how to improve public speaking essay

10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills

Few are immune to the fear of public speaking. Marjorie North offers 10 tips for speakers to calm the nerves and deliverable memorable orations.

Marjorie North

Snakes? Fine. Flying? No problem. Public speaking? Yikes! Just thinking about public speaking — routinely described as one of the greatest (and most common) fears — can make your palms sweat. But there are many ways to tackle this anxiety and learn to deliver a memorable speech.

In part one of this series,  Mastering the Basics of Communication , I shared strategies to improve how you communicate. In part two, How to Communicate More Effectively in the Workplace , I examined how to apply these techniques as you interact with colleagues and supervisors in the workplace. For the third and final part of this series, I’m providing you with public speaking tips that will help reduce your anxiety, dispel myths, and improve your performance.

Here Are My 10 Tips for Public Speaking:

1. nervousness is normal. practice and prepare.

All people feel some physiological reactions like pounding hearts and trembling hands. Do not associate these feelings with the sense that you will perform poorly or make a fool of yourself. Some nerves are good. The adrenaline rush that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and ready to give your best performance.

The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare some more. Take the time to go over your notes several times. Once you have become comfortable with the material, practice — a lot. Videotape yourself, or get a friend to critique your performance.

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2. Know Your Audience. Your Speech Is About Them, Not You.

Before you begin to craft your message, consider who the message is intended for. Learn as much about your listeners as you can. This will help you determine your choice of words, level of information, organization pattern, and motivational statement.

3. Organize Your Material in the Most Effective Manner to Attain Your Purpose.

Create the framework for your speech. Write down the topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points. Make sure to grab the audience’s attention in the first 30 seconds.

4. Watch for Feedback and Adapt to It.

Keep the focus on the audience. Gauge their reactions, adjust your message, and stay flexible. Delivering a canned speech will guarantee that you lose the attention of or confuse even the most devoted listeners.

5. Let Your Personality Come Through.

Be yourself, don’t become a talking head — in any type of communication. You will establish better credibility if your personality shines through, and your audience will trust what you have to say if they can see you as a real person.

6. Use Humor, Tell Stories, and Use Effective Language.

Inject a funny anecdote in your presentation, and you will certainly grab your audience’s attention. Audiences generally like a personal touch in a speech. A story can provide that.

7. Don’t Read Unless You Have to. Work from an Outline.

Reading from a script or slide fractures the interpersonal connection. By maintaining eye contact with the audience, you keep the focus on yourself and your message. A brief outline can serve to jog your memory and keep you on task.

8. Use Your Voice and Hands Effectively. Omit Nervous Gestures.

Nonverbal communication carries most of the message. Good delivery does not call attention to itself, but instead conveys the speaker’s ideas clearly and without distraction.

9. Grab Attention at the Beginning, and Close with a Dynamic End.

Do you enjoy hearing a speech start with “Today I’m going to talk to you about X”? Most people don’t. Instead, use a startling statistic, an interesting anecdote, or concise quotation. Conclude your speech with a summary and a strong statement that your audience is sure to remember.

10. Use Audiovisual Aids Wisely.

Too many can break the direct connection to the audience, so use them sparingly. They should enhance or clarify your content, or capture and maintain your audience’s attention.

Practice Does Not Make Perfect

Good communication is never perfect, and nobody expects you to be perfect. However, putting in the requisite time to prepare will help you deliver a better speech. You may not be able to shake your nerves entirely, but you can learn to minimize them.

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About the Author

North is a consultant for political candidates, physicians, and lawyers, and runs a private practice specializing in public speaking, and executive communication skills. Previously, she was the clinical director in the department of speech and language pathology and audiology at Northeastern University.

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Public Speaking and Presentations: Tips for Success

This resource includes tips and suggestions for improving your public speaking skills.

Even if you’ve never spoken in front of a large group before, chances are you will encounter public speaking sometime during your life. Whether you’re giving a presentation for your classmates or addressing local politicians at a city council meeting, public speaking allows you to convey your thoughts and feelings in clear ways. Having the right tools can prepare you for successful public speaking and equip you with high-quality communication skills.

Know Your Audience

Different audiences require different modes of public speaking. How you address a room full of preschoolers will vary from how you address a group of professors at an academic conference. Not only will your vocabulary change, but you might alter your pacing and tone as well.

Knowing your audience also helps you decide the content of your speech. For example, if you’re presenting research to a group of scientists, you might not need to define all your scientific language. However, if you present that same research to a group of individuals who are unfamiliar with your scientific field, you may need to define your terms or use simpler language.

Recognizing the extent to which your audience is familiar with your topic helps you center your presentation around the most important elements and avoid wasting time on information your audience either 1) already knows or 2) does not need to know for the purpose of your speech.

Knowing your audience also means tailoring your information to them. Try to keep things straight and to the point; leave out extraneous anecdotes and irrelevant statistics.

Establish Your Ethos and Feel Confident in Your Subject

It’s important to let your audience know what authority you have over your subject matter. If it’s clear you are familiar with your subject and have expertise, your audience is more likely to trust what you say.

Feeling confident in your subject matter will help establish your ethos. Rather than simply memorizing the content on your PowerPoint slides or your note cards, consider yourself a “mini expert” on your topic. Read up on information related to your topic and anticipate questions from the audience. You might want to prepare a few additional examples to use if people ask follow-up questions. Being able to elaborate on your talking points will help you stay calm during a Q & A section of your presentation.

Stick to a Few Main Points

Organizing your information in a logical way not only helps you keep track of what you’re saying, but it helps your audience follow along as well. Try to emphasize a few main points in your presentation and return to them before you conclude. Summarizing your information at the end of your presentation allows your audience to walk away with a clear sense of the most important facts.

For example, if you gave a presentation on the pros and cons of wind energy in Indiana, you would first want to define wind energy to make sure you and your audience are on the same page. You might also want to give a brief history of wind energy to give context before you go into the pros and cons. From there, you could list a few pros and a few cons. Finally, you could speculate on the future of wind energy and whether Indiana could provide adequate land and infrastructure to sustain wind turbines. To conclude, restate a few of the main points (most likely the pros and cons) and end with the most important takeaway you want the audience to remember about wind energy in Indiana.

Don't be Afraid to Show Your Personality

Delivering information without any sort of flourish or style can be boring. Allowing your personality to show through your speaking keeps you feeling relaxed and natural. Even if you’re speaking about something very scientific or serious, look for ways to let your personality come through your speech.

For example, when Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek announced in March of 2019 that he had stage 4 pancreatic cancer, he still let his trademark dignity and professionalism set the tone for his address. He began his announcement by saying “it’s in keeping with my long-time policy of being open and transparent with our Jeopardy! fan base.” Later, he joked that he would need to overcome his illness in order to fulfill his contract, whose terms required him to host the show for three more years. Though the nature of Trebek's announcement could easily have justified a grim, serious tone, the host instead opted to display the charm that has made him a household name for almost thirty-five years. In doing so, he reminded his audience precisely why he is so well-loved.

Use Humor (When Appropriate)

Using humor at appropriate moments can keep your audience engaged and entertained. While not all occasions are appropriate for humor, look for moments where you can lighten the mood and add some humor.

For example, just two months after the assassination attempt on Ronald Reagan, Reagan was in the middle of giving a speech when a balloon loudly popped while he was speaking. Reagan paused his speech to say “missed me,” then immediately continued speaking. This off-the-cuff humor worked because it was appropriate, spontaneous, and did not really distract from his message.

Similarly, at the end of his final White House Correspondents Dinner, Barack Obama concluded his speech by saying “Obama out” and dropping the mic. Once again, the humor did not distract from his message, but it did provide a light-hearted shift in his tone.  

Don't Let Visual Aids Distract From Your Presentation

Visual aids, such as PowerPoints or handouts, often go alongside presentations. When designing visual aids, be sure they do not distract from the content of your speech. Having too many pictures or animations can cause audience members to pay more attention to the visuals rather than what you’re saying.

However, if you present research that relies on tables or figures, having many images may help your audience better visualize the research you discuss. Be aware of the ways different types of presentations demand different types of visual aids.

Be Aware of Your Body Language

When it comes to giving a presentation, nonverbal communication is equally as important as what you’re saying. Having the appropriate posture, gestures, and movement complement the spoken element of your presentation. Below are a few simple strategies to make you appear more confident and professional.

Having confident posture can make or break a presentation. Stand up straight with your shoulders back and your arms at your sides. Slouching or crossing your arms over your chest makes you appear smaller and more insecure. However, be sure you’re not too rigid. Just because you’re standing up tall does not mean you cannot move around.

Eye contact

Making eye contact with your audience not only makes them feel connected to you but it also lets you gauge their response to you. Try to look around the room and connect with different audience members so you’re not staring at the same people the whole time. If you notice your audience starting to nod off, it might be a good time to change your tone or up your energy. 

Avoid distracting or compulsive gestures

While hand gestures can help point out information in a slide or on a poster, large or quick gestures can be distracting. When using gestures, try to make them feel like a normal part of your presentation.

It’s also easy to slip into nervous gestures while presenting. Things like twirling your hair or wringing your hands can be distracting to your audience. If you know you do something like this, try to think hard about not doing it while you’re presenting.

