1. Know your material. Pick a topic you’re interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humor, personal stories, and conversational language—that way, you won’t easily forget what to say.

2. Practice, practice, practice! Rehearse out loud with all the equipment you plan on using. Revise as necessary. Work to control filler words; practice, pause, and breathe. Practice with a timer and allow time for the unexpected.

3. Relax. Begin by addressing the audience. It buys you time and calms your nerves. Pause, smile, and count to three before saying anything. (One one thousand, two one thousand, three one thousand. Pause. Begin.) Transform nervous energy into enthusiasm.

4. Visualize yourself giving your speech. Imagine yourself speaking, your voice loud, clear, and confident. Visualize the audience clapping—it will boost your confidence.

5. Realize that people want you to succeed. Audiences want you to be interesting, stimulating, informative, and entertaining. They’re rooting for you.

6. Don’t apologize for any nervousness or problem—the audience probably never noticed it.

7. Concentrate on the message, not the medium. Focus your attention away from your own anxieties and concentrate on your message and your audience.

Even when you believe you’ve thoroughly prepared yourself for a public-speaking engagement, it never hurts to tap into your mind-body connection for extra courage.  Yoga, and meditation to calm frayed nerves before heading into a stressful situation.

Speak Up
Just as it can be distressing to watch someone struggle through a presentation, it can also be positively inspiring to watch someone nail one. merciless crowd, remember that the words you use can be effective and meaningful, but the real strength lies in their delivery.