Have you ever spoken in front of a large crowd and felt your bones shake, your feet go numb and your voice soften to a point where it is completely inaudible. I have and it is not a good feeling. Getting on stage for the first time is not an easy experience but through trial and error, you can definitely create a strong base of confidence that will help you overcome any stage fright you may have.
I recently went through some of my own presentations prior to writing this and noticed a pattern that occurred when I spoke on stage. I felt like the more times I presented, the more I felt comfortable speaking. The method that I have been using all this time is something very easy and anyone can do it to feel more comfortable on stage. This method is called "segmentation of audience".
Segmentation of Audience
Before going on stage try to get a feel for the room. Observe the seating arrangements and see how you can divide your audience into different segments. If you look at the example above, you will see that I have divided my audience into 6 different parts. Note: This is just an example, the actual size or the number of segments you will have may vary depending on the crowd and the shape of the seating arrangement.
Segmenting is important because you only need to focus on one segment at any part of your presentation. This will help ease your nerves if you get anxious speaking to large groups of people.
You only need to remember to move around the stage, as pointed out by the arrows, and make eye contact with people in another segment whenever you feel that you have spent enough time looking at a particular part of the audience. This is going to make it look like more natural and thus gives the impression that you are more confident.
What is important to note that after your presentation is done, you should have looked at all segments of your audience at least once so that you don’t alienate a certain segment. I would suggest finding the right rhythm or time between changing which segment you are looking at. This will make sure you do not spend most of the presentation only engaging with one part of the audience.
You might notice that in segment 3, I have added what looks like a red zero on the top right. This represents an audience member. You should use this member as an anchor to place your attention when addressing a particular segment. This will help you narrow down your vision to further make sure you are engaging with different parts of your audience and also creates something called tunnel vision.
Tunnel vision is the tendency to focus exclusively on a single or limited objective or view, in this case, it's an audience member. If used correctly you can create a deeper connection with certain members making them more attentive while you are speaking. I highly recommend you choose more than one anchor for every segment as some people might feel uncomfortable if you are always looking at them.
In addition, the key to choosing the right anchors are the people you already know or have some sort of relationship with. This will make it a bit easier as it could be awkward sometimes to look at people who you have never met. However, as your confidence grows I suggest you start placing your attention at people you have not met, which will help you practice for situations where you might be speaking in front of an audience where you know absolutely nobody.
I hope this method will help you in your future presentations and I would be excited if you would comment below on what the experience was like using this method. If you any tips or tricks you use when doing presentations, please comment below. Your feedback is invaluable :)