Travel (if possible)

If you are presenting on a stage, walking back and forth can help you stay relaxed and look natural. However, be sure you’re walking slowly and confidently and you’re using an appropriate posture (described above). Try to avoid pacing, which can make you appear nervous or compulsive.

Rehearse (if Possible)

The difference between knowing your subject and rehearsing comes down to how you ultimately present your information. The more you rehearse, the more likely you are to eliminate filler words such as like and um . If possible, try practicing with a friend and have them use count the filler words you use. You can also record yourself and play back the video. The more you rehearse, the more confident you will feel when it comes time to actually speak in front of an audience.

Finally, Relax!

Although public speaking takes time and preparation, perhaps one of the most important points is to relax while you’re speaking. Delivering your information in a stiff way prevents you from appearing natural and letting your personality come through. The more relaxed you feel, the more confident your information will come across.

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Article • 13 min read

Better Public Speaking

Becoming a confident, compelling speaker.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Whether we're talking in a team meeting or presenting in front of an audience, we all have to speak in public from time to time.

We can do this well or we can do this badly, and the outcome strongly affects the way that people think about us. This is why public speaking causes so much anxiety and concern.

The good news is that, with thorough preparation and practice, you can overcome your nervousness and perform exceptionally well. This article and video explain how.

Click here to view a transcript of this video.

The Importance of Public Speaking

Even if you don't need to make regular presentations in front of a group, there are plenty of situations where good public speaking skills can help you advance your career and create opportunities.

For example, you might have to talk about your organization at a conference, make a speech after accepting an award, or teach a class to new recruits. Speaking to an audience also includes online presentations or talks; for instance, when training a virtual team, or when speaking to a group of customers in an online meeting.

Good public speaking skills are important in other areas of your life, as well. You might be asked to make a speech at a friend's wedding, give a eulogy for a loved one, or inspire a group of volunteers at a charity event.

In short, being a good public speaker can enhance your reputation, boost your self-confidence , and open up countless opportunities.

However, while good skills can open doors, poor ones can close them. For example, your boss might decide against promoting you after sitting through a badly-delivered presentation. You might lose a valuable new contract by failing to connect with a prospect during a sales pitch. Or you could make a poor impression with your new team, because you trip over your words and don't look people in the eye.

Make sure that you learn how to speak well!

Strategies for Becoming a Better Speaker

The good news is that speaking in public is a learnable skill. As such, you can use the following strategies to become a better speaker and presenter.

Plan Appropriately

First, make sure that you plan your communication appropriately. Use tools like the Rhetorical Triangle , Monroe's Motivated Sequence , and the 7Cs of Communication to think about how you'll structure what you're going to say.

When you do this, think about how important a book's first paragraph is; if it doesn't grab you, you're likely going to put it down. The same principle goes for your speech: from the beginning, you need to intrigue your audience.

For example, you could start with an interesting statistic, headline, or fact that pertains to what you're talking about and resonates with your audience. You can also use story telling as a powerful opener; our Expert Interviews with Annette Simmons and Paul Smith offer some useful tips on doing this.

Planning also helps you to think on your feet . This is especially important for unpredictable question and answer sessions or last-minute communications.

Remember that not all occasions when you need to speak in public will be scheduled. You can make good impromptu speeches by having ideas and mini-speeches pre-prepared. It also helps to have a good, thorough understanding of what's going on in your organization and industry.

There's a good reason that we say, "Practice makes perfect!" You simply cannot be a confident, compelling speaker without practice.

To get practice, seek opportunities to speak in front of others. For example, Toastmasters is a club geared specifically towards aspiring speakers, and you can get plenty of practice at Toastmasters sessions. You could also put yourself in situations that require public speaking, such as by cross-training a group from another department, or by volunteering to speak at team meetings.

If you're going to be delivering a presentation or prepared speech, create it as early as possible. The earlier you put it together, the more time you'll have to practice.

Practice it plenty of times alone, using the resources you'll rely on at the event, and, as you practice, tweak your words until they flow smoothly and easily.

Then, if appropriate, do a dummy run in front of a small audience: this will help you calm your jitters and make you feel more comfortable with the material. Your audience can also give you useful feedback , both on your material and on your performance.

Engage With Your Audience

When you speak, try to engage your audience. This makes you feel less isolated as a speaker and keeps everyone involved with your message. If appropriate, ask leading questions targeted to individuals or groups, and encourage people to participate and ask questions.

Keep in mind that some words reduce your power as a speaker. For instance, think about how these sentences sound: "I just want to add that I think we can meet these goals" or "I just think this plan is a good one." The words "just" and "I think" limit your authority and conviction. Don't use them.

A similar word is "actually," as in, "Actually, I'd like to add that we were under budget last quarter." When you use "actually," it conveys a sense of submissiveness or even surprise. Instead, say what things are. "We were under budget last quarter" is clear and direct.

Also, pay attention to how you're speaking. If you're nervous, you might talk quickly. This increases the chances that you'll trip over your words, or say something you don't mean. Force yourself to slow down by breathing deeply. Don't be afraid to gather your thoughts; pauses are an important part of conversation, and they make you sound confident, natural, and authentic.

Finally, avoid reading word-for-word from your notes. Instead, make a list of important points on cue cards, or, as you get better at public speaking, try to memorize what you're going to say – you can still refer back to your cue cards when you need them.

Pay Attention to Body Language

If you're unaware of it, your body language will give your audience constant, subtle clues about your inner state. If you're nervous, or if you don't believe in what you're saying, the audience can soon know.

Pay attention to your body language: stand up straight, take deep breaths, look people in the eye, and smile. Don't lean on one leg or use gestures that feel unnatural.

Many people prefer to speak behind a podium when giving presentations. While podiums can be useful for holding notes, they put a barrier between you and the audience. They can also become a "crutch," giving you a hiding place from the dozens or hundreds of eyes that are on you.

Instead of standing behind a podium, walk around and use gestures to engage the audience. This movement and energy will also come through in your voice, making it more active and passionate.

Think Positively

Positive thinking can make a huge difference to the success of your communication, because it helps you feel more confident.

Fear makes it all too easy to slip into a cycle of negative self-talk, especially right before you speak, while self-sabotaging thoughts such as "I'll never be good at this!" or "I'm going to fall flat on my face!" lower your confidence and increase the chances that you won't achieve what you're truly capable of.

Use affirmations and visualization to raise your confidence. This is especially important right before your speech or presentation. Visualize giving a successful presentation, and imagine how you'll feel once it's over and when you've made a positive difference for others. Use positive affirmations such as "I'm grateful I have the opportunity to help my audience" or "I'm going to do well!"

Cope With Nerves

How often have you listened to or watched a speaker who really messed up? Chances are, the answer is "not very often."

When we have to speak in front of others, we can envision terrible things happening. We imagine forgetting every point we want to make, passing out from our nervousness, or doing so horribly that we'll lose our job. But those things almost never come to pass! We build them up in our minds and end up more nervous than we need to be.

Many people cite speaking to an audience as their biggest fear, and a fear of failure is often at the root of this. Public speaking can lead your "fight or flight" response to kick in: adrenaline courses through your bloodstream, your heart rate increases, you sweat, and your breath becomes fast and shallow.

Although these symptoms can be annoying or even debilitating, the Inverted-U Model shows that a certain amount of pressure enhances performance. By changing your mindset, you can use nervous energy to your advantage.

First, make an effort to stop thinking about yourself, your nervousness, and your fear. Instead, focus on your audience: what you're saying is "about them." Remember that you're trying to help or educate them in some way, and your message is more important than your fear. Concentrate on the audience's wants and needs, instead of your own.

If time allows, use deep breathing exercises to slow your heart rate and give your body the oxygen it needs to perform. This is especially important right before you speak. Take deep breaths from your belly, hold each one for several seconds, and let it out slowly.

Crowds are more intimidating than individuals, so think of your speech as a conversation that you're having with one person. Although your audience may be 100 people, focus on one friendly face at a time, and talk to that person as if he or she is the only one in the room.

Watch Recordings of Your Speeches

Whenever possible, record your presentations and speeches. You can improve your speaking skills dramatically by watching yourself later, and then working on improving in areas that didn't go well.

As you watch, notice any verbal stalls, such as "um" or "like." Look at your body language: are you swaying, leaning on the podium, or leaning heavily on one leg? Are you looking at the audience? Did you smile? Did you speak clearly at all times?

Pay attention to your gestures. Do they appear natural or forced? Make sure that people can see them, especially if you're standing behind a podium.

Last, look at how you handled interruptions, such as a sneeze or a question that you weren't prepared for. Does your face show surprise, hesitation, or annoyance? If so, practice managing interruptions like these smoothly, so that you're even better next time.

Chances are that you'll sometimes have to speak in public as part of your role. While this can seem intimidating, the benefits of being able to speak well outweigh any perceived fears. To become a better speaker, use the following strategies:

• Plan appropriately.
• Engage with your audience.
• Pay attention to body language.
• Think positively.
• Cope with your nerves.
• Watch recordings of your speeches.

If you speak well in public, it can help you get a job or promotion, raise awareness for your team or organization, and educate others. The more you push yourself to speak in front of others, the better you'll become, and the more confidence you'll have.

