After every time I go on stage, I am always surprised tohear people tell me, “You didn’t look nervous at all!” or “You seemed verynatural!”
I am always surprised because I’ve always felt the completeopposite of “not nervous” or “very natural” on stage. If you’ve ever spoken infront of an entire room full of people, you’ll know what I mean when I sayevery time I step onto that stage I get a moment of pure, unadulterated panicaccompanied by butterflies and all.
So how come others did not notice?
What was I doing that hid my nervousness from the piercinggazes of the audience?
The answer to how to appear natural and comfortable onstage, even when you’re really not, is three simple things anyone can master.
1. Smile
The power of smiles are boundless. Smiles give people asense of comfort and ease. When you smile at someone, it is a subtle assurancethat everything is alright. That is why smiling can help you relax youraudience, gain their trust, and pull them into your story.
If you are thinking now, “What if I get so nervous my mindgoes blank, my face freezes up, and when I try to smile I look like JackNicholson from The Shining?”
Trust me, it’s alright. They say that if you smile longenough, you will start to feel happy even if you are sad. Smiling assures notonly others, but also yourself. If you make a conscious effort to smileevery time you speak, you’ll get that natural easy-going smile in no time.
2. Speak, don’t recite
Some people approach speech making as if writing an academicpaper. They write out every single word, sentence, and paragraph then spendhours memorizing it word for word. If you are one of those people,you might find that delivering your speech can be stressful because you areconstantly trying to remembering exactly what you wrote, especially when someof the phrases or sentences you wrote down are not things younormally use when actually talking.
The truth is, how we write is often slightly different fromhow we speak. I always find the speeches that I write down sound more unnatural whenI speak them out loud. This is because the things I write down are filteredmore than the words I speak.
Don’t just write your speech as if you are writing a highschool English paper, read each sentence you write out loud and determine ifit’s something you would say if you were in a conversation with a friend. You’llfind that some sentences that look great on paper just does not sound goodcoming out of your mouth. If it’s not, change it. This will make your deliverysmoother, easier, and sound more natural.
3. Have Fun
I know that going on stage in front of a room full of peoplecan be very nerve-racking. No matter how many times I’ve done it, my bodytemperature always drops a few degrees and I get butterflies in my stomachbefore going on the stage. But every time before I get on that stage, I alwaysremind myself “Just. Have. Fun.”
The best part of Toastmasters is that it’s a safe place tofail completely, no one will laugh at you or judge you (except to give youconstructive criticism that will help you improve, of course) even if you givethe worst speech in the entire world. In fact, I would encourage everyone to think of forgetting your line on stage or messing up royally as something you collect like souvenirs. They are not embarrassing moments, they are nuggets ofgold that will reveal what you still need to work on and how youcan improve yourself even more. Without them, you are truly lost.
Instead of telling yourself to “remember that line…”, “acethat speech…”, or “you can do it…” before going on stage, try “HAVE FUN!”instead. You’ll find that a huge burden will be lifted off your shoulders sothat you can be the most natural you.
Smile, speak, and have fun. What more can you do?