How to be Good at Public Speaking?

public speaking

Rightly said, “There are three things to aim in public speaking: get into your subject, get your subject into yourself and to get your subject into the heart of your audience. “

Public Speaking is an art. However, you don’t have to be a “born” speaker. This is something you can be better at with practice and certain tactics. While definitely there are people, who are blessed naturally, but others can refine their speaking skills.

How???

So, here are some useful tips to help improve your speaking:

  1. Get Familiar with your Audience – This is important because it’s all about your audience. While you don’t need to have expert knowledge of your audience, you should know about their interests, mission. For instance, if you’re invited to address people at a trade association, you should have audience-centric notes. It would be significant to call your host and ask some questions about the audience.
  2. Know your Motive from the beginning – Remember that your objective is to communicate. As a public speaker, you should speak with the client in advance to know why they have invited you and the intention in mind that you can focus on. Nail down the basic details a day before your event. Also, confirm with the client your message output and some prep tips to deliver your speech effectively.
  3. Do not try humor– If you’re not a noted humorist or an experienced toastmaster or well-acquainted with humor that can make your audience laugh, don’t attempt humor. A few punches are definitely fine such as sharing a funny moment with the audience. However, keep in mind that pulling off little comedy is a lot harder than it appears when coming from an skilled speaker.
  4. Keep your sentences short and your words even shorter – Not everybody is a keen listener. Even people aren’t interested in listening long, boring sentences. Hence, you should not trouble your audience by forcing them to listen to your long, complicated sentence, or understand an unnecessarily long word. The bottom line: Keep It Simple, and Short!
  5. Rehearse a lot – Practice makes a person perfect. When you rehearse and rehearse, there are fewer chances for you to look down at your speech, shuffle your notes, or stumble on key phrases in order to recall the order of your words. You can rehearse in front of a mirror, your family or friends. Recording your speech during practicing and playing it back over and over is also a great way to rehearse. Don’t memorize your points, just understand their logic and purpose to just glance at your notes. 

Enjoy it – Take it as an opportunity to address and guide or motivate your audience.  If you’re invited to speak and address people, it means you’re gifted and people have paid for the privilege of listening to you. Public speaking scares most people, so take it as not fear but excitement. Enjoy the entire process and your speaking to the fullest. Only then you can make others enjoy on your words.