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The 11 tips that will improve your public speaking skills

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What is public speaking?

7 elements of public speaking, the fear of public speaking, how to improve your public speaking skills, own your authentic voice.

Whether we’re making a contribution in a team meeting or asking a question in a stand-up, we all still have to speak in public from time to time.

The era of stand-up public speaking (complete with cue cards and auditoriums full of people) may belong to a bygone era. So is there a place for public speaking in our more virtual work spaces, with agile meetings and geographically-remote teams ?

No matter which career path you’re on, most employees will be called upon at some stage to present, train, or lead — all involve public speaking.

And just in case you’re a back-office software tester and think you’ll be spared the speaker spotlight at work, just wait. There’s always your best man speech, daughter’s 21st birthday, or retirement party to prepare for!

What has changed in the modern domain of public speaking is how it is done and the challenge of getting an audience’s attention. Audiences today are diverted by email, social media or the ‘to do list’ of the day. This explains why formats like TED Talks (20 minute sound bytes) and Pechakucha presentations (20 slides in 20 minutes) are so popular. They provide the instant gratification that our short attention spans desire.

Truth is, the realm of public speaking has become that much more competitive. It's become more challenging to attract an audience and keep its attention.

At its core, for effective public speaking to take place, seven elements need to be considered:

1. The speaker 

That, of course, is you! One downside of technology is the minute we say the word "presentation," everyone hauls out their slide deck. But Powerpoint is not the content — you are .  

2. The message 

A coaching colleague once challenged me, stating, “If you can’t define it in a single sentence, it isn’t clear enough.” She was right. Although public speaking often contains many messages, you must be clear up front about the one topic that brackets them all. What do you want your audience to take away from your time together?

3. The audience

This is the most vital of our elements (next to you, of course). Do some audience research beforehand to determine if there is a common audience ‘type. This will help you tailor your message . For example, speaking to young prospective employees requires a far different approach than a positioning pitch to a mature client board.

4. The channel­

In the presentation coaching of the past, we focused on body language and non-verbal cues. The goal was to ensure that what we were saying aligned with what our body was saying. Today, we are often meeting virtually or presenting from a seated position. The challenge, now, is to allow our tone, our pitch, volume and facial gestures to tell the story of our presentation. 

When we are physically present, our posture and gestures add to the mix. Visual aids can be part of the mix, too. They should complement the message, rather than dominate it.

5. Feedback 

Communication has not taken place until the feedback loop has been completed. Feedback may be gauged by the questions one receives or perhaps a side conversation with an audience member after the session.

Nonverbal cues, however, are present from the outset of a presentation. From the eye contact of an audience member, to shuffling in the seat, or a frown on an audience member’s face, an in-person audience is rich with in-the-moment feedback.

6. Noise 

Temperature, lighting, sounds, or poor acoustics are all referred to as external noise in our speaking environment. I have often been distracted by the ringing of a cell phone, someone scrolling through email, or a conferencing facility that did not allow me to see the eyes of my audience.

Internal noise, on the other hand, refers to confused messaging or a lack of clarity in what the speaker is trying to convey.

7. Place 

When preparing for a high stakes presentation or proposal pitch, it is always advisable to scout out the venue beforehand to allow for optimal positioning and comfort. Encountering a data projector without the necessary connections or an audio system that doesn’t support the video you wished to stream is always nerve-wracking — and no fun to find out just before a presentation.

For most people, next to visiting the dentist, their greatest fear is public speaking. ‘ Glossophobia ,’ as it’s officially called, has probably visited most of us at one point or another in our lives. You may be familiar with the experience of:

•       Sweaty palms
•      A fast-beating heart
•      Dry or “glue mouth” as it’s often called
•      A freezing or “blanking” of thoughts
•      Shaking
•      Nausea or a stomachache

I’ve heard a lot of suggestions over the years for combating stage fright, from imagining your audience naked (frankly, that just frightens me!) to power posing, courtesy of Amy Cuddy .

Here are a few tips I have found useful:

1. Preparation is key

Thorough preparation and knowing your content empowers you to feel more confident. Dry running your presentation in front of the mirror, your cat, and/or an audience member allows you to feel more prepared and confident.

2. Use your adrenaline

No athlete is able to perform at their peak without a good dose of adrenaline. Welcome the quiver of butterflies in your stomach or the slight tremor in your hands with the knowledge that your body is providing what it needs to deliver at your performance edge.

3. People, people, people

Brené Brown encourages nervous speakers to remind themselves that audience members are just people. “Speaking is vulnerable,” says Brown. “It’s a vulnerable act to stand up and be heard, no matter how confident you are. That’s you up there at the front of the room, or onstage, or anywhere else you’re letting your voice be heard.”

4. Use the power of your breath

Whether you’re a meditation guru, or simply make use of 3 deep breaths, breathe . This is our built-in mechanism to calm the body, center our thoughts, and lower our cortisol (stress) levels . Many studies have proven the benefit of this simple practice in your preparation.

1. What’s in it for them? 

As any business development executive will encourage, start with your audience. What is in it for them? Why should they listen to you and give up their precious time doing something else? 

This applies whether you’re presenting at a weekly meeting, providing feedback to a report or advocating for a promotion to your boss. Enticing them to listen is key. Connecting to your audience’s interests  builds rapport and establishes a relationship.

2. Harness the power of story 

We’ve all been in one of those deathly dull, data-based presentations where graph after graph is projected. However formal your presentation, always look for an anecdote or relevant example to make it come to life. Even a short dose of humor can break the monotony of a budget speech or compliance training.

3. Dry run, dry run, dry run  

Also known as practice, practice, practice. This is often where I see great presentations derail at the last moment. Be careful not to spend so much time beautifying slides (or heaven forbid, adding more) that you forget to practice what you’ll say.

4. Make a recording 

These days, whether you set up your cell phone on a tripod or simply make a Zoom recording of a rehearsal meeting, you can easily access the opportunity to watch yourself present. It takes a courageous person to view your own performance and to critically evaluate your habits. However, it is an accessible and powerful tool to make a few quick and powerful corrections.

5. Less is more 

This old cliché holds true: the fewer the slides and the less text, the better. If you have to use slides, go for lots of pictures and white space and speech captions so you don’t overwhelm your audience. The content is in what you have to say and how you say it.

6. The power of the pause 

In general, most of us speed up when presenting in public. The effort to view slides and simultaneously listen to commentary can be taxing if fired at a rapid rate. Allow your audience (and you) time to reflect after a key point or simply to pause for effect.

7. Get some coaching 

Whether you choose to attend a group public speaking course or receive coaching one-on-one, there are an abundance of skilled people to help you grow as a speaker. Suffering alone only increases anxiety and prevents you from getting the feedback we all need to raise our game. 

Many of those I coach suffer from the judgement of their inner critic . The best way to balance a harsh inner critic is with an objective and supportive outside voice to empower and equip you.

After attending to all of these tips and practices, it is really important for your authentic self to shine through . It may be in the opening of your presentation with a confession to being somewhat anxious, or in a powerful closing with a personal story you choose to share.

Why does authenticity matter so much? Remember that we are in an age of distraction and information. When all one needs to do is spend five minutes on ‘Dr. Google’ to find out anything, why should we listen to you? 

Despite our busy pace and information overload, we are still enticed by an authentic brand. A personalized message and an authentic presence brings slides and stories to life. It is what elevates public speaking to an art.

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8 tip to improve your public speaking skills

Fear of public speaking overcome it with these 7 tips, overcome your public speaking anxiety with these 10 tips, speaking up for yourself is important — 11 steps to get it right, how coaching drove $10m in additional sales, 6 presentation skills and how to improve them, the importance of good speech: 5 tips to be more articulate, leading from a distance: ideas for supporting your remote workforce in times of change, why we need to reframe potential into readiness, similar articles, how to not be nervous for a presentation — 13 tips that work (really), how to give a good presentation that captivates any audience, 8 clever hooks for presentations (with tips), self-advocacy: improve your life by speaking up, stay connected with betterup, get our newsletter, event invites, plus product insights and research..

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Planning Your Speech

Being confident in your speech making and your public speaking means that you should fully prepare for your speech! Here are some tips to write a great speech!

1. Determine the purpose of your speech.  Whether it is a persuasive essay, argumentative essay, or just an informative one you need to know why you are giving the speech. Generally you may be told what kind of speech to write for your assignment, but if you have a choice on what type of speech you need to give it's important to know what you want to tell your audience. 

2. Identify your audience.  This may depend on your assignment but you need to know your audience to know what type of the information you are giving to them. Are you giving a speech to people who don't have any knowledge on the subject? Experts in the field? Or are you just speaking in front of your professor and fellow classmates? Understanding your audience helps you determine the scope of the detail in your speech and how you can keep the audience captivated. 

3. Create your claim (or thesis).  Just like writing a paper, your speech needs a thesis. Your claim is the main idea for your speech, and you will spend your speech providing evidence that supports your claim. 

4. Collect your evidence.  You need to support your claim with evidence. Evidence may include: surveys, statistics, anecdotal evidence, or even your own experience. 

5. Start determining how you will organize your speech.  Just like an essay, a speech has a similar structure. Your introduction, body, supporting evidence, and conclusion. It's helpful to write down your speech in a similar way you would write an essay. 

