Here are 10 strategies to improve your public speaking skills, whether you are presenting at work, giving a toast at a wedding or receiving an award. And these strategies apply for in-person and virtual presentations.
1. Have a Message
What is the one thing that you want the audience to
remember from your presentation? Put it into one sentence and you have your
message – the whole point. Say it
clearly and repeat it so the audience remembers it. And make sure that every example, story and
statistic relates to it.
2. Focus on Your Audience
Why should the audience care about what you are
saying? Think about your message from the audience's point of view and then
target your presentation to their needs.
Remember, it's not all about you – it's about them.
3. Organize Your Material
One of the easiest ways to improve your presentation
skills is to organize your material clearly.
Your presentation should have an introduction, body and conclusion. The body, or main part of your presentation,
should consist of related material arranged according to some organizational
principle, such as a number of points, chronology, pros and cons, etc. Be sure to have a clear transition from one
section of the body to the next.
4. Slides May Not Be Necessary
Too many presentations are full of crowded,
hard-to-read slides with too much disorganized information thrown onto
them. Before you create slides, think
about whether they're really necessary.
How will slides make your presentation better? You are the presentation
and the slides are just the visual aid.
5. Watch Your Time
One of my clients was scheduled to speak at a
retirement dinner for a colleague. The first speaker went over his allotted
time limit by twenty minutes, which bored the audience and left my client with
very little time to present. Never go
over your time limit. No one will
complain if you finish a few minutes early but things go downhill very fast
once you go one minute beyond your time limit.
6. Make Eye Contact
When you're speaking, make eye contact with everyone
in the audience – or if it’s a very large group, with all sections of the
audience. It helps you connect to the
audience, engage them and gauge their reaction.
Hold eye contact for three to give seconds and then move onto another
person.
7. Use Non-Verbals
Non-verbal communication includes elements such as
facial expression, voice, eye contact, gestures, posture and movement. The key is for your non-verbals to match the
message you are conveying or it will confuse the audience and distract from
your message. So if you want to convey a message with confidence, stand up
straight with your shoulders back and your weight evenly distribute on both
feet, smile, make eye contact with the audience and speak in a loud, clear
voice.
8. Smile
Facial expressions fall under non-verbals but a
smile deserves its own category. Smiling
can relax you, which in turn, can relax the audience and help you be more
engaging. In most public speaking
situations, a smile is appropriate, but nerves or a misplaced sense of
seriousness prevent speakers from smiling; instead, they look gloomy or bored. (Exceptions to the smile-is-appropriate rule
would include, for example, announcing layoffs.)
9. Be Confident
If you are nervous about public speaking, join the
club – Toastmasters, that is.
Toastmasters International is an organization which helps thousands of
people in clubs around the world improve their public speaking skills through
regular meetings of prepared and extemporaneous speeches. The practice and the feedback that you'll receive
will help you overcome your fear.
10. Practice
There is no substitute for practice. If you're not used to public speaking, it's
going to be almost impossible to be as good as you could be without
practice. How should you practice? Say
the words out loud, in as close to the real environment as possible, with
particular focus on your opening, closing and key points. It's also helpful to record yourself or get
feedback from trusted colleagues.
Public speaking is a skill that you can practice and improve. Following these 10 strategies will help you learn to be a more effective speaker.