Public speaking consistently ranks as one of the top human fears, impacting over 75% of people - so much so that it has a name: Glossophobia. However, being able to effectively communicate verbally at scale is a key skill for a leader both within their organization (e.g. driving vision, influencing stakeholders) and with the outside world (e.g. engaging with external partners, sharing expertise).
Below I share my top 4 tips on how to become a more effective public speaker/presenter:
1️⃣ Master the Basics
As with any skill, starting with the foundations and continuing to improve on them will pay high dividends in terms of your capability. In the context of public speaking these include aspects such as vocal variety, limiting filler words, body language, structuring content etc. Say you pick vocal variety, a resource to get started with: https://lnkd.in/d2C3hZxV.
2️⃣ Seek Feedback
Without having someone (or multiple people) review your performance and provide you with balanced feedback - it's difficult to make progress. Options range here from joining a public speaking club (e.g. Toastmasters International), hiring a coach, or seeking support from a colleague who is not only proficient but able to give you meaningful feedback.
3️⃣ Learn from the Best
Take time to listen to/watch to exemplary speakers and dissect what they are doing and how they are doing it. Of course, every one of us will have their own style, but we can always learn from others and adapt. My preferred source of inspiration here are TED Talks.
4️⃣ Practice, Practice, Practice
We can only get better by practice and delivering speeches. Explicitly seek out opportunities to present as you adopt the above tips to maximize leverage from each of these occasions. Recording yourself practice is also an effective self-help manner in which you can tune your delivery in the lead-up to the event, while watching for prior learnings and feedback.
Bonus Resources
>>> Link to Toastmasters International: https://lnkd.in/dK4MKJXy, you can find a local club through this link: https://lnkd.in/dbE2CVJf.
>>> Top Book Picks on this topic: Talk Like TED: a) Confessions of a Public Speaker by Scott Berkun b) The 9 Public-Speaking Secrets of the World's Top Minds by Carmine Gallo c) Ted Talks by Chris Anderson.
👉 What are your top resources for becoming a more effective speaker? Comment below 👇
#leadership #publicspeaking #tedtalk #toastmasters