Giving Your Speech

Glossophobia, or the fear of public speaking, is very common. Below are some speech-giving tips that can help reduce your anxiety!

1. Talk to someone if you are feeling stressed.  Talk to a counselor, your professor, or just a friend. It's always helpful to talk about your worries and get support from people around. 

2. Know what you're talking about.  You will be more comfortable reciting your speech when you have some knowledge on the subject. While you are researching and preparing your speech, get some preliminary background information so you feel more confident with the subject. This also helps if you get any surprise questions from your audience!

3. Practice.  Practice, practice, practice. In the mirror, in front of some friends, in front of your classmates. Be comfortable with the words, the structure of your speech, and knowing the order in which you will present your main ideas. 

4. Organize your materials.  Disorganization the day of your speech can worsen your anxiety! Prepare the night before by setting out all of your demonstrative items (poster, powerpoint, pictures), make sure any notecards are in order, and set aside your clothes if you are dressing up for your speech. It's also important to make sure the technology in the room you are presenting in has everything you need (check with your professor)!

5. Study other speeches.  You don't need to study the great orators of the world to learn how to improve your speeches. TED Talks, interviews from people you look up to, and even watching YouTube videos can help improve your public speaking skills. 

6. Don't rely on Powerpoints/posters.  Items like Powerpoints and posters that you use for your speech are meant to support you and not be something that you read off of the entire time. If you can do without visual aids or if they are not required for your speech, you may decide not to use any at all. Try to have as little text as possible on them--you won't be able to read off of them and your audience will not be distracted reading the slides. 

7. Focus on your message.  Don't get caught up in little details, your stories, or any jokes you may have in your speech. Focus on your claim so your message is understood by your audience. 

8. Don't apologize.  Everyone makes a mistake. Technical difficulties can happen to every one. Don't let minor issues such as forgetting a part of your speech or getting a little mixed up derail your presentation. Your audience may not even notice the small mistake. If you feel like you need to make an apology, make a small one and continue on. You've got this!

9. Look around the room.  You should always give your audience your full attention. It might be a small classroom of a few students or a massive auditorium but your audience is very important. Focus on different parts of the room that you can spend a few seconds on during the speech. If you can't decide where to look, focus on a specific person. 

10. Be yourself.  You can reduce your anxiety by just being yourself. Involved your personality in how you present information; use your pitch and create a style that's meaningful and allows the audience to relate to you. And don't forget to smile!

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To Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking, Stop Thinking About Yourself

• Sarah Gershman

Tips for before and during your presentation.

Even the most confident speakers find ways to distance themselves from their audience. It’s how our brains are programmed, so how can we overcome it? Human generosity. The key to calming the amygdala and disarming our panic button is to turn the focus away from ourselves — away from whether we will mess up or whether the audience will like us — and toward helping the audience. Showing kindness and generosity to others has been shown to activate the vagus nerve, which has the power to calm the fight-or-flight response. When we are kind to others, we tend to feel calmer and less stressed. The same principle applies in speaking. When we approach speaking with a spirit of generosity, we counteract the sensation of being under attack and we feel less nervous.

Most of us — even those at the top — struggle with public-speaking anxiety. When I ask my clients what makes them nervous, invariably they respond with the same answers:

• Sarah Gershman is an executive speech coach and CEO of Green Room Speakers. She is a professor at the McDonough School of Business at Georgetown University, where she teaches public speaking to leaders from around the globe.

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Originally published on Nov. 1, 2018

How to Speak in Public

By Adam Bryant

Illustrations by Timo Kuilder

Public speaking can tap into a viper’s nest of dread with seemingly infinite possibilities for messing up and creating scar-tissue embarrassment in front of a crowd. If you do a Google search with these four words — “public speaking scarier death” — you’ll get more than 50 million results, many of them about surveys noting that people list speaking in public as their No. 1 fear, with death coming in second. If you find yourself agreeing with those surveys, even reading these words may be causing your pulse to quicken or your palms to sweat (apologies for that). But here’s the good news: You can do this. We’ve broken down the art of public speaking to make it less overwhelming and potentially even rewarding. (Seriously.)

Before you can get onstage, you need to think about your presentation.

Preparation will ensure that you can effectively deliver a speech that relays the message you want to deliver.

One of the best insights I’ve ever heard about speaking to large audiences came from Marcus Ryu, the C.E.O. of Guidewire Software. In my Corner Office interview with him, he explained what I’ve come to refer to as the “Einstein Theory of Communication.”

“I’ve come to realize that no matter how smart the people are you’re communicating to, the more of them there are, the dumber the collective gets,” Ryu told me. “And so you could have a room full of Einsteins, but if there are 200 or 300 of them, then you still have to talk to them like they’re just average people. As the audience gets bigger and bigger, your message has to get simpler and simpler, and the bullet-point list has to be shorter and shorter.”

This isn’t to say that simple is easy or means simplistic. It means that you should really home in on the core insight of your talk and call that out in clear language at the beginning and at the end.

Ask yourself: What is the central question you are asking and answering? If you’re creating a presentation you’re going to use many times, aim for 30 to 35 minutes to make sure you have something substantial, and then be prepared to do a shorter version if need be.

Then, use bullet points to crystallize your subthemes. Make sure that nobody can miss the point of your talk.

You may feel like you’re “dumbing down” your talk to make it so clear, but that’s not the point. Ryu’s insight will help you resolve competing impulses — yes, you know your audience is smart, but you have to keep it really simple.

Get an editor. Everybody needs an editor and speeches are no different; find somebody whose judgment you trust and pressure-test your talk with them. Is it clear? Does the arc make sense? What is the key insight? Are the takeaways clear?

The theory of “keep it simple” applies to more than just what you say; it also applies to how to present it. Many speakers still subscribe to the “more is more” philosophy of packing as much as they can into their slides — dense text, long lists and hard-to-read charts, with small fonts that require squinting to read from the back of the room.

There are lots of books and websites that will explain best practices about design, but all you really need to do is follow these basic rules for slides:

No more than a dozen words per slide.

Make sure the font size is big enough for easy reading from the back of the room. Because you might not know how large the screen is that you’ll be using, better to err on the side of larger rather than smaller. (I’ve never heard anybody complain about big fonts.)

Use only two different fonts , and use a consistent framework for why you use one or the other (headlines vs short blocks of text, for example). Some pairs of fonts work particularly well together, and a Google search will turn up some good suggestions.

Use photographs, not clip art, that capture the spirit of the point you’re making in a clear but clever way. There are plenty of websites, including Unsplash and Pixabay , that have good search tools. And if you’re going to use a photo that doesn’t take up the full slide, put a thin border around it. These small design touches will add crispness to your slides.

Don’t be too clever with the formatting of your slides. Design should be in the service of the point you’re making, not a distraction from it. There are many programs and software features that do nifty transitions between slides and make images do pirouettes. But again, less is more. Making your presentation clear and memorable is your goal. The same goes for video clips and other multimedia. They can help make your talk more engaging, but make sure they are not adding sizzle just for the sake of sizzle.

Don’t read your slides out loud for your audience. Let them read the text, while you provide some commentary or further insight about the idea.

If you’re going to present a list and talk about each item on it, do not present the whole list at once, because people will read ahead. Build your slides so each new slide adds another bullet point to the growing list.

You don’t have to start in front of a crowd of thousands, just push yourself a bit every time you speak.

We’ve all seen and admired those people who seem like they were born on a stage. They speak in full paragraphs without notes, and look as relaxed as if they were heading out for a Sunday stroll. That could be you someday.

The key is to work up to it.

If You’re New to Public Speaking: Write your speech out in full beforehand, to reduce the risk of any big flubs. Be sure that you are writing for the ear, with conversational words, phrases and sentence structures. People often write in somewhat more formal language when they write (“we engaged in heated debate,” rather than “we argued.”) so make sure your talk sounds as natural as if you were speaking at a dinner party.

Then, practice, practice, practice. Practice it enough that you can look up at the audience as often as possible between sentences. And don’t just practice by yourself. You want to get comfortable with your material in front of others.

Try this: Take one piece of your speech, and try it out at the right moment during a meeting at work or at a gathering of friends. Don’t make a big deal of it; just weave it into the conversation. In those settings, of course, you always talk without notes, so it’s a good testing ground for yourself. Get comfortable with your material in front of smaller audiences, and then work up to larger ones.

Try to see the stage and lectern as an extension of everyday life, rather than as foreign and scary terrain. There are plenty of moments in life when you’re the center of attention, so just see the lectern and stage as simply another one.

The second, third or fourth time you speak: Push yourself a bit to talk, even for a sentence or two, without reading your notes verbatim.

Once you’re a bit more experienced: Work up to the next step, where you’re giving yourself just bullet points or cue cards to remind yourself of the notes you want to hit.

“But wait!” you say. “What if I forget something I wanted to say?” Here’s a secret about speaking in front of an audience: Nobody knows what you forget to say. If you didn’t mention something, no big deal. Just focus on hitting the key points.

Once you’re super comfortable: You may find yourself enjoying the same sense of exhilaration you felt as a kid when you took off those training wheels and rode your bike for the first time. Hard as it may be to imagine, it can be thrilling, even fun.

