6 Essential Tips To Deliver A Public Speech

Public speaking. It’s these two simple words that seem to strike fear into the heart of people – even the most seasoned business professional. For something that seems so simple, many people cannot conquer their fear of standing up in front of a crowd.  The art of oral communication has been a long-standing human tradition and many people don’t realize that everyone is capable of delivering a great speech.

Let’s say you have a presentation looming in the distance. Don’t allow your nerves to take over your rational thinking. You want to ensure that you are keeping your speech simple and focused on your theme. Data and powerpoints are pretty to look at, but your audience is more likely to remember what you are saying rather than what they are seeing.

Below are 6 tips to help deliver a good speech! Stick to them and you will find yourself receiving compliments from co-workers, friends, and even your boss.

Practice beforehand – It’s rare that someone can stand in front of a crowd and deliver a perfect speech. It’s important to practice your speech beforehand so you can find the correct pace to deliver it. Practicing will help to cut the usage of dead words as well. Instead of “like” or “um”, take a beat of silence instead.

Work the Room – Before you stand up in front of your audience, mingle with them before hand. Talking to people beforehand will let you find a focal point when you start your speech. It’s easier to speak to a friendly face then to talk to a room of complete strangers. Many people believe that by finding a focal point in different points of the room, their nerves tend to ease up.  

Don’t Read off the Paper – By giving your speech from your heart, you’ll find that more people will connect to your story. There is nothing worse than listening to a speaker whose eyes are looking down at the podium, reading off a paper. Engaging with the audience with your eyes and body language will help tell your story. If it’s needed, have some index cards with bullet points on them. If you get nervous and lose your place, it’s okay to take a deep breath and look down at your notes so you know the direction of your story.

Keep it short – Can you tell me a single time you were engaged by someone who spoke for twenty minutes straight? Probably not. To keep your audience’s attention, you want to make sure you keep your speech to ten minutes tops. The ideal time is seven minutes, but don’t be nervous if you go under that. By giving yourself a time frame, you’ll ensure that any fluff will be eliminated in the process.

Lead off by interacting with the audience – It’s time to ditch the opening of how thankful you are to be there. By capturing the attention of the people in front of you in the first beat, it ensures that they will pay attention to what you are saying.

Slow Down – Remember it’s a marathon, not a sprint. You want to enunciate and articulate the words you are speaking.  By slowing your speech down, you’ll get your passion and commitment to your subject across.

I hope these tips helped! Please feel free to comment with any tips you may have, or share with someone that could learn from this advice. Follow me on Twitter and check back soon for more updates!