Public Speaking

https://professional.dce.harvard.
edu/blog/10-tips-for-
improving-your-public-speaking-skills/
Here Are My 10 Tips for Public Speaking:

1. Nervousness Is Normal. Practice and Prepare!
All people feel some physiological reactions like pounding hearts and
trembling hands. Do not associate these feelings with the sense that you
will perform poorly or make a fool of yourself. Some nerves are good. The
adrenaline rush that makes you sweat also makes you more alert and
ready to give your best performance.
The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare

some more. Take the time to go over your notes several times. Once you
have become comfortable with the material, practice—a lot. Videotape
yourself, or get a friend to critique your performance.
2. Know Your Audience. Your Speech Is About Them, Not You.

Before you begin to craft your message, consider who the message is
intended for. Learn as much about your listeners as you can. This will help
you determine your choice of words, level of information, organization
pattern, and motivational statement.
3. Organize Your Material in the Most Effective Manner to Attain Your

Purpose.
Create the framework for your speech. Write down the topic, general
purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points. Make sure to grab
the audience’s attention in the first 30 seconds.
4. Watch for Feedback and Adapt to It.
Keep the focus on the audience. Gauge their reactions, adjust your
message, and stay flexible. Delivering a canned speech will guarantee that
you lose the attention of or confuse even the most devoted listeners.
5. Let Your Personality Come Through.

Be yourself, don’t become a talking head—in any type of communication.
You will establish better credibility if your personality shines through, and
your audience will trust what you have to say if they can see you as a real
person.
6. Use Humor, Tell Stories, and Use Effective Language.

Inject a funny anecdote in your presentation, and you will certainly grab
your audience’s attention. Audiences generally like a personal touch in a
speech. A story can provide that.
7. Don’t Read Unless You Have to. Work from an Outline.

Reading from a script or slide fractures the interpersonal connection. By
maintaining eye contact with the audience, you keep the focus on yourself
and your message. A brief outline can serve to jog your memory and keep
you on task.
8. Use Your Voice and Hands Effectively. Omit Nervous Gestures.

Nonverbal communication carries most of the message. Good delivery
does not call attention to itself, but instead conveys the speaker’s ideas
clearly and without distraction.
9. Grab Attention at the Beginning, and Close with a Dynamic End.

Do you enjoy hearing a speech start with “Today I’m going to talk to you
about X”? Most people don’t. Instead, use a startling statistic, an interesting
anecdote, or concise quotation. Conclude your speech with a summary and
a strong statement that your audience is sure to remember.
10. Use Audio-visual Aids Wisely.

Too many can break the direct connection to the audience, so use them
sparingly. They should enhance or clarify your content, or capture and
maintain your audience’s attention.
Practice Does Not Make Perfect

Good communication is never perfect, and nobody expects you to be
perfect. However, putting in the requisite time to prepare will help you
deliver a better speech. You may not be able to shake your nerves entirely,
but you can learn to minimize them.
Delivering a speech can cause even the most confident among us to break a sweat.
But there are many strategies you can use to deliver a speech with poise,
confidence, and conviction.
In this blog, we share three of the most effective ways to strengthen your
public speaking skills. Watch these inspiring videos to see how each of
these techniques is applied so you can practice them yourself.
Search all Communication programs.
1. Pay Attention to Your Delivery

Watch how powerfully Donovan Livingston’s enthusiasm, energy, and
purpose affects this Harvard Graduate School of Education student
speech.
When preparing and delivering a speech, it’s easy to focus on your words.
Yet how you deliver those words is equally important.
Nonverbal skills such as eye contact, facial expressions, body posture, and
hand gestures can enhance your speech, or undermine it.
For instance, Livingston’s nonverbal communications during this speech