But You’ll Still Be Nervous

The nerves never fully go away. And you should feel a bit nervous before a talk. The key is channeling and focusing that nervousness in a positive way. Remember this clever saying: “It’s okay to have butterflies; just get them to fly in formation.” Over time, you learn to trust yourself, and know that once you’re onstage, you can be confident and deliver a great talk.

Tune into your presentation style and then turn it up a few notches.

There is a hilarious scene in the 1984 mock documentary about a heavy metal-band, “This Is Spinal Tap,” that provides an important lesson about speaking in public. In the scene , the dimwitted guitarist Nigel Tufnel, played by Christopher Guest, is explaining to Rob Reiner’s Marty Di Bergi his decision to change the dials on his Marshall amplifier so that they go to 11 instead of 10. The rationale makes no sense to anyone but himself — only the numbers have changed, after all, not the amp’s ability to play louder. And when Di Bergi presses Tufnel on the squishy logic, the guitarist is stumped and can only repeat himself: “These go to 11.”

What does any of this have to do with public speaking? Here’s the insight: You need to turn up the dial on yourself to 11. Not in terms of how loud you speak, but in terms of your personality. Bring your best self to the lectern.

It’s a lesson I’ve learned first-hand. During the break of a session I did earlier this year, a woman in the audience came up to me and offered some feedback suggesting that I could be an even bigger presence. As memo-to-self moments go, it was a powerful one, and has freed me up to be even more energetic.

After all, it’s your energy that people will remember about you long after your talk is done. It’s unlikely that they’ll remember any of the specific words you said. They might remember some of the photos or video clips you used. But if you inspire people a bit, they will remember how you made them feel. So turn up your dial to 11. Even though you may feel like you’re a bit over the top, it will feel like a 7 to the audience.

When the Audience Needs Dialing Up

And sometimes audiences have low energy. One of the more unnerving moments of speaking to groups can come when you’re looking at all the people in front of you and they are just sitting there or, even worse, are on their phones. You try to read their body language, and you can’t tell if they are bored or tired or listening quietly. Don’t let it throw you. Every audience is a bit different, and even though you may be feeling little to no energy from the crowd, people will likely come up to you afterward and say how great you were. In any crowd, there are always some head-nodders — people who are engaged and listening intently. Feed off their energy. And those people on their phones? Some of them are taking notes from your talk.

Bonus tip: Do not apologize. I’ve seen far too many people over the years start off their talks by apologizing for some aspect of the talk they are about to give. They probably are nervous and maybe want to lower expectations. Resist the temptation. Step up and own it.

Gain respect and attention by making it clear that you are here for them.

When you speak in front of a crowd, there is a kind of invisible wall between you and your audience. Many speakers make no effort whatsoever to break it down. They show up, give their talk, and leave, which has all the personalized feel of watching a TED talk on YouTube.

You can do better. The first step is simple. Thank people for their time, for the invitation and the opportunity to speak. You might also acknowledge that you know how busy they are — a sign that you respect their time and are going to make the most of it.

The second step requires some creativity: Find some personal connection with the audience and what they do. It doesn’t take a lot, and the connection can take many forms, like a shared interest or experience. But put in the effort and time to find something .

Another reliable way to engage the audience is to drop in the occasional “Show of hands, how many people have…?” questions. Move around the stage, and look at people in different parts of the room, making eye contact with as many of them as you can.

Focus on the Beginning and End

Consider this connective tissue as Plan A for your opening, but then during the event or milling around before your talk, be on the lookout for something that feels more of-the-moment. It could be an offhand remark that you overheard during a break that you can use to make a larger (and ideally funny) point. If somebody is speaking before you, show up and watch them, because that may spark an idea that you can use as a bridge to your own talk. Again, you just need something that shows you’re making an effort. If you’re hoping for a laugh, don’t deliver the punchline and worry about crickets. Just deliver it in a more casual way, so that a chuckle or laugh is a bonus, and keep going.

Since we’re talking about opening strong, it’s worth mentioning here that you should finish strong, too. Save your best stuff for your opening and the closing. That’s how people will remember you.

It’s Not (Always) You

As much as you should make an effort to connect with people, some audiences just don’t click, and you shouldn’t take it personally (mostly). I’ve done enough talks over the years to know that I can give the same talk back-to-back to two different audiences, and the reactions could be completely different. It might be the time of day, the temperature in the room, what they served for lunch — plenty of things that aren’t about you.

A big factor is also the physical space of the room you’re in for your talk. There is simply nothing better for creating energy than a person in every seat, and a room that feels tight in a good way. It makes people feel like they are having a shared moment. If I walk into a vast conference or convention room and there are empty pockets of space or seats, I know that trying to create some energy in the room is going to be a Sisyphean struggle.

Bonus tip: If you’re doing a Q&A session onstage with the audience after your talk, do not say “great question” to some of the people who raise their hand. The question they just asked you may in fact be great, but calling it out signals that all the other questions that came before or after didn’t impress you. Just answer the questions.

Nothing will go wrong if you come prepared for everything that does.

If things can go wrong with your talk, they will go wrong. Here are a few tips that I’ve learned the hard way over the years (so you don’t have to).

Find out what the AV set-up is beforehand. Show up early to your presentation, introduce yourself to the tech people and shake their hands. They will help you if they want to help you, so treat them with respect. You have enough to worry about with delivering your talk. Don’t let AV challenges add to your stress levels.

When possible, use your own computer. It’s (hopefully) the one you practiced on at home, and therefore your most comfortable tool.

Arrive technologically prepared. There have been plenty of moments when the set-up can’t accommodate my computer onstage. So bring your own multi-prong adapter, charger, clicker to advance your slides, and anything else you could possibly need. The AV staff probably has what you need, but it’s always safer to bring your own.

Give the AV people a backup version of your slides on a thumb drive just in case things go awry. This has saved me on more than one occasion. Any backup you share should be in a PDF format, because fonts can change between different systems.

Look in a mirror. Always check yourself in a mirror before you go on to make sure there is no errant thread on your clothes or something in your teeth, and that everything is in place and done up.

Try to Find the Fun

Follow these tips, and you’ll set yourself up for success. You’ve earned the opportunity to be invited to come share your thoughts. So be your best self and create some energy in the room (and maybe a bit of inspiration), and people will remember you long after you’ve left the stage.

Adam Bryant is managing director of Merryck & Co., a leadership development and executive mentoring firm. An 18-year veteran of The New York Times, he created the Corner Office interview series and spoke to 525 chief executives about how they lead. He is also the author of two books, including “Quick and Nimble: Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation.”

Twitter: @AdamBBryant

Public Speaking as an Effective Skill Essay

Public speaking is a highly important and useful skill that carries multiple advantages for personal life and professional career. Public speaking skills are required for specialists of various kinds. In this regard, mastering public speaking is going to serve as great enforcement for anyone. The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate different situations where public speaking skills play an important role to show the reasons why public speaking is considered an effective skill.

First of all, the knowledge of theoretical and practical sides of public speaking provides one with multiple benefits such as understanding the ways people think and process the information, communicating thoughtfully and with higher efficiency, using the critical thinking, knowing how to organise and prepare presentations, researching the unfamiliar audiences and using appropriate communication strategies (Coopman, Lull 2014, p. 12). It is a well-known fact that most people experience certain difficulties in adjusting to a new society. For example, in a situation when a person starts working at a new place, they would feel the need to fit into the group of new co-workers, find a common language and establish friendly atmosphere at the workplace.

Public speaking skills provide a person with an ability to evaluate the audience, analyse their needs, learn their potentials, and successfully build contact with them. Proper application of public speaking knowledge will allow the new member of a group to move through the stage of getting to know the colleagues and feel comfortable talking with new people in unfamiliar situations (Coopman & Lull 2014, p. 12). In this case, public speaking skills will allow avoiding the discomfort at the workplace, which may lead to disruption of the work process and create problems for the whole company.

The most obvious situation where public speaking skills are always very useful is an actual performance in front of a group of people such as a public address, presentation of a new project at work, or a motivational speech. In such situations, the speaker can represent a group of fellows or the ideas important for many people. Due to this, a successful performance and efficient delivery of information are highly valuable and important (Keith & Lundberg 2013, p. 4). When one person is chosen to speak on behalf of many, it creates a certain pressure and responsibility for the speaker. In the case of the successful performance of one, the whole group will benefit. The good public speaker has to be able to present the information, keep the audience interested in the delivered ideas, and defend the point of view in case of criticism or counter argumentation.

The skills of public speaking provide one with courage, confidence, and the ability to fluently express themselves. One more situation that demonstrates the importance of public speaking skills is a casual conversation with a stranger. People are social creatures, interpersonal relationships of different kinds are highly important for us. Starting and maintaining friendships, being close to family members, having romantic relationships makes our lives easier and fuller. A skillful speaker will be able to represent themselves in the best and most appropriate way. This can be quite a challenging occupation. Performing in front of just one person is another variation of public speaking (Goldwasser 2006, p. 42). Successful personal representation in any situation, will it be a first date or a job interview, is extremely meaningful for anyone. This is why the development of public speaking skills is considered highly beneficial.

