How To Present Yourself As A Confident Public Speaker

I have purposely not called this article ‘how to be a confident public speaker’, because I know that for a lot of us, confidence isn’t something we can necessarily acquire overnight.

Sometimes you really do have to ‘fake it till you make it’.

But the good news is, the approach of ‘faking it till you make it’ when referred to as the act of behaving like you are something so you can become it does in fact work!

Hear me out:

If you pretend to present with confidence then you are learning what confidence looks and feels like, so really, what is the difference between acting confident and being confident?

Anyway, I digress…

As I have mentioned on here before, audiences decide for themselves within the first few minutes of your speech whether you a) know your stuff, and b) are going to keep them engaged.

Therefore, how you appear and sound are very important in these scenarios because they will influence your listeners’ impression of you.

Here’s where ‘faking it till you make it’ comes in. You can still present yourself as confident and competent even if you are feeling nervous and diffident on the inside.

So, how do you look confident in public speaking situations (even if you’re not!)?

• Make eye contact with the audience.

This will help you to build connection and trust with the people listening to you. When we meet someone new, our instincts tell us to seek out their eyes for more information. Eye contact will help both you and the audience focus on what you’re saying, read facial expressions and improve understanding of each other so you’ll be able to ‘read the room’ better. Eye contact is one of the most important forms of nonverbal communication. It communicates confidence and trust, and it helps the audience to feel involved in what you’re saying. The more you’ve practised your presentation, the less you’ll need to glance at your cue cards, and this is what enables you to stay focused on the audience with lots of eye contact.

• Stand with an open and straight posture.

I’ve stressed before that it is always preferable not to have any barriers in the form of tables, lecterns, or mobile phones between you and the audience. You should also be aware of your arms here too – don’t cross them. To look like a confident speaker, stand tall with a straight back and with your arms uncrossed, palms facing up. If your feet are shoulder distance apart, you’re taking up more space and owning that stage. Yes, you can look confident just by standing strong and giving the impression you’ve got nothing to hide. Try it for yourself.

I will also mention here that some of the best, most confident speakers I’ve seen have used wheelchairs or have not been able to stand for their presentation. So, where standing is not an option, you can still create an open posture and apply body language that exudes confidence. **

• Use hand gestures.

I saw a fantastic example of this recently which is embedded below. It’s the Princess of Wales’ opening for BBC Children in Need.

Check out her open, straight posture and her refined hand gestures that help stress the points she’s making.

Using your hands is a great tactic to reinforce key points or emphasise what you’re saying. Gestures will also reflect your feeling towards the topic you’re discussing, and invite the audience to engage with you on a more emotional level. Therefore, if you are passionate about what you’re saying then make sure you convey that with the help of your hands!

How do you sound confident in public speaking situations (even if you’re not!)?

• Avoid filler words.

For many, this one especially is easier said than done. But it can be learnt!

By filler words I mean ‘errr, umm, ahh, like, you know? right?’

Unfortunately, in public speaking situations these filler words can be annoying and off-putting to your listeners. It can also give the impression that you’re a bit unsure of what you’re saying and consequently not very confident.

A useful technique for this can be applied during the rehearsal phase of your speech preparation. Record yourself presenting on your mobile phone or computer and then play it back. Become aware of which filler words you use the most. Then practise again, consciously avoiding those filler words until there aren’t any left in your speech.

On the day, it’s okay to pause while you remember the next thing to say. A pause of silence every so often during your speech is always preferable to filler words.

The video of the Princess of Wales presenting above is also a perfect example of this. She uses ZERO filler words. Disclosure: it is because she’s reading a script (which I vehemently do not advise in front of a live audience) but still, you get the idea! It helps if you listen to the flow of her sentences and hear the parts where she takes pauses instead of using filler words.

• Pace it like a pro.

Confident speakers don’t rush through their presentation or speech. They may even vary the pace of their verbal delivery by slowing down and speeding up to emphasise their most important points.

The sweet spot is speaking approximately 163 words per minute, but you have creative licence to speed up to around 220 words per minute if you want to elaborate a story, for example, while keeping your audience engaged.

If anything, just remember to pause then slow down the pace of your delivery when you are conveying the key takeaways and most important points of your presentation.

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I hope that these tips will help to you on your journey to becoming a more confident public speaker.