world, but if you never actually practice your presentation, you will never know where it has the potential to go wrong. And then you won’t have time to fix it. Practice delivering your presentation, along with your visuals, and make sure it all runs smoothly. This should be done a couple of days before your talk, so that you have enough time to get Powerpoint slides fixed, etc.

Rule #4: Get a Good Night’s Rest
This may sound elementary, but you’d be surprised how many people don’t take the simple advice of getting a solid night’s sleep prior to their presentation. Also, eat a healthy breakfast and don’t overdo it on the caffeine intake. If you are tired and stressed out, it will show. You want to be well-rested and relaxed when you get up in front of the crowd.

Rule #5: Relax
You are going to be talking about a subject near and dear to your heart. You have prepared a killer presentation with excellent materials and have practiced it thoroughly. You have gotten a good rest and had a healthy breakfast. You have done all you could to put yourself in an advantageous position and now is the time to seize the moment. You can do it!