To conclude, almost every day, people face situations where speaking in front of an audience is required. The size of the audience may vary from one to hundreds or thousands of people, but the importance of professional and efficient delivery of information is always high. Knowledge of theoretical and practical sides of public speaking will enable the speaker to feel confident and comfortable and to present themselves and the necessary information in the best ways.

Coopman, S. & Lull, J. 2014, Public Speaking: The Evolving Art. Cengage Learning United States, Boston.

Goldwasser, I. 2006, Interactive Communication: A Guide to Effective Communication. Pearson Education Australia, Sydney.

Keith, W. & Lundberg, C. 2013, Public Speaking: Choice and Responsibility. Cengage Learning United States, Boston.

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"Public Speaking as an Effective Skill." IvyPanda , 12 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/public-speaking-skills/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'Public Speaking as an Effective Skill'. 12 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "Public Speaking as an Effective Skill." May 12, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-speaking-skills/.

1. IvyPanda . "Public Speaking as an Effective Skill." May 12, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-speaking-skills/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "Public Speaking as an Effective Skill." May 12, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/public-speaking-skills/.

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How to Improve Public Speaking Skills

Last Updated: April 22, 2024 Approved

This article was co-authored by Deb DiSandro . Deb DiSandro is the Owner of Speak Up On Purpose, an organization dedicated to improving and teaching public speaking. Deb has over 30 years of experience as a national speaker and has presented at the Erma Bombeck Writer’s Conference and the National Society of Newspaper Columnists. She was awarded the National Speakers Association Member of the Year 2007 and has been published in Writer's Digest, Daily Herald, Women's Day, and Better Homes & Gardens. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved once it receives enough positive feedback. In this case, 91% of readers who voted found the article helpful, earning it our reader-approved status. This article has been viewed 317,219 times.

Public speaking skills can be a hassle if you are insecure or an introvert. However, a little bit of practice and a confident outlook can help you to be a fantastic public speaker. Whether you're giving a presentation or in a social setting, you can use a few simple tools to improve your public speaking talents.

Getting Comfortable with Speaking in Public

• Before engaging in any form of public speaking, learn about your audience. If you are giving a presentation you should be able to do this easily. Think about why you are speaking and where you are speaking. Then go through a checklist.
• Try to be able to answer as to the size of the audience, age, gender, education (experience and socioeconomic level), religion, friendliness, and if the audience knows about you. You can remember this as an acronym, SAGE RFK. [1] X Research source
• Being able to fill in those blanks will help you form a speech that you will feel comfortable giving. The type of audience will affect how you speak.
• If you have the chance, interview 3-7 people from the audience. Find out their challenges so you can create teaching points. Ask about their successes so you can highlight them. Doing so will help you build support and trust from the audience during your speech.

• Visualize yourself speaking confidently and the audience responding positively to your speech. Imagine audience members benefiting from your speech, and tell yourself that you are in the right place at the right time.
• If you feel nervous or scared you probably also have nervous thoughts about what might go wrong. Having such thoughts will alter your voice and your body language negatively.
• Instead of harboring bad feelings and letting negative thoughts fester, remember to think positively. Positive thoughts will make you excited, allow you to relax, and give you confidence. Instead of thinking about how you wish you didn’t have to speak, reframe your thoughts and give yourself a pep talk. You might say to yourself, “Wow! I get to share my knowledge on a subject I’m passionate about with all these wonderful people who want to hear what I have to say!”
• View the chance to speak as a compliment. And know, that in most cases, the people who are listening to you are there for you. These people want to hear what you have to say.

• Make speaking a choice. It’s not something you have to do because you’re standing in front of a bunch of people. It’s something you choose to do when you’re ready.
• Learning to feel ok with silence will help you take your time when speaking publicly. You don’t want to rush your speech. Silences will always feel longer to you than to those not speaking. Just smile and gather yourself but never take too long. If what you speak is good enough, the audience will not mind some silence.
• Use silence to notice your breathing and stay calm. You can also use silence to let a particular point sink in. If you are speaking and want something you just said to really sink into your audience, silence is a great way to allow that to happen before you move on. Silence is your friend, not your enemy.

• Pay attention to all the filler words you say in any given conversation. These words are the noises and words you say when you are processing your thoughts and don’t know what to say next. Words and sounds like “Ah,” “Um,” “Like,” “Er.” Getting more comfortable with silence can help you reduce filler words.
• We also have default speech settings which have become automatic to us over the course of our lives. For example, if someone sneezes, you might say “Bless you.” These behaviors exist in public speaking as well. Identify what behaviors you have, both verbal and nonverbal. Which ones make you look nervous or not authoritative?
• Once you identify what your behaviors are you can begin to correct these habits.
• Perhaps you adjust your glasses when you’re nervous. Or pick your fingernails. Maybe you use more filler words.
• To help you change these habits, learn to be aware of what you’re doing in all settings. Even if you’re talking to a friend on the phone, be cognizant of what you are doing. When you realize you are doing something, make an effort to stop.

Preparing Yourself and Your Speech

• Visualize giving your speech, from driving to the location, getting on stage, delivering the speech, and returning home. This can help alleviate your anxiety and alert you of anything you still need to prepare.
• View your public speaking like a play. If you don’t learn your lines you won’t be able to act and engage your audience. When an actor doesn’t know her lines, the audience is always aware.
• The more you prepare the less you have to worry about when speaking publicly. If it helps you prepare, create a character. You don't have to be just you. Take on a stage persona. If you're introverted, create a character who is extroverted and play that character when speaking. [4] X Research source
• Plan everything that you can so that when it’s time to speak all you have to do is focus on your speech. Not only should you know your speech inside and out, you should plan everything from what you’ll eat to what you’ll wear.
• Plan your outfit a day ahead. When it’s time to get ready, you don’t have to worry. Plan what and when you’ll eat. If you know you get nervous and not hungry before speaking, then plan to eat a few hours earlier.

• While your speech should be pretty much memorized, having an outline will let you reference something to make sure that you’re hitting all the points you need to.
• An outline will help you develop a natural flow to your speech. You won’t have to panic if you forget what your next point was because you can look at your outline.
• You should also include the thesis, or main point, of your speech. Like in an essay paper, having a clear thesis that you will back up is a great help. Your thesis will inform you and your audience of what you will talk about. It will also show the audience that you are prepared and knowledgeable.
• You may get sidetracked during a speech depending on the forum you’re in. Having an outline and really knowing your material will allow you to easily transition and get back on track.

• Just like for any athlete or artist, practice is a key component to success. When practicing your speech, go a little slow to really digest what you are saying and how you are coming across. When you give your actual speech in public you’ll probably have the tendency to speak faster than normal. But practice can help you keep a good tempo. [5] X Research source
• Practicing will also help you memorize and feel prepared. When it’s time to speak publicly, you’ll know that you could do your speech in your sleep. Practice while you’re doing other things, such as the dishes, mowing the lawn, or getting ready.
• Be sure to practice the middle of your speech multiple times, as this is the part that is most often forgotten. Don’t just practice your speech from the beginning; start from the middle and rehearse it through the end a few times to help you lock each part in your memory.

• When you allow yourself to take a moment to breathe you can slow your heart rate and process what you are doing and saying. When we get nervous we often take shorter more shallow breaths. This kind of breathing doesn’t allow us to get as much oxygen and can cloud our thoughts.
• Long, steady breaths will help you keep a clear head and a calm body. Additionally, smile. Smiling triggers endorphins in our brains which make us happy. Make sure to stay hydrated as well. When you’re dehydrated you can’t think as clearly and can become tired much more easily.

• Do whatever you need to do that relaxes you and allows you to get a good night’s sleep. Exercise, watch a movie, read. Try to get eight hours of sleep so you wake up feeling refreshed.
• Plan your outfit beforehand so all you have to do is put it on. You should wear something that gives you confidence and makes you feel amazing. Whether it’s that great suit that makes you feel like you can take on the world or that classy dress that fits your body perfectly and gives you confidence. Dress well and appropriately, but wear something that you feel great in. When you feel great about how you look, your confidence will soar.

Speaking in Public or Giving a Presentation

• Do some stretches to get your body loose so you don’t feel and look stiff when speaking.
• Warm up your vocal chords with some singing drills like moving through your vocal range. Start as low as you can go and then move up through your register to your highest note. Then go back down and repeat.
• Try a few diction exercises and tongue twisters to warm up your mouth and loosen your jaw. [6] X Research source

• Your introduction can be as simple as stating your name and who you are. Explain why you’re speaking today.
• You can also be more casual if the environment allows. Start with a quick anecdote about something that happened to you and relate it to your topic if you can. A story or a joke is a great icebreaker.
• An introduction is a great way to get the crowd on your side and engaged before you start speaking. It will also help you stay relaxed. You want your audience to feel comfortable around you.

• Having a thesis to provide the audience will inform everyone on your topic. It will also show the audience that you are prepared.
• You can then move onto a brief outline of the speech with a transition phrase like, “Today I want to share with you…” This shows that you aren’t taking the crowd for granted and informs everyone that there will be an end. Audiences like to know that at some point you’ll stop talking. This will keep the audience more engaged, rather than zoning out early.
• Stating your outline also helps you to go over it one more time before you dive into speech.

