Part 1 of 3: Preparing to Speak

1
Know your subject. Part of making yourself a comfortable and dynamic public speaker
is to make sure you know what you're talking about and you know it well. Lacking
knowledge can make you anxious and uncertain when you're speaking and that will
come through to your audience.[1]
 Preparation is key. Take your time when you are planning your speech to make sure
that it flows naturally and logically. You'll also need to make sure that you know how
you're coming across while giving the speech and heighten your good qualities while
downplaying the less good qualities.
 Even if public speaking is something like having to answer a question in class, you will
still need to make sure that you know your subject. This can help you feel and present
as more confident, which will make a good impression on your listeners.

2
Train your body. While speaking in public isn't like running a race, there are still things
you can do to make sure that your body cooperates with you. This goes beyond not
shifting your weight from foot to foot while you're talking (hold your toes still and you
won't find yourself doing this). It has to do with breathing, with projecting and making
sure you're speaking properly.[2]
 Speak from your diaphragm. This will help you to project clearly and loudly so that your
audience can hear you without seeming like you're straining or shouting. As an
exercise, stand up straight and put your hand on your abdomen. Breathe in, and
breathe out. Count to 5 on a breath and then 10 on a breath. You'll feel your abdomen
start to relax. You want to be breathing and speaking from that relaxed state.
 Modulate your tone. Figure out what the pitch of your voice is. Too high? Too low?
Going into registers only dogs can hear? Relaxing, standing in a comfortable (but
upright) position and breathing properly will help you find a more comfortable and more
pleasant tone.
 Avoid throat breathing and upper chest breathing, as these both can add to your anxiety
and tighten up your throat. In consequence, your voice will sound more strained and
uncomfortable.
 3
Practice pacing. People speak a lot more quickly when they're just having a
conversation, but that sort of speech doesn't work when you're speaking in front of a
group. Your audience needs to be able to follow along with what you're saying and be
allowed time to process the speech.
 Try and speak more slowly and more carefully than a typical conversational tone. Make
sure that you allow for pauses between different ideas, or especially important themes,
so that your audience has time to understand and reflect on what you just said.
 Practice proper articulation and pronunciation. Articulation is when you're pronouncing
sounds. Focus especially on enunciating these sounds: b, d, g, dz (j in jelly), p, t, k, ts,
(ch in chilly). For pronunciation, you want to make sure you know how to pronounce all
your words and that you've prasticed pronouncing the more difficult ones.
 Eliminate the 'um's and placeholder words such as "like." These words are fine for
regular conversation, but when public speaking they make you sound as if you don't
know what you're talking about.

4
Know your speech. Knowing your speech is just as important as knowing the subject
you're giving the speech on. There are also different ways of giving speeches, so you'll
need to pick the way that works best for you.
 To give a speech, you'll need to either have some sort of note cards or outline. Or you
can do it from memory, if that is something that you do well (don't try this if you aren't
super confident you can do it).
 You don't need to write down every single thing on your note cards (leave a little room
for improvisation), although it can be helpful to make notes of things like "pause after
this information" or "remember to breathe" so that you actually remember to do those
things.

5
Memorize your speech. While you don't necessarily have to memorize your speech or
talking points, it can be a great way to help you appear confident and easy in your
subject matter. Make sure that you have enough time set aside to do this, however. [3]
 Write out your speech over and over. This method helps you to remember the speech.
The more you write it out, the easier it will be to recall it. Once you've written it multiple
times, test yourself on how well you remember it. If there were parts you couldn't
remember, write those specific parts over and over again.
 Break your speech down into smaller parts and memorize each of those parts. It is
really hard to memorize an entire speech in one go. The best thing to do is memorize it
in small chunks (start with each bullet point, and then move up to memorizing your 3
different main points, etc.)
 Use the loci method. Break down your speech into paragraphs or bullet points. Visualize
a picture for each bullet point (like imagining a Harry Potter if you're talking about J.K.
Rowling's influence on children's literature). Determine a location for each of the points
(like Hogwarts for Rowling, a meadow for Stephenie Meyer, etc.). Now you'll progress
through the locations (you fly on a broomstick from Hogwarts to the meadow, for
example). If you have multiple things to say about each specific point, then put them in
specific places around the location (like a point about Harry Potter's popularity in the
Main Hall, or the effect she had on revamping the genre in the Quidditch field).

