For a great many people, the notion of speaking in public is something that is terrifying. In fact, in a study of phobias conducted by the American Psychiatric Institute, glossophobia (the fear of speaking in public) can affect as many as 75 percent of all individuals. So, it's easy to see that if you're afraid of speaking in public, you're definitely in the majority.

On the other hand, it's also a known fact that those people who can speak well in public and can deliver a top performance when giving a presentation have much healthier and more solid career foundations. A good public speaker imparts confidence and ability and that means a great deal when it comes to someone's career.

And what is the key to successful public speaking?

Know your message.

The best way to give a successful presentation or speech is to know your material -- and to know it solidly. If you have a vague notion of what you want to say and you go out and stand in front of a group of people, the odds are that you'll develop a case of stage fright -- or, as one of my friends puts it, "flop sweat." (The term comes from when performers would stand in front of a crowd that hated them and they'd break out into a flood of perspiration.)

Believe me, I've been there.

But, there are ways that will help you to make sure that your presentation isn't a total disaster. I'm not going to tell you that by following these steps that you're going to be a great speaker, but at the very least, you'll spare yourself the embarrassment of looking foolish -- and with a little practice, you might discover that you've got a knack for speaking in public and for presenting data to an audience.

The first thing that you want to do is understand what you're trying to achieve. When you go out there and you start to speak, you need to know exactly what the purpose of that speech is and who your audience is. If you're speaking to a group of people about the need for gun control, don't go out and begin to talk about the great experiences you've had as a hunter. (I bring this up only because I was at a presentation where a pro-gun advocate was trying to give a presentation to an anti-firearm panel. To call it a nightmare is an understatement.)

Know your audience and know what you want to communicate.

The next thing that you need to know is that simplicity is paramount. The more simple your presentation and ideas are, the more easily they can be grasped. When you prepare your speech, you might want to have a PowerPoint presentation ready so that you can go over the "bullet points" quickly and easily.

Be prepared.

Again, you'd think this is obvious but there are still schools of thought out there that want people to prepare a speech without any preparation -- under the mistaken belief that it will give their presentation a sense of immediacy. In fact, it gives their presentation a sense of disaster. You've got to know your material before you can adequately present it to others.

Focus on delivery.

When you're speaking to your audience, don't just stand there. Move around a bit. Use your arms. Pretend that you're with a group of friends and you're telling them about something that's really exciting to you.

When you're speaking, make sure that you don't speak too quickly. It's easy to get up there and want to get things over with but what you'll want to do is slow things down if you sense they're going too fast -- and you can use pauses for dramatic effect, as well.

You'll want to vary your tone of voice, too. Nothing is worse than someone who speaks in a monotone lulling their audience to sleep. One successful method that I've used is to prepare my speech and invite a friend over for dinner. They get a free dinner out of it and I get some useful feedback prior to going out on stage.

Scott Brown is the author of the Job Search Handbook (http://www.JobSearchHandbook.com). As editor of the HireSites.com weekly newsletter on job searching, Scott has written many articles on the subject. He wrote the Job Search Handbook to provide job seekers with a complete yet easy to use guide to finding a job effectively.