How do you know if your public speaking is effective?

One unconventional tip for goal setting with public speaking is to embrace vulnerability and set a goal to connect with your audience on a personal level. Here's how: Be authentic: Instead of focusing solely on delivering a flawless performance, prioritize being genuine and sharing your personal experiences. Share relatable stories: Craft your speech around relatable anecdotes or real-life examples that resonate with your audience.

Your presentation can never impart your entire offering of insights and wisdom. Always end your presentation with a QR code or web address for the audience to download a more in depth version of what you've spoken about. An ebook or video series for example. To access the gold, they enter their email address. Measure your success by the amount of email signups you get.

An important place to start is focusing on the pain points and needs of your audience. What are there challenges? What do they need? Audiences really don't care about the speaker per se, they care about what the speaker has to offer them in terms of reaching their goals. So whether we have advice, a product, or another call to action, the goal would be to tie that call of action to addressing or solving their challenge or moving them towards their need or goal. The reality is most people are more concerned with stopping pain and getting what they want first and foremost!

As a speaker I think one great way to gauge your impact is by the number of people who stay around after your session to speak with you or reach out to you electronically in the days after. Having a QR code to gather audience feedback available in your session is always a an effective to get direct feedback too.

Any public speaking gig is a competition for the attention of the audience. A place to start is to put yourself in the minds of the audience with this question -- what are their expectations for the event? If you miss this step you will quickly lose your audience because you aren't connecting with them for the reasons they are there to hear you. The answer to this question defines the 'take aways' of your talk. Once you have the front end and back end of the talk, the rest is a journey to take the audience from start to finish with a logical progression of facts and conclusions.

Feedback from speeches is a gift, you can choose to accept it or return it. Everyone has strong opinions on public speaking and by asking for feedback on it you open yourself up for critique. Make sure you follow the feedback that most closely aligns to your goal and purpose of the speech. Disregard all others but always with a thank you.

I prefer qualified feedback. For example, if someone says, "Nice job. I enjoyed your presentation." I always respond, "Thank you. What specifically resonated with you and why?" If I get the chance, I ask the individual what didn't resonate with them or how they might improve the presentation. With the qualified feedback, I can enhance the presentation's strengths and shore up opportunity areas. Oh yeah. I also keep this in mind when providing feedback to a speaker. I always offer praise, and then I unpack the praise, giving them a specific example of what resonated with me and why. I only provide criticism if asked. All speakers would prefer qualified feedback instead of a cliche "nice job."

Before you ask for honest feedback, ensure that you are ready to receive it. Feedback can be valuable, but how you receive it and what you do with it is also important. Are you ready to change your speech based on that feedback if necessary?

Feedback is always tough to receive but helps you grow and get better in the long run. I strive to seek feedback from different perspectives including colleagues, mentors, or trusted individuals from your audience.

After your speech, always work to engage with the audience. If people approach you and tell you your message resonated, ask them what was the most impactful part for them. If you have the opportunity, also ask what part they found the least helpful. Definitely check in with the organizer or key stakeholders on the same question, what they found most impactful and what they think was the least.

There are a ton of advanced tools to record yourself, but you can make it as simple as the voice memo app on your phone, or zoom video. Don't over-complicate it - focus on seeing/hearing yourself and critiquing yourself to improve!

If I could go back and do anything different, I would video record more of my sessions. This is because you can use these recordings for a demo reel or social media material. Bring a friend to the event and have them record it, set up a tripod, or ask the organizers to film.

Recording myself was the #1 most helpful practice in becoming a better public speaker. Hands down. You should be your biggest critic. Take notes on yourself. "How many times did I say umm or uhh?" "How could that point have been clearer?" "Why didn't that joke land as well as I thought it would?" Write those notes in the margins of your next speech so that you don't make the same mistakes again. And then listen to that recording and take more notes.

Once you've practiced independently, whether it's in front of the mirror or through recording, you may still be a little uneasy. Pretend like you're talking to a group of friends or family members without beginning to guffaw, use internal dialogue, or becoming too informal or loose. This should help the conversation feel more natural despite not necessarily being in an intimate setting.

If possible, get feedback before the official presentation. - Can you rehearse with a trusted friend, colleague, or mentor? - Another way is to give yourself feedback! Record yourself on video, then give it a day or two before reviewing the recording. - Remember, you're going to be a tough critic on yourself, so when you do watch it, make a point to identify and appreciate your strengths while also identifying areas for improvement.identifying areas for improvement.

When it comes to public speaking, the setting can significantly impact your performance. Some individuals thrive in the grandeur of a big, anonymous stage, where they can command a large audience and feed off the energy of the crowd. On the other hand, some may find their confidence and message resonate more in smaller, more intimate venues, where they can establish a deeper connection with their audience. Understanding which setting suits you best allows you to play to your strengths. Embracing this knowledge empowers you to choose speaking engagements that align with your preferred setting, ultimately leading to more impactful and compelling presentations.

I write everything down on a google doc/sheet. Tracking for me is EVERYTHING. I write down all of my speaking engagements, location, paid/unpaid, link to the recording, feedback, topic, etc.

From my experience I watch for the attendees body language, if they have itchy bums and keep moving, I have lost them, so I either finish up or change my message, however if they are glued to their seats , I know have taken them on a journey and they want to know more, experience more and ultimately feel more

If you're following all of the tips above, you may see significant improvements from one speech to the next. As you progress in your career, those changes will seem less drastic. But when you look back to where you were a year ago (listening to old recordings) you'll be amazed at just how far you've come.

What I think is important is to track your progress, but patiently and organically. Understand it takes time to grow. Understand you may have to give things away for free. Understand growth is not usually exponential but slow and steady. Set goals, be open to the goals changing, and celebrate incremental progress!

Preparing for a presentation of any kind has always begun with questions. 1. Why am I talking? 2. Why is this message important? 3. What exactly do I want them to hear? 4. What do I want them to feel? 5. What do I want them to know? 6. What do I want them to do? 7. How will I know if I’m effective? (Give yourself some feedback about what you're hoping to accomplish and how you'll know if you've accomplished it.) Answering all of these questions before, and after your first draft will help you clarify: A.your confidence, B.your wording, C.your delivery approach, D.your emotions, and F.your realistic expectations. #power #help #publicspeaking #presentationskills #communicationcoach

Public speaking is an art inculcated through hard work. The more a person reads, more knowledgeable he becomes. A good speakers develops articulation skills to share this knowledge to be a good speaker.

A mentor once said to me that if 3 people ask you to do that talk at another event, you've not only done well, you've created new opportunities by being great on stage. To get good, speak often. Weekly if possible.

3 tips for navigating stage fright: 1) Make friends with fear: Being out of your comfort zone is good for you. Ride that wave of energy. The amount of fear you feel is equal to the amount of charisma you can have. 2) Gratitude and fear negate each other: Practice gratitude as a way of dissolving your fear. Be grateful you are present, an audience is before you, and that you have a message worth sharing. 3) Focus on the audience | i.e., it is not about you; it is about them! Fear says "Am I good enough?" and that thought is a distraction to your true purpose of being there, to share something of value to those who are listening!

Be patient and compassionate with your journey. Growth takes time. You're not going to magically become Tony Robbins. You'll need to do a lot of free gigs. There may come a time where testimonials and photos/videos are more valuable than payment. But little by little, your business will grow if you're delivering a quality product and helping people to solve the problem you're targeting. Above all, remember its all about relationships. Finding the right people that are booking speakers is about networking and working to give value honestly and being patient with building relationships. Help others, and they will help you get to your goals. Building anything meaningful takes time!