You want to be a thought leader in your field. How can you develop your public speaking skills?

Learn by doing. Take every opportunity to speak in public. Webinars, local meetups, conferences. Learn your cadence. Speak naturally, couch your talk in stories.

I recommended 4 areas to enhance your public speaking abilities: 1) Create your audience analysis - what role they play? what are specific areas that are more interested for your key message? What are the key takeaways for your audiences to easily remember? 2) Create your communication strategy - a) Focus on your 3 key messages for your talk. b) Personalize your storytelling to make it more human / relatable. c) always recap / summarize your key messages at the end of talk. 3) Video recording yourself - you will learn so much your body language, how your eye contacts with the audiences, how your delivery of the key messages to your audiences. 4) Practice, Practice and Practice.

I believe there’s no silver bullet for mastering public speaking. It’s akin to refining a diamond; the more you refine it, the more it shines. One gets better when one follows few guidelines. Often I have seen the most memorable speeches do few things well, they: Inform, educate, solve problems (for the head), inspire, entertain, challenge (for the heart). Good speakers or storytellers are also great editors who believe in improvisation and diligent practice. It’s important to focus on having a story ‘worth telling’ and then rest will fall into place. It doesn’t matter what outfit you are wearing, or having the perfect slides. All that matters is a genuine and impactful message that resonates authentically with your audience.

Always plan your presentations sitting in the armchair of the listener - what will resonate with them? What will be useful to them in their day to day work? What problems do they have which your presentation can help to solve?

Here are some steps you can take to enhance your public speaking abilities: 1. Start by studying great public speakers in your field or related areas. Watch their talks, analyze their techniques, and take note of what makes them effective communicators. Pay attention to their body language, vocal tone, pacing, and use of storytelling. 2. Practice Regularly: Like any skill, public speaking improves with practice. Look for opportunities to speak in front of groups, whether it's at work meetings, local events, or conferences. Consider joining a public speaking club like Toastmasters. 3. Before any speaking engagement, dedicate time to thorough preparation. Clarify your message and organize your presentation in a logical sequence.

I really like and recommend the book 15 Minutes Including Q&A by Joey Asher. This is a short read but helps speakers (and leaders) construct an effective outline, intro, body, and conclusion of a speech whether you are speaking to 1 person, a small group, or a large audience. The structure of your message is critical. The Ebbinhaus effect says that the audience will forget 75% of what you said in less than a week - so it is important to start and end your message with the most important content that the listener can take away and take action on.

The structure I prefer is 4 W and 1 H. What , when, who, why and How. This framework helped to bring clarity in concise manner. What we observe is the attention span is getting reduced day by day and also we are living in the era where Gen Z listening speed is typically 2x. Hence this framework with concise reaches better compared to others.

Have fun with the "power of three." You will instantly feel more confident, and appear smart and prepared, when you say, "I have three points that I want to make today: x, y, and z." Then, expand on each one. Sum them up one more time at the end. This is the simplest way to organize and deliver a speech--even on the fly. One you master it, you can move on to a more complicated, nuanced approach. Having said that, I've known some very influential and successful people who use this format in almost every presentation and people think they're geniuses. :)

Tell a story. The most impactful way to draw an audience in is to tell a personal story. Skip writing out a script and instead outline key points and phrases. This will make your speech responsive to the audience, present, and dynamic. People will often remember how you made them feel more than what you actually say. Be vulnerable and good luck.

Say what you're going to say, say it, and then say what you said. Start with the headline instead of building up to it. Determine the one thing you want people to remember, and make sure to get that point across.

Practice, practice, practice but also get feedback. Before presentations, I would often practice with different people, including someone not in my field, to get reps in as well as help with tone, body language, etc. After going "live" I would go to my truth-tellers who would share honest feedback on how I could be better next time.

To become a thought leader in your field and enhance your public speaking skills, actively seek opportunities to speak on stage. Regular practice is crucial for honing your abilities. Engage in public speaking events, workshops, and conferences. Additionally, consider joining Toastmasters or similar groups to receive constructive feedback and refine your delivery. Remember, confidence grows with experience, so embrace every chance to share your expertise and insights with an audience.

Very few people can get on a stage without practicing and do well. A lot of people might think they can, but the real pros have refined, practiced and reworked their speech.

I spent about 10 years travelling the world as a thought leader and speaking in 20+ countries. Rehearsal and practice absolutely essential. Beyond that, engaging the audience, having a sense of humour and being able to make fun of yourself were all part of the magic. But there were a couple of other tricks. The first is ensuring that you engage with people in the audience frequently. Finding the right person in the audience to talk to shows the rest of the audience how they should behave. The final one is always adapt what you’re saying to the venue and people you are talking to. Sometimes you may find yourself delivering the same speech many times if you are doing a tour, but try to add something personal every time. Finally have fun.

I think it’s a case of practice, practice and then practice some more, ideally in front of people so you can get constructive feedback. Through practice, a speech or presentation can be delivered far more naturally, which makes it more likely to be received well.