6
Know your audience. You need to know who you're giving your speech to, because
things that might go over well with one type of audience are going to anger or bore
another type. For example: you wouldn't want to be informal during a business
presentation, but you might be informal with a group of college students.
 Humor is a great way to loosen yourself and your audience up. There's usually a type of
humor that fits most public speaking situations (but not always!). It's good to start off
with a little humor to lighten the atmosphere and give the impression of confidence.
Telling a funny (and true) story can be a good way to do this.
 Figure out what it is you're trying to get across to the audience. Are you trying to give
them new information? Rehash old information? Are you trying to persuade them to do
something? This will help you focus your speaking around the main point that you want
to get across.
 7
Practice. This is hugely important if you want your speaking in public venture to go well.
It's not enough to know your material and what you're trying to get across. You need to
have done it enough times that you feel easy in it. It's like breaking in shoes. The first
few times you wear them you're going to get blisters, but soon they'll be comfortable
and fit you well.[4]
 Try to visit the space you'll be speaking in and practice there. This will give you greater
confidence because you're more familiar with the area.
 Video your practicing and find your strengths and weaknesses. Although it can be
daunting to watch yourself on video, it's a great way to see where your strengths and
weaknesses are. You'll notice what your nervous physical tics are (shifting from foot to
foot, running your hands through your hair) and you can work on eliminating them or
keeping them to a minimum.

Part 2 of 3: Honing Your Message

1
Pick the right type of speech. The 3 types of speeches are informative, persuasive,
entertaining. While there can be overlap between the different types, they each have a
specific function that they fulfill.[5]
 An informative speech's main purpose is to give facts, details, and examples. Even if
you are trying to persuade your audience, it is still about the basic facts and information.
 A persuasive speech is all about persuading your audience. You will employ facts, but
also emotion, logic, your own experiences, etc.
 The purpose of an entertaining speech fulfills a social need, but often uses some of the
aspects of an informative speech (like a wedding toast, or a an acceptance speech).

2
Avoid a rambling opening. You've definitely heard the speech that opens with "when I
was asked to give this speech, I wondered what to say..." Don't do it. This is one of the
most boring ways to start a speech. It rambles all over the place through the presenter's
personal life, and is almost never as entertaining as the presenter thinks it is.
 Start your speech by giving your main, overarching idea, and the 3 (or so) main points
you have to support and elaborate on it. Your audience is going to remember your
opening and your closing better than they remember any other part of the speech.
 Open it in a way that gets your audience's attention right off the bat. This means offering
up a surprising fact or statistic, or asking a question and blowing your audience's
preconceptions out of the water.

3
Have a clear structure. To avoid having a speech that ends up all over the place, you
will need to construct a clear format. Remember, you're not trying to overwhelm your
audience with facts and ideas.[6]
 Have one overarching idea. Ask yourself what are you trying to get across to the
audience? What do you want them to take away from your speech? Why should they
agree with what you're saying? For example: if you are giving a lecture on national
trends in literature, consider why your audience should care. You don't want to just spit
facts out at your audience.
 You'll need several main points that back up your overarching idea or point. The best
number is usual 3 main points. For example: If your overarching idea is that national
children's literature is becoming more diverse, have 1 point showing the new trends,
have a second point showing the reception of this new diversity by the public, and a
third point talk about why this new diverse children's fiction matters.

4
Use the right language. Language is incredibly important in writing and in giving a
speech. You'll want to stay away from lots of really big and unwieldy words, because no
matter how smart your audience is, they're going to lose interest quickly if you're hitting
them over the head with the dictionary.[7]
 Use striking adverbs and adjectives. You want to enliven your speech and your
audience. For example: instead of "Children's literature offers a range of diverse
perspectives" say "Children's literature offers a new range of exciting and diverse
perspectives."
 Use images that make your audience sit up and take notice. Winston Churchill used the
phrase "the iron curtain" to describe the secrecy of the Soviet Union. Striking images
 linger in your audience's consciousness (as seen by the fact "the iron curtain" has
become a household phrase).
 Repetition is also a great way to remind your audience why your speech is important
(think of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I had a dream..." speech). It hammers home your
points and makes it so they can't forget the overarching theme.

