What do you do if your public speaking skills need improvement?

Practice is essential to public speaking. It can certainly help you improve skills and face fears. My tip for practicing public speaking happens to be the same as my tip for practicing mindfulness: make it fun. If you enjoy a task (at least a little bit), you are much more likely to want to repeat it. In this way, avoid turning public speaking practice into a chore or a grind. Instead, activate your curiosity and see how you can make it just a little bit fun. Look for what you liked about the experience. Find ways to bring lightness and joy to what you are doing. If the experience has hard parts for you, employ self-kindness to care for rather than judge yourself. Make your practice fun and it will shine through in your speaking.

"Public Speaking" is a real fear for people, and also one you can mindfully overcome. How? Join "Toastmasters". Watch the people you admire, and mimic their attitudes and approaches. Volunteer to present topics at local clubs, churches, and etc. Breathe.

Practice can mean a variety of things: 1. Conversations with friends/family 2. Conversations with new acquaintances 3. Conversations on podcasts All of these are practice to help perfect your pitch. Talking to different people forces you to think about it differently and their questions can help you refine your message.

Improving your public communication skills is a gradual process, so be patient with yourself and keep practicing! There are multiple ways of learning and practicing. You can join a public speaking group, learn about body language, prepare better your thoughts, jpin a theater class. You can also study famous speakers.

Watch videos of skilled public speakers and analyze what makes them effective. Pay attention to their use of language, body language, and how they engage with the audience.

Based on my experience, the public speaking requires continuous improvement and I find recording to be a useful tool. However, when you record yourself it is better to do it when you speak in front of people. The conditions are not the same when you are alone speaking in front of the camera at home and when you do that in front of a crowd. There are different processes activated in your body and even your voice and body language can change.

I do a lot of public speaking. It does help to record yourself, to see how your body mechanics look. Knowing your subject matter will help you look relaxed while speaking. This is important. Bonus tip- Talk slow and breathe deep. Ask open ended questions to keep the audience engaged.

Every feedback that I got during my days at the public speaking club was useful, we were following a methodology, all feedback were constructive and have concrete points of improvement to implement, also because they came from people who have experience and have a trained eye. Therefore, if you want to progress fast, my advice is to look for a mentor or a coach. Feedback from friends and family is good, but it could be biased or lacking professional point of view and thus it will take longer to get where you want to be.

Actors utilize an old Public Speaking trick. When beginning to feel emotional or panic, "actors will intentionally take a huge breath, smile, and chuckle, while delivering their line". This trick immediately resets their previous mindset.

The visualisation technique will be truly helpful if we do it without any distractions. When we are meditating with our eyes closed, I think that's the best time when we can start focussing on how we look in front of the audience, how we are approaching everyone, what's the level of our confidence. Please go to the minutest of detail while visualising. Imperative that our phones are on silent and in another room, and there is no one to disturb us. Otherwise your visuals will be filled with the bell ringing, people talking and it will not have the effect you're looking for. You can use this technique for anything that you want in life. It will help you know in exact detail your goals and the actions you need to take to achieve them.

When preparing to talk in public, I start by getting a deep understanding of the audience. What they will expect. What they already know. What they'll react to. Then I focus on defining the 1 message I want to share. This allows me to relax when I'm giving the presentation. Being fully present in the moment, and meaning I can focus on connecting with the audience's reactions. Practice and slow breathing also helps. Top Tip I learnt from Simon Sinek: if you start talking quickly, hold your hands in front of you. It slows you down.

To improve your public speaking skills: 1. Pause frequently, especially after a powerful statement/important question. Give your audience time to process what you said so they have time to think and reflect. Also, give yourself permission to pause and collect your thoughts if you lose your train of thought, or pause and take a few deep breaths to center yourself and bring yourself back into the present moment if you feel anxious or stressed. 2. Tell stories to illustrate your talking points. People connect with stories and remember them more than statistics and general content. Stories are easier to remember/rehearse which can increase your confidence while speaking. 3. Mindset tip: Tell yourself “I’m excited” instead of “I’m nervous”.

I'm surprised that these prompts don't include any mention of the content of public speaking. For me, that's where it all starts. When things are hard, and public speaking is for most of us, an important purpose can help us find courage. I have usually enjoyed public speaking but I think it is because I started speaking about things I know very well, which are helpful to others, and I care about deeply. If speaking is a struggle for you, one way to help yourself is to take a step back and connect with the bigger purpose behind the talk. What do you want the audience to get? What matters most to you and to them? What about your talk makes your nervousness about speaking worth it? If you can answer these questions, you can give a great talk.

Ask around for informal recommendations of great TedTalks etc, and find out what the person/people found most engaging about the presenter. Watch the talk, and take notes! Did they vary their tone? Did they tell stories? Did they move their body a lot, or change facial expression often? Chances are, if you enjoyed the presentation, you can emulate these tactics in your own presenting!

Proper breathing techniques can help control nervousness and improve voice quality. Practice deep breathing exercises and vocal exercises to strengthen your voice.

I wouldn't be hard on myself in this case. I would try to improve my self-awareness towards a functional way before trying to improve my self-regulation. Therefore, by working on how I perceive myself in a compassionate way, I would be able to embrace my flaws without increasing my anxiety and self-consciousness significantly thus correcting myself in a more efficient a even fun way.