How do I become a better Public Speaker?

Question

How would one go about getting public speaking tips that will help reduce anxiety, dispel myths, and improve performance?

Answer 1

Public Speaking is a mental crutch presenters often face. However, with extensive training of the mind, public speaking can be strengthened and anxiety can be subdued. I utilize the following tips when speaking in front of an audience:

1. Practice your presentation in front of a family member or someone you are comfortable with. This will strengthen your memorization, familiarity with your speech and increase comfort levels. Ask your family member to provide you with friendly constructive criticism to help you improve.
2. Before speaking I remind myself that my audience has faced the same situation where they were forced to give a speech. With this in mind, your audience will be sympathetic and patient with your speech which should put you at ease. At some point, they were in the same seat you are.
3. During the speech I pretend I am on the only one in the room. No one else exists and I pretend I am speaking a monologue. I do not focus eye contact on any individual person. I look past the audience and clear my mind to focus exactly on what I am speaking about. This is super helpful mental training that will help you in the future as well!
4. Do not dread your assignment. Practice will make you more confident and when you increase your confidence you are more comfortable speaking about the topic.
5. Try and create a speech that is engaging for your audience. Providing hands on exercises (if applicable), humor and relatable anecdotes will make you dread your assignment less and make it more exciting for your audience.

If you take into consideration all of the great tips that were provided above from fellow Wyzant members as well as myself, you should become very successful with your presentation.

Answer 2

There is not enough space to fully elaborate on your questions. Moreover, everybody is different. Therefore, when you start working with a public speaking trainer or communication skills coach, they will assess your personality, strengths and weaknesses, and your preferences before making recommendations and coaching you. Besides, I would be curious which myths you would like to dispel?

Answer 3

It is normal to have anxiety before speaking in front of an audience. Some just hide their anxiety better than others. But it really is all in the mind. Before going out and facing your audience, tell your mind that you are not scared. You have already practiced whatever you are going to say a million times so you should be confident that you will do well. Also, imagine your audience to be a bunch of cabbages and apples, or something to make you laugh. It'll help trick your brain into being less nervous.

Don't worry about being so perfect when speaking. It's okay to stumble a bit throughout, and you can easily dispel the awkwardness by using humor. Humor is the breaker of tension, awkwardness, and nervousness. Humor can be appreciated anywhere, however know the right balance to humor, don't overuse it.

However, in all truthfulness, these methods above are only helpful if you have practiced what you have to say a lot before the presentation date. Always practice harder than what you actually have to do. For example, you can record yourself at home saying the speech, but without your notes and paper. Practice it memorized, and force yourself to not make any mistakes. If you get bored of recording yourself and it's no longer a challenge for you to speak at the camera while remembering your speech, ask your friends to watch you talk. But practice, practice, practice! Do not go easy on yourself while practicing!

Answer 4

Public speaking—well where do I begin… although described as one of the greatest and most common fears that can make your palms sweat I know that with the right tools and guide it can be overcome.

There are many ways to tackle this anxiety and learn to deliver a memorable speech. Some of the tools I use are the mirror, poetry, mimicking, meditation, and breathing exercises.

Here are some of my many tips to get your on your way to become an excellent public speaker.

Make “practice” your go to tool; the more you practice the more comfortable you will be.

It sure helps when you know your audience; the speech should be for them, not you.

Organize your material ahead of time.

Look at your audience to see their body language and go from there.

Your personal touch should come through every time, because there is just one of you and you are unique.

Remember to use humor, examples, and connect with the audience.

Don’t be afraid to use your hands to gesture and guide your audience through your story.

Grab the attention of your audience at the beginning and make sure you close with a bang.