clearly demonstrate his comfort on the stage, his knowledge of his subject,
and most importantly, his passion.
He smiles and makes eye contact with his audience. His facial expressions,
especially at key moments, reflect the intensity of his words. His body is
relaxed and his hand gestures subtly keep the audience focused.
How can you make sure that your nonverbal communication skills are on
point? The answer is practice, practice, and then more practice.
Practice your speech until you can deliver it without reading it.
Practice using different techniques that allow you to observe and solidify
the nonverbal elements of the speech. Watch yourself in the mirror. Film
yourself and then study the film. Practice in front of family, friends, or
trusted colleagues.
And be sure to ask for constructive feedback on how your nonverbal

communication made them feel about your subject.
2. Structure Your Message

Listen to how an admiral takes the task of making your bed from a
mundane chore to something you’ll feel empowered to do through a
pristinely structured message.
This admiral’s inspiring speech will convince you to make your bed every
morning, via Business Insider
A well structured speech will help keep your audience engaged and
interested.
When planning the structure of your speech, think logically about what you
want your audience to take away from your speech. What do you want
them to remember?
Be sure those critical take-aways are stated clearly and repeated often. All
other details and information throughout the speech should relate back to
your main point.
Most speeches have three main parts: the introduction, the body, and the
conclusion.
The introduction is where you connect with your audience and outline your
topic.
Tell your audience what you are going to talk about and why it matters.
Your opener should be powerful, catchy, or funny—but also brief.
The body is where you include all your supporting evidence and build
intensity.
In the body, you can structure your supporting details topically,

chronologically, spatially, by cause-and-effect, or point-counterpoint. Yet
however you choose to organize them, make sure they are relevant, limited
in number, and easy to understand. Use transition words and phrases to let
your audience know that you are moving from point to point.
The conclusion is where you remind your audience about the big picture:
Why your subject is important. Don’t be afraid to repeat exactly what you
want them to remember. And then leave them with a powerful metaphor or
a quote, or challenge them to think about what your subject means for
them.
3. Connect with Your Audience

Observe how JK Rowling cleverly connects to her audience in the opening
of her 2008 Harvard Commencement speech. She reveals her fear about
delivering the speech, then manages to turn the situation into a moment of
connection as she and her audience laugh together.
A good public speaker—like JK Rowling—will start by establishing a

positive rapport between herself and her audience.
After all, the more your audience likes you, the more they will tune in to
what you have to say. And the more your audience understands why your
topic is important—to you and to them—the more attentive they will be.
How can you create a connection with your audience? Here are just a few
tips:
 Smile and make eye contact with your audience. Remember your
nonverbal communication skills!
 Tell jokes and be funny, if you can. But be careful: Humor can easily turn
offensive or fall flat if you don’t know your audience.
 Be self-deprecating. You are the best source of humor, as JK Rowling
shows. By making fun of yourself, you let the audience see that you don’t
take yourself too seriously.
 Keep the tone conversational. If possible, try to make your audience feel as
if you were speaking to them one on one.
 Share personal experiences and use storytelling to illustrate your main
points. Again, however, always make sure your story is relevant and don’t
be afraid to cut out extraneous detail to keep your story on point.
And above all, be authentic! Letting the audience get to know the real you
will make your story, and your message, even more meaningful and
memorable.
How do you start a public speaking speech?

How to start a speech in 26 ways
1. Use a quote. One method of starting a speech and gaining the audience's attention is to
use a famous or relatable quote. ...
2. Tell a joke. ...
3. Find a commonality with your audience. ...
4. Offer a relatable statistic. ...
5. Tell a fictional story. ...
6. Give a demonstration. ...
7. Use visuals. ...
8. Recognize your audience.
Who is an example of the best public speaking?

Martin Luther King Jr. The famous civil rights activist whose wise words inspired
generations… Mr. King is most well-known for his speech “I have a dream” that
addressed an audience of around 250 thousand people, but mesmerized the entire
world.Apr 24, 2023
What are some examples of speech?