• Look your audience members in the eye. Focus on someone and make eye contact for a sentence or two. Doing this shows your audience that you are speaking to the audience, not at the audience. Making eye contact can also help you stay calm. Focusing on one person at a time and treating it like a conversation instead of speaking to a large group might feel more comfortable to you.
• Your body language is just as important and your words. If you stand still and are stiff, you’ll come off as boring and nervous. If you wave your arms too much or move around a lot, you can also look frantic and nervous. Stand straight and remember your nervous habits. Feel free to move around when you transition to a new thought. Walk at a steady pace and mirror your pace with your talking speed.

• Make sure that you speak slowly and loudly enough so everyone can hear. Don’t overdo it, but you should finish each word completely before speaking the next one.
• Remembering to breathe and allow silences to happen will help you with this.
• Pay attention to the cadence of your voice. You don’t want to be a monotone robot. Feel free to be a little excited or speak a little softer to help convey a certain mood.

• Your speech and body language should inform the audience of the kind of energy you need for your speech. You’re passionate about your topic and know it so well that you get to speak about it. Use that energy to lead the audience.
• Remember to think positively and smile. This kind of good energetic energy will affect your audience, and as a result, will return to you.

• With all your practicing and engaging the audience, you shouldn’t need to look down and read from your outline. But you might want to check it from time to time to make sure you’ve hit all the important points.
• If you’re speaking at a podium, you can leave your outline there. When speaking, feel free to step away from the podium. You can also use your outline as an anchor spot. This anchor is a safe place you can always go back to. Take a breath, let what you said sink in, and check to make sure you’re on track.

• When you conclude your speech, you might want to summarize your main points and reiterate your thesis. Then, deliver an impactful, thought-provoking, and action-oriented closing statement.
• Make sure to thank your audience for listening to you and being a great audience. Then ask if anyone has any questions.
• Before you go into your speech, you may want to write down some questions you’ve had about your topic, ones you’ve heard before, or any you think might get asked. Be able to answer these. Answering questions shouldn’t be hard since you know your topic so well.
• If no one asks a question right away, show that you’re an experienced speaker by saying that people usually ask a certain question. Then use one of the questions you wrote down.

What Are Tips For Improving As a Public Speaker?

Community Q&A

• Create an alternate persona of yourself who is a great public speaker, then play this character. Thanks Helpful 8 Not Helpful 0
• Practice your speech so that you don't need to rely on your notes and can engage with the audience. Thanks Helpful 7 Not Helpful 0
• Remember to breathe and relax. Your audience wants to hear what you have to say. Give everyone a chance to. Thanks Helpful 6 Not Helpful 0

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.forbes.com/sites/deborahljacobs/2014/01/06/six-ways-to-be-an-amazing-public-speaker/#43b36d5dd1a5
• ↑ http://career-advice.monster.com/career-development/education-training/8-ways-to-improve-public-speaking/article.aspx
• ↑ https://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/PublicSpeaking.htm
• ↑ http://www.lifehack.org/articles/productivity/exclusively-for-introverts-10-powerful-tips-improve-your-public-speaking-skills.html
• ↑ http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/10-things/10-easy-ways-to-improve-your-public-speaking/
• ↑ http://www.write-out-loud.com/dictionexercises.html

About This Article

If you have a speech coming up, write an outline of the speech that includes your thesis and main points. Record yourself practicing the speech and adjust your speaking speed, volume, or tone as necessary. On the day of the speech, stay hydrated and warm up your voice with diction exercises or tongue twisters. When it’s time, smile, introduce yourself, and begin your speech. Make eye contact with the audience and focus on articulating your words clearly. For more information on how to overcome a public-speaking fear from our expert co-author, keep reading below! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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9 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

These nine effective public speaking tips will help you nail your next speech or presentation that you give to a group of people.

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If the idea of delivering a speech to an audience makes your palms sweat, hopefully you can find some reassurance in the fact that you're not the only one who has this reaction. Research indicates that one in five people experience public speaking anxiety, or PSA, making it one of the most common types of anxiety today.

Here's the good news: other studies have found that, with the right strategies in place for fighting your fears, you can still perform well when you have a public speaking engagement or presentation of any sort. What are a few of these strategies?

#1: Breathe

When you're nervous, your heart rate speeds up, you begin to sweat, and—if you're not careful—you can easily work yourself into an anxiety attack. To help control all of these responses, take a few minutes before delivering your speech to close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths. Calm your body so you can enter the stage (or speaking area) with a certain level of peace and not feeling all frenzied.

#2: Admit Your Nervousness

Even the most seasoned public speaker can feel nervous on stage. The harder you try to conceal this nervousness, the easier it will likely show through. Yet, admitting that speaking makes you anxious can actually help put both you and your audience at ease. You feel a sense of relief because now the information is out there, giving you the ability to address your anxiety and move on.

#3: Use (Minimal) Notes

If public speaking makes you anxious, there can be a tendency to write your speech out word for word so you can look at it if you forget your next statement. However, if you've ever watched a speaker read from their notes the entire time they are on stage, you know that this isn't effective. You will lose your audience. Instead, keep your notes to a minimum, using only one- or two-word prompts for each point you want to make. This will help you keep your place without detracting from your audience.

#4: Become Comfortable with "The Pause"

One of the biggest distractions as an audience member is a speaker who constantly says " uh" or " um ." These fillers are typically used as a way to say something, anything, while you're thinking of your next point. But some of the best speakers know that "the pause" is not something to avoid. A well-timed break in speaking can even be used to help strengthen a point, letting it sit with the audience before moving on to the next topic. Become more comfortable with this pause and you will become a better public speaker.

#5: Be Aware of Your Hand Gestures

Have you ever talked to someone who is all worked up and noticed that their hands are flailing wildly? Some people naturally speak with their hands. When they're nervous, this type of gesturing can ramp up. While some hand movement is a great way to emphasize certain points, it's also important to not let these movements distract from what you're trying to say. So, pay attention to your hands when you're speaking. Slowing down their movement may also help slow down your brain, creating a greater sense of calm.

#6: Move Around Some, But Not Too Much

People often pace when they're nervous. If this is you, you may have a tendency to walk back and forth across the stage when public speaking. Like with hand gestures, a little bit of movement is okay but too much is, well, too much. Don't be afraid to walk away from the podium, but try not to make your audience feel like they're watching a tennis match either.

#7: Incorporate Visual Prompts

If the idea of having all eyes on you makes you nervous, visual prompts are a good way to divert the audience's attention yet still stay on topic. These prompts can be by way of a slide of an image or graph or something more concrete, such as pouring a half glass of water to emphasize the effect of "living with your glass half full." It might feel good to have their attention diverted, even if only for a moment. Plus, it gives you something to do with your hands.

#8: Practice, Practice, Practice…Then Practice Some More

Mark Twain once said, "It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech." So, maybe your fear of public speaking comes from not being fully prepared. One way to overcome this, then, is to practice, practice, and practice some more. Each time you deliver your speech, you will become more comfortable. You'll begin to learn it inside and out, increasing your confidence when delivering it for real.

#9: Record Yourself Speaking

This final public speaking tip is intended to help you recognize how you may come across to an audience. When you record yourself speaking and watch it back, you may notice that you do things that you didn't even realize. This provides the opportunity to correct these issues before being in front of a live audience. Another option is to practice your speech in front of a friend or family member and ask for their honest feedback.

Summing Up Public Speaking Tips

Public speaking is a common fear. The good news, however, is that this fear doesn't have to stop you from delivering an amazing speech. These public speaking tips can help you feel some calmness on stage while also better connecting with your audience…making you a more impactful public speaker.

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4 Strategies for Developing Confident Student Speakers

Consistent support and low-stakes opportunities to practice go a long way to help students overcome the challenges of speaking in front of a group.

I belted out the opening line to Marc Antony’s funeral speech from The Tragedy of Julius Caesar , leaping up the stairs to the stage in my school’s auditorium. Thirteen ninth-grade students dressed in togas sat in the front rows, mouths agape, as they witnessed their goofy teacher unexpectedly launch into the 35-line monologue they had all just beautifully performed. 

Confession: I was nervous walking onto that stage—I sometimes get uncomfortable in the (literal) spotlight. To normalize feelings of anxiety during a performance, I revealed those emotions to my class afterward. 

Public speaking is hard, and it can be extremely daunting for our most introverted students ; however, with modeling and practice, I believe that teachers can cultivate confident speakers.

Strategy 1: Provide Direct Instruction

A poster inspired by Erik Palmer’s work on public speaking ( PVLEGS : Poise, Voice, Life, Eye Contact, Gestures, Speed) hangs in the back of my classroom. Well before we launch into a study of the funeral orations from Caesar , I explicitly teach those skills. I demonstrate for students appropriate eye contact—the speaker locks eyes briefly with individual audience members and scans the room as she speaks, establishing a connection with her audience. The speaker might also speed up his voice for a certain effect or raise his arms to command the attention of his audience.

Strategy 2: Provide Public Speaking Models

After we spend a class closely reading and analyzing the two funeral orations by Marc Antony and Brutus, I play clips of the speeches from the two film adaptations. We watch the performances and think about PVLEGS: Which speaking moves does each actor utilize in his performance? Which actor delivers the stronger performance and why? After we watch and students share their observations with partners, we discuss and debate the merits of each performance. 

