Top Public Speaking Tips

Who, What, Where, When, How

Public speaking tips to help you on your way to make your appearance a memorable one. A quick who, where, how, when, and why of public speaking tips.

Source: Flickr - Schipulites

Where

• Know the arena. It might feel like battle, but it helps to know the room and equipment you'll be working with so make sure you arrive early at the location and scout out the room.

What

• Know your topic and come prepared. Be the expert on what you are talking about – inside and out, know what you want to say and how you are going to do it.
• Be passionate and authentic. Your audience can tell when you don't believe what you are saying, so put your emotions into it (but keep it under control too).

Who

• You, the messenger. While the message is the most important, your audience will need to 'buy' the messenger first. If you don't get invited it, you can't make a sale.
• Dress the part. If you want to be perceived as confident dress how you expect a confident person to dress or in what makes you confident, but let it be appropriate to your message.
• Know your audience. Is what you want to tell them relevant to them? Adjust the way you say it to suit the audience (don't speak to them like you speak to your kids – unless it is your kids of course).
• The message. If the audience trusts you, you have opened their minds to your message.
• Relax and breathe. If the audience are listening they are giving you an opportunity to contribute so make the best use of it.
• Get a coach or mentor. By working with someone who has more experience you can avoid some of the normal pitfalls by sharing in their experiences (training and coaching). They are also a good sounding board for ideas and when practicing your speech.

How

• Be prepared. Thorough preparation can make the difference between a dead stop in conversation or autopilot guiding you through if you become too self-aware mid-speech.
• Visualize your success. By practicing before hand, and gaining experience, you can vividly visualize your delivery and success before ever stepping into the room.
• Make eye contact with your audience. This builds confidence and trust.
• Practice makes perfect. Practicing by yourself or with some people you trust will build your confidence and help iron out some of the problems.
• Speaking aids. PowerPoint presentations / handouts can be tempting to use to take the attention off of you, but only use it if necessary. It can be distraction and impede the delivery of the message.
• Be provocative and engaging. By hooking your audience into your topic, it will be difficult for them to forget your message.
• Ask questions. Rhetorical unless you want an interactive session. The audience will engage and then start formulating responses in their minds.
• Work with the end in mind. What will be the outcome of your speech? Focus and bend the content and delivery efforts to affect this outcome.

When

• Be punctual. Make sure you know how to get to the location and get there early. The worst start to a speech or presentation is a late start.
• Start getting experience now. Why wait?

More public speaking tips

• Planning your speech
• Developing a speech outline
• Tips for preparing your speech
• Speech Delivery
• Adding humour to your speech
• Quoting other public speakers effectively

Other public speaking tips:

• Overcoming the fear and nervousness
• Inter-cultural communication
• Public speaking tips: Conducting a debate
• What is this fear of public speaking?
• Tips for being a good Master of Cermonies

Storytelling tips:

• Storytelling techniques