Top 10 Public Speaking Tips

Public speaking can be very daunting. There are lots of ideas to string together, lots of words to memorise, and lots of people to stand before. Just the thought of presenting a speech might make your palms clammy. But, public speaking is a valuable life skill, so it is beneficial to get more comfortable with it! Here are our top 10 public speaking tips to boost your confidence and make those hands a little less clammy when you present your next speech!

Table of Content:

1. Identify your Audience and Purpose
2. Creatively Engage the Audience from the Start
3. Incorporate your Personality
4. Practice practice practice
5. Record Yourself
6. Nail your Pace
7. Cadence
8. Try not to rely on your notes
9. Gestures: Less is more
10. Read the Room
11. FAQs

1. Identify your Audience and Purpose

Ask yourself: "to whom am I speaking to?"

A history assignment that will be presented to the class and your teacher is different to a speech for a public speaking competition where you have to appeal to a diverse panel of judges.

Your audience should influence your purpose (as in the why). It will determine your tone as you write and present your speech, including your choice of words, sense of humour, what you decide to emphasise, and your overall message.

2. Creatively Engage the Audience from the Start

You could start with a personal anecdote, a shocking statement, or an example. Your speech ‘introduction’ should be different from a classic essay introduction. Public speaking is all about engaging the audience, and to do that you must draw them in from the start. Your anecdote or example should be relevant to the topic. Use it as a motif to structure your speech - either reference it throughout the speech, or come back to it at the end to reveal its relevance and significance.

Need some tips on how to do this? A tutor from KIS Academics can help you prepare!

3. Incorporate your Personality

Choose to talk about something that interests you. But, if you don’t have a choice in the topic, find a way to link it back to you and your interests. Though remember that it should not be too much, it’s about balancing the you with the them.

Sprinkle in your sense of humour; I’m not saying you should force jokes every second sentence, but public speaking does not have to be all serious. Your personality will help you to establish credibility. Your audience will believe what you are saying if they know it's from a person they can relate to in some way.

4. Practice practice practice

First, you are going to have to accept that practice will not make it 100% perfect - no one expects you to present perfectly. A good speech will never be exactly ‘perfect.’ It can be authentic rather than ‘scripted’ to a tee, and that’s often what appeals to the audience.

But practice can definitely help ease the nerves which will then help deliver a better speech on the day. It’s all about confidence!

5. Record Yourself

It sounds vain but once you feel comfortable and have practised your speech few times, record yourself saying the speech. As they say, you are your own harshest critic. After watching the recording, it won’t take long to realise if you are speaking too fast, swaying too much or not making enough eye contact. Make your adjustments from there.

6. Nail your Pace

Know the power of the pause. A pause doesn’t mean you’ve forgotten what to say next; it's a powerful tool to create emphasis.

You can never speak too slowly. A slow, considered pace gives the audience time to process what you are saying. Feel free to speed up and slow down where appropriate. But don’t overdo it, subtleties in pace are key.

A dynamic pace or rhythm adds another layer that will engage the audience. No one wants to hear a speech in monotone!

7. Cadence

This is linked to pace: the whole idea that it is not necessarily what you say, but how you say it.

Cadence refers to the inflection of your voice, as in how it gets lower or higher as you speak. You might hear some people refer to it as ‘light and shade’. You should speak ‘lightly’ during the delivery of your anecdote, then make your point firmly.

8. Try not to rely on your notes

Reading off a piece of paper is never a good look; it creates a visual distraction that detracts from what you are saying. Even if you know most of your speech, we often have the tendency to look down and read from the paper to avoid eye contact.

Palm cards will be your best friend. Practice with palm cards, and wean yourself off them. Make your palm card notes more brief as you get closer to presenting: just a few points to jog your memory, or maybe the first sentence of each section. If you’ve practiced it enough times, though, the speech should come to mind naturally.

9. Gestures: less is more

There is a common misconception that you have to include extravagant gestures or pace around the stage to engage the audience. There is no doubt that nonverbal communication is just as important as the verbal, if not more.

However, gestures should not call attention, but instead convey your ideas clearly, and without distraction. If you think about it, you don’t want to be swinging your arms around like a crazy person. Your only body movement should be from your elbow to your fingertips. Keep the rest of your body and your head firmly positioned towards the audience. Avoid swaying, or other fidgeting that might indicate nervousness.

10. Read the room

And finally, always keep your focus on the audience. As you speak, gauge their reactions and adjust accordingly. Remember to always stay flexible!

Conclusion

If you want some one-on-one help drafting your next speech, you can choose a tutor specialised in that subject here. Happy public speaking! If you need some extra support, a tutor from KIS Academics can help!

For more study tips and advice, check out these KIS Academics articles:

FAQs

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