5
Keep it simple. You want your audience to be able to easily follow your speech and to
remember when you're finished. Not only does that mean having striking images and
surprising facts, it means that it needs to be simple and to the point. If you meander into
the quagmires of tangentially related subjects, you're going to lose your audience.
 Use short sentences and short phrases. These can be used for great dramatic effect.
For example the phrase "never again." It is short and to the point and packs a powerful
punch.
 You can also use short, pithy quotes. Lots of famous people have said funny, or
powerful statements in a very short amount of space. You can try and make your own or
utilize ones that are already in place. For example: Franklin D. Roosevelt said "Be
sincere; be brief; be seated."

Part 3 of 3: Speaking in Public

1
Deal with your anxiety. Pretty much everyone gets a little anxious before they have to
get up in front of people and talk. Hopefully, you're already prepared with your speech
and you know how to give it. Fortunately there are some ways to make those jitters
more manageable.[8]
 Before getting up and speaking, clench and unclench your hands several times to deal
with your adrenaline rush. Take 3 deep, slow breaths. This will clear your system and
get you ready to breathe properly during the speech.
 Stand confidently in a relaxed and upright posture, with your feet shoulder's width apart.
This will trick your brain into thinking that you're confident and make it easier to give the
speech.
 2
Smile at the audience. Smile at them as they come into the room (if you're out there)
or smile when you get up in front of them. This will make it seem like you're confident
and ease the atmosphere both for you and for them.[9]
 Smile even if you feel like hurling (especially if you feeling like hurling). This will help
trick your brain into feeling confident and at ease.

3
Give a performance. Speaking in public, of any kind, is all about performance. You can
make your speech interesting or boring depending on the performance you give. You
need to have an onstage persona that you use while you're speaking. [10]
 Tell a story. Part of your performance is giving the speech or speaking like you're telling
a story. People love stories and it will make it easier for them to connect with you, even
if you're talking about something factually based. use your overarching theme or subject
as the basis of the story. Why should the audience care about your topic? What's the
point?[11]
 Try to have a balance between your rehearsed speech and some spontaneity. People
don't want to sit there and watch you mumble through your note cards. It's a good idea
to give yourself space to expand on your subject free of the note cards and to add a few
side stories to give interest.
 Use your hands to help you make points. You don't want to be flailing about onstage,
but neither do you want to be standing stock still while you talk. It's good to use
controlled gestures to make points as you speak.
 Vary your voice while you're speaking. Your audience will be asleep in 10 seconds flat if
you only speak in one long monotone. Get excited about your subject and show that in
your inflections.

4
Engage the audience. You want to make sure your audience is in your power, which
means engaging them in the material no matter what it happens to be. This comes
down to being an interesting speaker more than it comes down to an interesting topic.[12]
 Look at your audience. Mentally split your room up into sections and make eye contact
with one person in each section on a rotational basis.
 Ask your audience questions during your speaking. You could open up each different
section of your speech with questions that you have people try and answer, before you
show them your information. It will make them feel as if they are part of your speech.

5
Talk more slowly. One of the things people fail most frequently in while trying to speak
in public is by talking too fast. Your normal conversational speed is a lot faster than the
speed that you'll be using for your speech. If you feel you're going too slow, you're
probably going just right.
 Take a drink of water if you find yourself whipping through your speech. It will help give
your audience a second to catch up and it will let you take a moment to slow down.
 If you do have a friend or family member in the audience, arrange a signal with them so
they can let you know if you're going too fast. Glance their way occasionally throughout
your speech so that you know you're on track.

6
Have a good closing. People remember the beginning and the ending of a speech,
they rarely remember the middle bits. Because of this you want to make sure that you
have an ending that they will remember.
 Make sure that your audience knows why this subject is important and why they should
have this information. If you can, end with a call to action. For example: if you're giving a
speech about the importance of art classes in schools, end by giving your audience
something that they can do about the fact that art electives are being cut.
 End with a story that illustrates your main point. Again, people like stories. Give a story
of a way this information benefited someone, or the dangers of not having this
information, or how it specifically relates to your audience (people are more interested
when things are about them).