1. What is public speaking?

Public speaking (also called oratory or oration) is the process or act of performing a speech to a live
audience. Public speaking is commonly understood as formal, face-to-face speaking of a single person to
a group of listeners. Traditionally, public speaking is considered to be apart of the art of persuasion. The
act can accomplish particular purposes including to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Additionally,
differing methods, structures, and rules can be utilized according to the speaking situation.

There are five elements of public speaking, and it basically boils down to who is saying what to whom
using what medium with what effect. In other words, who is the source of the message. What is the
message itself. Whom is the audience, while the medium is the actual delivery method and ending in the
effect. Think of the effect as the speaker's intent for the speech.

2. The uses of public speaking

Public speaking can serve the purpose of transmitting information, telling a story, motivating people to
act or some combination of those. This type of speech is deliberately structured with three general
purposes: to inform, to persuade and to entertain. Knowing when public speaking is most effective and
how it is done properly is a key part in understanding the importance of it.

Public speaking for business and commercial events is often done by professionals. These speakers can
be contracted independently, or by other means. Public speaking plays a large role in the professional
world; in fact, it is believed that 70 percent of all jobs involve some form of public speaking

3. Why is public speaking important

Good public speaking skills can have a huge impact on your career for the following reasons:

a. Demonstrates your knowledge. You are always at your best when you can articulate your thoughts
clearly and effectively. Public speaking skills help you do exactly that. After all, the true worth of the
knowledge you possess can only be realized when you can show and apply it.

b. Demonstrates your confidence. Not only does public speaking increase your knowledge during the
process of preparation but it also develops and demonstrates your confidence. Whether you are
interviewing for a job or hoping for a promotion, your confidence is what will make you stand out among
other candidates.

c. Helps you lead better. The higher you climb up the career ladder, the greater will be the number of
people you shall have to lead. As a result, the need for public speaking skills and the confidence
pertinent to it also increases, making it one of the determining characteristic when considering someone
for promotion.

4. How to prepare for public speaking

Doing the correct preparation can mean the difference between delivering a powerful speech and
delivering a lacklustre speech that doesn’t make an impact. Preparing correctly for your speeches and
presentations is a very important skill and it’s a very important part of public speaking.

a. Select your topic AND core message

Step number one is to select your topic but to also select your core message.

Almost every guidebook for speech writing will say to choose your topic. It’s an obvious starting place.
But a lot of people miss out the fact that you need to also select the core message that you want to get
across.

for example : I could have a topic like global warming. From this I could have a core message about the
need to: invest in clean energy, reduce our emissions, plant more trees.

The same topic can deliver a lot of different core messages. Getting clear on your core message and
exactly what you want to deliver to your audience will help you frame the rest of your preparations.

b. Create a structure

Step number two is to create a structure for your speech. Speeches are generally nothing without
structure. This is the pattern or journey or flow that is inherent in the speech. Your audience will likely
find the speech confusing if it does not have structure. Create a message that has an engaging
introduction. We really want to grab people with our introduction. We want to have a great body that
uses stories and engaging points. And then we want to finish off with a bang with our conclusion. That is
how most speeches go. But how you go through your speech is really up to you.

c. Write the speech

Step number three is to then write the speech (more on creating a speech outline). Or – if you decide
you are prepared enough – you can stop right here and wing it. So writing out your speech can be a very
effective way of preparing.

d. Practise with gestures

Step number four is to then practise your speech with gestures. We don’t just want to add gestures to
our speech because gestures will come naturally. But we need to practise our speech using gestures in
front of a mirror or in front of the video camera. You can plan out gestures if you want but I think this is
more likely to confuse you because you’ll be trying to remember so many things.
So practise your speech and make sure that it flows well. Then use and practise your gestures. Make sure
that they seem ordinary and that you’re not doing anything weird or uncomfortable. Your gestures
should be natural and not obtrusive.

e. Practise with an audience

Step number five is to practise in front of people and get feedback. This is most important if you’re giving
an important speech or presentation. Practising by yourself is great but speaking in front of someone will
heighten your natural ability to identify anything that feels or sounds silly.

You could do this with one of your friends. Simply getting up in front of someone who can give you
feedback will allow you to better understand when something is flowing and when it isn’t. You will also
get the added benefit of the feedback that the person provides us.

f. Learn and improve

And step number six is to learn and improve after you deliver your speech. So don’t deliver your speech
and immediately put it out of your mind. You’re likely to have to give multiple public speeches
throughout your life. So it’s important to learn from every single experience that you have and to
become a better public speaker.

Think about the things that you did well. You could even list them on a piece of paper or in your head.
And then consider what you could improve upon. Don’t question what you did wrong – this will only
bring your morale down and lessen your confidence. Instead identify your weaker points and think of
ways that you can better yourself next time.

5. Tips and tricks to be a good public speaker

a. Slow Down

Most inexperienced speakers talk faster on stage than they realize – and it’s completely understandable.
When you’re giving your talk, you’re nervous, anxious, and you’re trying to hold all the information you
need to present in your head. All you want to do is get through your speech so you can get off the stage
and go someplace where people can’t judge you.

Unfortunately, this can cause you to rush through your speech far too quickly, which make the
information you’re presenting hard to understand.

So here’s a rule of thumb:

Speak slowly enough that you feel a little uncomfortable doing it.