Basic Types of Speeches
 Entertaining Speech. ...
 Informative Speech. ...
 Demonstrative Speech. ...
 Persuasive Speech. ...
 Motivational Speech. ...
 Impromptu Speech. ...
 Oratorical Speech. ...
 Debate Speech.
What is an example of public speaking as advocacy?
To advocate is to say “this idea matters” and “I invite each of us to think more deeply about this
information.” This could happen by discussing an idea that you believe a community needs to hear or by
overtly asking audiences to change their mind about a controversial topic.
What is an example of introduction before a speech?

Here is an example of an appropriate and effective speech of introduction: “Good
morning ladies and gentlemen. It's a great pleasure for me to introduce our speaker
today, who is going to talk to us about the ten most common personal financial planning
mistakes.
What should I say before starting a speech?

How to start a speech effectively
1. Quote a leader. One of the most effective ways to start a speech is using a relatable
quotation from a famous leader. ...
2. Start with a joke. ...
3. Introduce yourself. ...
4. Ask a question. ...
5. Mention an important statistic. ...
6. Explain a problem. ...
7. Share an anecdote. ...
8. Tell your personal story.
How do you greet an audience in a speech?
Keep It Simple. Say “Good Morning” (afternoon or evening) and introduce yourself, so that your
audience can familiarize themselves with the person instructing them or giving them information of
value.
How do you speak confidently in public short speech?

10 Tips for Public Speaking
1. Know your audience. Preparation equals confidence. ...
2. Visualize success. ...
3. Use a visual aid. ...
4. Share personal anecdotes. ...
5. Know where to look. ...
6. Only write down the bullet points. ...
7. Keep it simple. ...
8. Identify and eliminate your verbal tics.
More items...
•
Dec 15, 2021
How to give a good speech?
What Makes a Great Speech?

1. Consider Your Speech a Performance. A speech is primarily about the words, but a
performance is so much more. ...
2. Harness the Power of Eye Contact. ...
3. Let Go of the Lectern. ...
4. Pay Attention to Your Posture. ...
5. Spice Up Your Speech with Stories. ...
6. Vary Your Speaking Cadence. ...
7. Discuss What You Know and Care About.
What are 10 examples of speech acts?
When we talk, we do such things as greet, promise, warn, order, invite, congratulate, advise, thank,
insult, and these are known as speech acts.
How do you prepare a good public speech elaborate?

Preparing great speeches: A 10-step approach
1. Know your audience.
2. Know the occasion.
3. Select a topic.
4. Select a purpose.
5. Gather potential content.
6. Gather more content than actually used.
7. Organize content.
8. Phrase the speech.
What is direct speech with 10 examples?
Direct speech – reporting the message of the speaker in the exact words as spoken by him. Direct speech
example: Maya said 'I am busy now'. Indirect speech example: Maya said that she was busy then.

Public Speaking

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Public Speaking

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Public Speaking

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

https://professional.dce.harvard.

Here Are My 10 Tips for Public Speaking:

The best way to overcome anxiety is to prepare, prepare, and prepare

2. Know Your Audience. Your Speech Is About Them, Not You.

3. Organize Your Material in the Most Effective Manner to Attain Your

5. Let Your Personality Come Through.

6. Use Humor, Tell Stories, and Use Effective Language.

7. Don’t Read Unless You Have to. Work from an Outline.

8. Use Your Voice and Hands Effectively. Omit Nervous Gestures.

9. Grab Attention at the Beginning, and Close with a Dynamic End.

10. Use Audio-visual Aids Wisely.

Practice Does Not Make Perfect

Search all Communication programs.

1. Pay Attention to Your Delivery

For instance, Livingston’s nonverbal communications during this speech

And be sure to ask for constructive feedback on how your nonverbal

2. Structure Your Message

In the body, you can structure your supporting details topically,

3. Connect with Your Audience

A good public speaker—like JK Rowling—will start by establishing a

How do you start a public speaking speech?

Who is an example of the best public speaking?

What are some examples of speech?

What is an example of introduction before a speech?

What should I say before starting a speech?

How do you speak confidently in public short speech?

How to give a good speech?

What Makes a Great Speech?

How do you prepare a good public speech elaborate?

You might also like