When my classes work on memorizing and performing the monologues, I ask them to study the models and even borrow some of the actors’ techniques. They consider: Do I want to take an angrier approach to the Antony speech like Marlon Brando? Should I adopt a regretful tone like Jason Robards’ Brutus? This type of close viewing could be applied to any speaking performance. On a related note, I also hope that I serve as a public speaking model for my students as I stand in front of my English classes daily.

Strategy 3: Acknowledge and Coach through Anxiety

I remember stumbling through my senior research presentation in high school, well before the advent of interactive whiteboards and Google Slides. I’m vulnerable with my students about my former public speaking struggles. I want them to know that they’re not alone, and through practice and repetition, their self-doubt and fear can transform from an eardrum-rupturing siren into a quiet background hum.

I give a few bits of advice to nervous speakers as they prepare for any public speaking activity. First, I urge them to “practice, practice, practice!” If they know their stuff, they’ll be much more confident on game day. I also find that most students who report feeling very nervous while speaking don’t always appear nervous to others. Sharing this anecdotal evidence with them helps students tune out their inner critics and feel more calm. I also find lots of opportunities to confer with reluctant speakers and give them plenty of encouragement. This fosters stronger connections with my students and boosts their confidence. 

Strategy 4: Provide Lots of Low-Stakes Speaking Opportunities 

My Caesar unit usually takes place in the second semester, when students have had plenty of low-stakes speaking opportunities. In almost every class, I ask students to turn and talk to their partners to share a sentence from a quickwrite or to check in on their current drafts. Earlier in the year, I coach them on how to effectively talk to their partners, and the process quickly becomes routine. An effective technique to get all students speaking, even if it’s a quick response, is the whip-around. Teacher Marcus Luther asks a question with a short, one-word answer. He then goes around the room and has each student answer aloud, followed by a debrief with partners or groups. 

My favorite low-stakes speaking activity is the Pop-Up Debate , which teacher Dave Stuart Jr. invented and has been writing about for years. In this activity, the class is presented with a question, and they spend 10 minutes writing an answer to it. After that, the debate begins, and students simply “pop-up” at their desks to enter into the conversation. In my experience, this activity can transform a usually quiet class into an engaged one. Secondary students love to argue, even about literature! 

Flexibility, Support, and Incentives Develop Strong Speakers 

In many ways, the memorized funeral oration is the most high-stakes speaking task my ninth-grade honors students participate in throughout the year. I give a grade for this assessment, but to take the focus off of grades and to place that focus on improvement instead, I provide students with a few crutches to lean on. 

First, if students forget a line, a friend acts as a prompter in the pit with the text ready. Students can also revise the performance if they choose to. I tell students that they can redo the performance if it doesn’t go as planned. At the end of the class, if time allows, a handful of students always choose to give it another shot. I find that this also takes the pressure off. I think of it like a writing assignment; students can always revise a paper to improve it. Finally, I give them extra credit for wearing togas, which adds to the fun of the special day.

In a recent article in The Atlantic , “ End the Phone-Based Childhood Now ,” author Jonathan Haidt reports that Gen Z students are more anxious, shy, and risk-averse than the children of the past, which he attributes to social media and the introduction of the smartphone. Risk-taking, Haidt argues, “promote[s] competence, maturity, and mental health.” Public speaking, a type of risk-taking, can be very frightening for some of our students, but if teachers provide them with speaking opportunities each day, month, and school year, perhaps we can help mold them into confident, healthy young adults who venture into the world as strong public speakers. 

Thank you to my former department chair, Janet Matthews, for the Julius Caesar performance activity.

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5 chatgpt prompts to improve your public speaking (wow your audience).

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5 ChatGPT prompts to be a better public speaker (wow your audience)

If you find yourself on a stage or in the spotlight, you had better take it seriously. People are watching, so don’t let them down. Open with confidence, deliver with passion, and close with a bang. There is no other way. But if you’re not sure how to begin preparing, this might seem like a mammoth task. Luckily, there’s time to learn.

These five public speaking experts have you covered, along with a little help from ChatGPT. Copy, paste and edit the square brackets in ChatGPT, and keep the same chat window open so the context carries through.

Wow your audience with your words: ChatGPT prompts for public speaking

Get ideas for keynotes.

Keynote speaker, leadership performance coach, and host of the Compete Every Day podcast Jake Thompson uses ChatGPT to get ideas for keynotes, “as a baseline to start and then adjust the copy and tune.” He said it’s helpful if you’re “stuck generating a strong starting point.” Don’t let the blank page intimidate you. Give ChatGPT information about your audience and their goals, to get brand new ideas you can roll with in minutes. Prompt like a winner from the very start, following Thompson’s lead.

“You are an expert marketing copywriter. Create a list of five ideas for keynote speech titles for my talk for [describe your audience, e.g. new managers and leaders], aspiring to be [describe their goal, e.g. high performance in their role].”

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Once you have options for ideas, choose your favorite and request a framework with examples tailored to your field of expertise.

“The talk will discuss the importance of [outline the key learning objectives, e.g. self-leadership, building rapport with team members, investing in your professional network]. Create a structure for the talk. Include titles and subtitles that incorporate examples and metaphors from [your signature topic, e.g. sports, business] to [outcome you want to achieve, e.g. inspire, motivate] the audience.”

Resonate with your audience

Keynote speaker, corporate facilitator and founder of Breakthrough Play , Gary Ware, has worked with some household name brands, including HP HP , Intuit Intuit and GoFundMe, to improve the public speaking skills of their outward-facing team members. Ware is all about the audience. Use these prompts to make a speech you have already written super relevant to the people in the room. Don’t miss the mark by taking them in turn.

“The audience of my next talk consists of [describe your audience including their profession, typical age, and any other characteristics] and the theme of the [event, e.g. conference] is [describe the theme, e.g. marketing]. Based on this information, outline the key interests or concerns my speech should address to be most relevant to them.”

When you have your answer, incorporate the learning into your speech, then check it aligns.

“Based on your recommendations given, review my attached talk to ensure my message is aligned with this audience’s expectations and needs. [Paste speech]”

Balance warmth and competence

Vanessa Van Edwards is founder of The Science of People and bestselling author of books Captivate, unpacking the science behind succeeding with people, and Cues, mastering the secret language of charismatic communication . She delivers 50 keynote speeches every year and knows how to make a great impression that lasts long after her talk is over.

“The best presenters have the perfect blend of warmth and competence,” Van Edwards explained. “But most of us have an imbalance between the two.” To redress the balance, Van Edwards pastes her script into ChatGPT and asks for recommendations. Here’s a prompt you can try for yourself.

“Review the script for an upcoming keynote I’m delivering. Identify three sections that lack warmth, and suggest the most appropriate way to improve that (for example, with a story, joke, case study, example or warm words) being specific about what to add or remove. Then, identify three sections with the potential to signal more competence, and suggest what to add (for example data, facts, analytics or competent words), being specific. [Paste script]”

Breathe more often

Founder of Best Speech Mike Pacchione, a keynote coach who has worked with renowned speakers such as James Clear , Donald Miller, Amy Porterfield and Olympic gold medalist Scott Hamilton, wants you to focus on breathing. Sounds simple? There’s much more to it. “Speakers can speak with more power when they breathe frequently,” he explained. “But they write notes in paragraphs and long sentences. That leads to being out of breath by the time you hit a full stop.”

Pacchionne recommends that speakers write their scripts as if they're song lyrics. In other words, format your keynote wording in such a way where you are reminded to take a breath. An ideal task for ChatGPT.

"Rewrite the following text with the exact same words, but add a line break every 7-10 words. The end product should resemble song lyrics instead of written paragraphs. [Paste your script]"

When you have your reworked speech, Pacchionne recommends you “go back and make sure the breathing breaks are in natural spots,” adding that “a speaker would be far better served with that format versus paragraphs.”

Make a backup plan

Entrepreneur, bestselling author, podcast host and keynote speaker Liz Bohannon is hired to give keynotes of different lengths, usually between 30 and 60 minutes. But the story is sometimes different on the day. “Often the event is running late, so I have less time than I'd planned for.” Bohannon uses ChatGPT to make a robust backup plan, so she’s prepared for any eventuality before she arrives.

"This speech is [duration]. I need to shorten it by [number] minutes but maintain [topic of speech, lesson or takeaway] as the main point. Make suggestions as to which parts I can cut while maintaining the powerful message: [Paste script]"

Stand out on stage: ChatGPT prompts to show up and wow

Give your audience everything they want and more when you prepare well using ChatGPT. Get ideas for talks with suitable examples, resonate with your audience whatever the event, and balance warmth and competence for charismatic delivery. Don’t forget to breathe by seeing your paragraphs as lyrics, and make a backup plan to fit in with questionable organizer timings.

Show up, stand tall, and say your words with pride. Secure raving fans and repeat bookings. The mic is yours, don’t let us down.

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• Actions that otherwise violate our site's  terms.

So, how can you be a power user?

• Stay on topic and share your insights
• Feel free to be clear and thoughtful to get your point across
• ‘Like’ or ‘Dislike’ to show your point of view.
• Protect your community.
• Use the report tool to alert us when someone breaks the rules.

Thanks for reading our community guidelines. Please read the full list of posting rules found in our site's  Terms of Service.