To truly captivate my audience, especially when delving into the often dense topics of in-house corporate legal practice or the future of law, I've embraced the interactive quiz show approach. Midway through a presentation, I suddenly shift gears and throw out a question like, "By what percentage do you think AI can reduce research time?" and encourage shout-outs or hand raises for guesses, promising a humorous yet educational prize. This not only injects a dose of fun and competition into the mix but also serves as a powerful engagement tool, breaking down the barrier between speaker and audience. It turns a monologue into a dialogue, making complex legal tech concepts more accessible and memorable.

In the end, the audience is not there to do tricks for you, they are there for you to teach them something, show them something, move their minds and hearts. True engagement with an audience comes from being genuine on stage, and no technique can beat that. If you are a cranky curmudgeon who hates it when speakers want to "play-engage" audiences, tell your audience you won't go in for that. The sheer honesty of that beats any trick you can dream up. Audience participation should never be the band-aid you use because you are not engaged enough on stage. Most of my keynotes have contained no participation exercises at all, and I have consistently been thanked for how I engage audiences. You're there to move minds, not to arrange playtime.

I agree with Olga V. Mack that asking questions of the audience is essential to engagement. The shifting of the conversation to "What do you think?" is fabulous tool for engagement - Don't ignore it! The other item that increase engagement includes making the conversation personal by telling a relevant story. I also confirm the value of the dialogue with both tips and resources. The conclusion should recap the key points and their value.

To engage an audience and be a true thought leader a speaker needs to deliver a benefit to the audience - company or individual stats and milestones are nice but what’s the so what, the why…providing insights and expertise the audience can act on is crucial, design content based on offering a differentiated value to the audience

My work required me to speak to audiences large and small, and I considered each one practice. It helps to know your style. Some people like bullet points, others can speak extemporaneously -- I like a script. I may add or deviate, but I prefer that security. That said, in Feb 2020 I had the opportunity to do a TEDx talk -- hands down one of the scariest things I have ever done...NO NOTES! Bottom line: learn from, but don't compare yourself to others. Once you have the message and structure of the talk down, be yourself. You will come across much more authentically that way.

If you are an aspiring thought leader, rocking the stage is paramount! And here's what you can do : 1. Dive headfirst into speaking gigs wherever you can - workshops, meetups, you name it. Practice makes perfect, so don't shy away from grabbing that mic! 2. Embrace feedback like your BFF and use it to your advantage - to finesse your style and message. 3. And most importantly in all my talks and sessions with clients, I can't stress this enough - be YOU! Authenticity shines brighter than any spotlight. So, be your own unique self cos there's only one of you! So get yourself out there, speak from your heart, and watch those thought leader vibes soar!

Many people will feel that the person who delivers a talk so effortlessly and naturally may be born with the skill. The reality is that, every natural speaker has to learn the craft. Some get coaching on it, which helps enormously, but you can build your own craft by just taking the talk/speech on. Do it, learn from it, improve it, repeat it. Once your message has value, your delivery will improve. The only bad speech you do is the one you don't deliver.

The craft of public speaking can always be refined and improved, always learn and practice new techniques, new ways of delivery, new formats structures of presentations and different ways of engaging the audience. Don't be afraid to try new things, but pick your spots when you do. You don't want a very serious presentation in front of a huge audience to be the first time you try to insert comedy, for example. Keep learning and growing.

TED, TEDx and university lectures are always good places to go to learn. YouTube, TikTok, and other socials are also not bad sources of examples to learn about public speaking. I would limit your learning on socials to topics like speaking. When learning a new topic, know your source. I would avoid social media to learn from, but getting ideas are always good. Practice what you learn. If you are learning code, write code for yourself. If you learning finance, balance your accounts or apply what you have learned. You need to practice what you learn so that you know what you learned. I love the idea of a coach or mentor. They can help identify goals to aim for.

Be honest with yourself about your real motivation for public speaking, for instance: - do you want to share and help others? - do you hope to generate business? - are you seeking confirmation? - do you feel you HAVE to do it because so many others do it? - do you enjoy priority treatment at nice events? - do you find it more easy to network if people approach you after a public talk? Being clear about your motivation will help you focus on the right aspects when considering how to approach public speaking.

I think it’s important to remember that you are not going to solve everybody in the audience’s problems or answer everybody in the audience’s questions in the 30 to 60 minutes you have to speak. And if you answer one person’s questions or solve one person’s problems in an audience of 500 you will bore 499 people. So please be aware that what you can do to engage your audience is leave them with something to think about after the speech is over and keep them entertained with substantial ideas and your personality and whatever else you bring to the stage during the speech. That’s pretty much all you can do in that short a time.

While it is an absolute honour to be asked to Keynote (for example), if that is not the format you are comfortable with, then say so. State that you prefer to be part of a panel, and/or you prefer being the Moderator. And frankly, sometimes you just don't have the time to prep a Keynote speech, but still wish to add your voice. You will be surprised how flexible program organizers are if you are honest with what/how you can contribute.

Know you style and stay true to your personality- people relate to you as a person first and then what you are saying. Now you have their attention- so, narrow down 3 things you want to communicate every time you address an audience. Remember, you want to aim for what will people take away after they leave the room. Lastly, engage your audience in a way that when you speak, it’s not just like listening to a podcast, but it’s an experience.