Welcome back to our on-going blog series:

"Don't Picture Them in Their Underwear: 5 Uncreepy Strategies to Calm Yourself Before Public Speaking"

Let’s start out our 1st week of Speak Masterfully Speaking Tips with a brazenly simple suggestion:

If you know you struggle with speaking to a crowd of people, then don’t speak to a crowd of people.

Speak to one person.

Imagine you have a good friend sitting in the back row—someone nonjudgemental. The kind of friend you’d have no problem inviting over even if your place were a mess. Make this a private conversation between the two of you. 

Allow your eyes to take in the whole room, but keep the intention of a private conversation. Focus in on the one or two people smiling and nodding.

Not only will speaking to one person calm your nerves, it will create a feeling of intimacy with the audience.

Apply this advice to the writing of your piece as well as the delivery. To quote James Joyce, “In the particular is contained the universal.”