Metzler

You've got a brilliant idea and would love to start your own business but perhaps you're apprehensive about approaching a bank or financial advisor because you're worried you might get tongue tied and come across as a blithering idiot! What can you do about it?

Speaking in public or in front of a group of strangers is the number one fear in the world and most people would rather do anything else to avoid speaking in public.

If you want to have a very successful business it's a fear you have to overcome, you may never feel confident enough to address an audience of hundreds but you should be able to speak clearly and confidently to small groups of important people. These might be prospective buyers, bankers etc.

In order to speak confidently the first thing you have to do is understand fully what you are saying. If it's your business idea make sure that you've thought through the whole process and that you can answer any questions people may put to you. If you understand every aspect of your business this confidence will show through your speaking and listeners will be impressed straight away by your knowledge.

Once you know what you want to say, you can work on how to say it.

Rule 1

Open your mouth. This sounds obvious but about 80% of people don't open their mouths as wide as they think and certainly not wide enough for the sound to get out. Try saying, 'high in the pine tree' and make sure that you can put three fingers vertically in your mouth when you say 'high' and 'pine' when practising and two fingers when speaking normally.

Rule 2

Direct the sound where you want it to go. Imagine the words are balls and throw them where you want them to land. This is particularly true if youre speaking out side as the wind can easily carry your words in a different direction. Don't look at the ground unless you're talking to a group of mice.

Rule 3

Pause when you need to. Confident speakers aren't afraid of silence. As my father used to say about a close relative, 'if you never stop talking you're bound to end up talking rubbish'. Don't be frightened to stop and pause - the listener will be very pleased if you do this because it gives them a chance to take in what you've said. Bear in mind that they will be a second or two behind you because their brains need a chance to digest what you've said. This pause will also give you a chance to take a breath and perhaps think about what you want to say next. Try to pause before you start another new line of thought.

Rule 4

The secret to clear speech is good articulation. Sound the beginning, middle and end of every word. For example, bed, beg, bell, Ben and bet all begin with 'be..', the only sound that differentiates the words is the final sound and this is the sound that so many people leave off.

Rule 5

Use expression in your voice. Alter the pitch, pace and power of your voice. Slow down and lower the pitch for serious comments and speed up slightly and raise your pitch to sound excited. If your voice has no variety it will sound monotonous and listeners will switch off (if they don't fall asleep first). If you can learn to vary your voice your audience will not only listen but they'll find it a lot easier to remember what you've said.

Rule 6

If you know you have a habit of saying um or okay at the end of most sentences or when you feel you need to pause but are frightened of the silence, try to think the um or okay instead.

If you follow these rules you'll find your speech will start to sound and feel a lot more confident. Practise speaking out loud - when you take a tin of spaghetti out of the cupboard read the ingredients out loud. Get used to the sound of your voice and feel comfortable with it.

Your voice is your most important asset, emails, texts and letters can convey information but your voice is able to convey information and enthusiasm and controlled enthusiasm counts for a lot!

Serena Greenslade is a qualified speech teacher and runs one day in-house workshops anywhere in the Uk. These workshops cover all the skills individuals need to be able to master to become clear and confident communicators, see http://www.afraid-of-speaking-a-speech.com for details.