How can you use public speaking to expand your network?

Public speaking is a way for you to connect with your audience on a more personal and relatable level. It also allows you to shine forth your passion, energy and knowledge on a heart to heart level. When you are trying to come up with your topic of discussion, think about the following ideas as a roadmap to your success: - Speak about problems that you have consistently solved and have a clear insight on how to walk through the steps to resolve the issue. - Share practical knowledge on how to operate in your area of expertise. - Speaking high and lofty words may sound good, but it’s best to be relatable to audience so that they can immediately put your insights to use.

It's always good to know your topic and master them well. Practice it every day. Believe in yourself and stay focused. To win your audience, you have to engage in eye contact at all times during your. Facial expressions always give you good feedback on your engagement during the duration of your speech.

The general rules of speaking on whats relevant, where your knowledge is and what you're passionate about ring true. But while I know many are keen to Just Get Out There, I only take up space where I truly have something to add. Which can be hard when visibility on big stages and screens feels like the win. Contributing heart and value to your community and industry is a great decider on when, where and what to talk on.

I've found that it's often the most obvious, simple concept that I share when speaking that people find the most valuable. As a public speaking coach, I find that my clients want to share ALL their knowledge when speaking to show that they are credible. However, this can lead to a rushed, jumbled up presentation with no clear message. When choosing a topic, see how far you can narrow it down. If you share something really simple and easy to understand with your audience, they are much more likely to go away and apply it. PLUS they'll remember who they heard it from too so they know where to come should they need more detail.

Practice out loud and often. There's no such thing as too much practice. One tip I've found helpful is to practice (or rehearse) forwards AND backwards. If you only practice forwards, from the beginning to the end, you end up practicing the beginning more than the end. If you switch it up and start at the end, it will feel even more familiar and you can finish strong.

I grew up with an extreme fear of public speaking, so I can attest to the importance of practice and preparation. The more you prepare and practice, the easier it becomes to build confidence and overcome the fear. I have prepared for public speaking events by creating an outline with bullet points of the topics I wanted to discuss, a practice learned from my speech professors. I would rehearse what I was going to say so that I felt more confident in my presentation. For me, this helped with audience engagement as I was more actively participating with them and not looking down reading from a piece of paper. Lastly, you might still feel nervous, no matter how prepared you are. The more you speak in public, the more confident you will be.

There's some great advice here already, but given my background I'd offer some hints on the tools you can use to help you build confidence and improve your delivery. There are lots of readily available apps for phones and tablets that can act as auto cue's for example. Use these when you practice as not only do they help you with your flow, but depending on your venue these may be tools they use there. Definitely practice talking whilst presenting and interacting with your media. Tech fails are common. But if you know your systems and how to navigate with ease ahead of time this will ease a lot of the stress and anxiety.

An important element to remember, for both in-person and online speaking, is bring positive, high energy to your presentation. There is truth to the saying that people will forget what you said, but not how you made them feel. If you convey your enthusiasm and excitement for your topic it will be felt and heard by your audience. Much of communication is non-verbal. We communicate our energy through our posture, voice tone and eye contact. We can all practice these tools of positive energy and presence in our everyday interactions making us better communicators overall.