Some people will say, “Speak half as fast as you think you need to,” – either way, just be conscious that
you probably need to slow down.
Taking the time to make these pauses can also help you eliminate the use of verbal pauses in your
speech – words including um, er, like, you know, kind of, etc. When you become used to pausing
deliberately for effect, you start becoming able to do so when you simply need to think.

b. Pay Attention to Your Body Language

Body language is important for a couple of reasons:

- Non-verbal communication – of which your body language is a large part – compliments verbal
communication. Your posture, the way you hold yourself, the way you move your hands… all these facets
of body language can help to refine and reinforce what you’re talking about.

- Body language that you’re not aware of can hurt you. Most of us have little nervous tics that we do
without noticing; mine was putting my hand in and out of my pocket over and over. I’d also pace around
the room too much.

For reference, here’s a list of some common nervous tics you can watch out for:

Pacing back and forth or “wandering the stage”

Tapping your feet

Touching your face or playing with your hair

Fidgeting with your fingers

Playing with your pockets or other parts of your clothes or jewelry

Rubbing the back of your neck

Looking back at your slides too often

Swinging your arms back and forth

If you can pinpoint and eliminate the nervous tics you do unconsciously and learn to utilize intentional
gestures for dramatic effect, you’ll be able to hold the audience’s attention much more effectively.

c. Make Eye Contact

When you’re speaking on stage, you’re addressing everyone in the room – each person sitting in a seat
(and maybe standing if you’re really popular) is part of the audience. Unfortunately, many inexperienced
speakers get nervous and fixate on one section of the audience during their entire presentation. Don’t
do this.

Instead, regularly move your gaze to different parts of the audience, making sure you move over the
entire audience during your talk. Try to make eye contact with people all throughout the room.
Now, I know this can be scary. You’re already nervous enough that you’re on stage – making direct eye
contact with people can add more anxiety to the equation! If you feel this way, you can employ a classic
speaker’s trick:

Fix your gaze just above the heads of the people in the back row.

These people are far back enough that they probably can’t tell if you’re making direct eye contact or not,
and you can still comfortably move your head and focus on different parts of the audience.

However, even though this trick works well, I challenge you to try to make eye contact with at least a few
people during your next talk. Doing this gets easier and easier with practice, and it makes you seem
more human when you’re speaking.

d. Practice, Practice, Practice… Ad Infinitum

…well, maybe not that much. But you should practice your material an awful lot before stepping on
stage.

When it comes to practice, you goal is not to do it until you get your speech right; your goal should be to
practice until you can’t get it wrong.

Anxiety can block your brain from making connections, but mastering your material will help you avoid
that adverse effect. Additionally, mastery will help you cut down on a lot of anxiety in the first place. If
you know exactly what you’re going to say, you’ll feel much more confident in front of the audience.

Now, you might be saying:

“My speech teacher told me not to memorize my speech!”

I think there’s a distinction to be made when it comes to this piece of advice. To be sure, you shouldn’t
write your entire speech out and try to memorize it word-for-word. Doing that will make you sound like
you’re reading.

However, I do think you should be able to get up on stage and deliver your speech without note cards.
The way I achieve this is by writing my speech out in bullet points.

Each main point, clarification, and important fact will get a bullet point in my outline. The first few times I
practice, I’ll have the whole outline in my hands so I can reference it.

After a few runs, though, the general outline and most of the details start to form a concrete picture in
my head. At that point, I’ll practice without the outline

e. . Film Yourself

Here’s a way to practice more efficiently: Bring a video camera with you and film your practice runs. By
doing this, we were able to pinpoint things we didnt even notice we were doing – looking back at the
slides, pacing too much, speaking too quickly, etc.
f. Realize How Your Audience Views You

I believe each of the people in your audience falls into one of two different categories:

Supporters – people who care about you, are invested in your topic, and want see you succeed.

Bored people – those who would rather be elsewhere. Their minds are in the clouds, and whatever you
do probably won’t affect them much.

Notice that neither of these categories includes people who will hate you, throw rotten food at you, or
summon the spirit of Hades himself and curse your family for all eternity. There’s a key realization you
should have here. Your supporters are cheering you on through the good and bad; they’ll forgive your
mistakes. The bored people are… bored. That means their opinions of you don’t matter. Don’t let the
potential reactions of bored people cause you unnecessary anxiety during your speech.

After the speech is over, you can take any constructive criticism into account for future performances.

g. Focus on Your Topic, Not Your Performance

When you’re developing your speech, try to get invested in the topic and focus on the transformation
you want it to have on your audience. It’s amazing just how much less scary a talk is once you focus on
your audience and figure out exactly what you want to deliver to them.

Once you do that, you’re no longer thinking so much about the technical aspects of your performance –
your eye contact, body language, whether or not your fly is down, etc. When you’re really invested in
your topic, your speech becomes almost as easy as simply explaining something to a friend in a casual
setting.

h. You Don’t Have to be Perfect

…so don’t try to be. Nobody delivers a perfect speech; even if you think someone did, that person can
probably point out five things they feel like they screwed up on.

Perfectionism will only cause anxiety and paralyze your progress, so realize right now that your speech
won’t be perfect… and that’s ok. There’s a great quote by the author and speaker Scott Berkun that has
always resonated with me:

“I don’t want to be perfect. I want to be useful, I want to be good, and I want to sound like myself.”

These are the qualities you should strive to achieve with your speaking – and with anything you do! So
take a breath, calm your mind, and forget about perfectionism. Get out there, be yourself, and own the
room