Public speaking is a skill to be mastered with commitment and practice.
Though some might claim that you’ve either got it or you’ve not, this couldn’t be further from the truth. In reality, anybody can learn how to get better at public speaking. It’s true: speaking to an audience is an art, and it’s one that you can get better at no matter what stage you’re starting from.
If you want to become a better public speaker, there are plenty of ways to make it happen. Here are ten public speaking tips that will help.
1. Plan Your Speeches
If you turn up without preparing, everybody will know. It’s not a good look.
To help you feel confident and focus on your audience, you need to prepare. Plan what you want to talk about, and maybe even make yourself some notecards.
2. Consider Your Audience
This is one of the most important public speaking tips you’ll receive. Always bear your audience in mind when planning.
You need to tailor what you’re going to say to the people who are going to be listening. Make sure you know the demographic of your audience and plan your speech in a way that will keep them interested.
3. Practice, Practice, Practice
You could have the best public speaking skills in the world—it would amount to nothing if you never practiced. Nothing else can prepare you for the reality of speaking to a real audience.
Rope in a loved one or even use the mirror. The most important thing is to practice speaking your address out loud before the event.
4. Speak Clearly On the Day
The physical skill of speaking is just as important as having something to say. Always make sure you’re speaking slowly and clearly.
If you’d like some help with getting a better public speaking voice, you can work with a voice coach for public speaking. They’ll teach you projection techniques, how to avoid talking too fast, and many other key public speaking skills.
5. Involve Your Audience
You don’t have to get them out of their seats, but you need to draw them into what you’re saying. Keeping them engaged is key.
This can be achieved with good eye contact and a well-trained voice. There’s no requirement to turn your speech into a Q&A to keep them listening!
6. Body Language Matters
Stand with your shoulders back and head up. Open body language suggests confidence.
If you look scared, your audience will feel uncomfortable. Remember that there’s no need to be afraid—they want your speech to go well just as much as you do.
7. Be Expressive!
This doesn’t mean you need to caricature yourself. It just means that using a good tone of voice and facial expressions will make your speech more entertaining to listen to.
Expression is a skill that can be honed with time and practice. Don’t worry if you’re not perfect at it just yet—you will learn what audiences want to see from a speaker soon enough.
8. Think Confident Thoughts
Remember that you have something to say. The audience wants to know what you’ve got to offer them.
It’s normal to feel excited or nervous. Just remember, you don’t need to feel scared.
9. Control Those Jitters
It’s easier said than done, but it’s a valuable skill. Staying calm will come with practice, but there are ways to help you from your very first public speaking event.
Taking deep breaths, smiling at the audience, and going in with practice will help. They are all things that will put both you and the audience at ease.
10. Always Keep Improving
Self-tapes of your speeches are useful tools. You can look back on them and see what you could’ve done better in order to constantly improve and evolve as a speaker.
This will help you stay on top of whatever the latest audiences want. It’s a great tool for improving your craft.
You Know How to Get Better at Public Speaking – So Do It!
You’re the only one who can take steps to improve your public speaking skills. Now that you’ve read through the best tips on how to get better at public speaking that we have to offer, it’s over to you. Start learning today, you won’t regret it.
Public speaking is a tricky skill to master, but if you found this helpful, you can rest assured you’ll like our other articles that will teach you how to build new skills. Be sure to check them out on our blog!
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