Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking Skills

A successful job or business depends on having excellent verbal communication skills. Professionals from various fields frequently need to present concepts and data. When they possess public speaking skills, they experience less anxiety and are, therefore, more valuable team members. 

Most people have some level of public speaking anxiety. Fortunately, with focused effort, you can increase your output and establish yourself as a valuable team member with strong public speaking skills. To help out, we have prepared a few public speaking tips for students that will hopefully reduce the fear of speaking in front of an audience.

Why Is It Important to Develop Good Public Skills?

Public speaking skills are now a requirement for the labor market, making people with these skills more valuable at work. You may use these skills to present concepts to teammates and coworkers. However, even if you don’t regularly give speeches in front of audiences, mastering the art of oratory can help you deal with difficult emotions and boost your confidence.

But how can a student improve public speaking? Continue reading for advice on becoming a better public speaker if you want to learn how to talk in front of people. 

12 Public Speaking Tips for Students

It’s typical for many people to feel anxious when they consider having to stand up and deliver a speech. It could be that you are an introvert or something from the past that has left you wary of speaking in front of crowds. 

Whatever the reason, there are many things you can do to get better if public speaking makes you uncomfortable. While we can’t answer the question “Why is public speaking so hard?”, we can help you get better at it through the following tips. 

Know who your audience is

Think about the audience before you start to write your presentation. Find out who your listeners are. Check to see if they are knowledgeable about your subject. For instance, avoid boring a roomful of experts with the fundamentals. 

Similarly, if your audience is unfamiliar with the subject, fill in the blanks so you can start on an equal footing. Find out why they are listening to you speak and what they expect from you. Knowing these details about your audience can help you choose the material needed and make the right word choices. 

Prepare a speech and practice

A very common question about public speaking is, “how can I speak in public with confidence?” Everybody experiences racing hearts and shaky hands before a public speech. Do not connect these emotions with the fear of performing poorly or embarrassing yourself. Not all nerves are bad.

You become more aware and prepared to perform at your best due to the adrenaline rush that causes you to sweat. Instead, spend some time reviewing your notes multiple times. Practice a lot after you’ve gotten used to the material. 

Organize your materials effectively

Set up a structure for your speech. Make a list of talking points before you deliver a speech that includes the main ideas you want your audience to comprehend by the time you finish your speech. Start with three to five overarching messages, then list multiple supporting arguments for each of those messages.

Talking points should be arranged chronologically, beginning with the first point you intend to make. A prepared outline of your messages can help you stay on course during your presentation and ensure you don’t miss any crucial issues.

Ask others’ opinions

Keep your audience in mind. Evaluate their reactions, modify your message, and maintain flexibility. Even the most loyal listeners will become distracted or perplexed if you deliver a prefabricated speech. Asking for constructive critique while you’re practicing can be a big help.

You’ll probably be more receptive to someone’s advice to improve your communication if you believe they have your best interests at heart, so go to someone you trust. By identifying areas for improvement, you can increase your public speaking skills.

Become familiar with the space

Nothing beats practicing in the same place where you will deliver your presentation. You can observe how the size of the room or other area affects how loud you need to be or how you deliver your message, among other things. 

You can get a clear idea of how much you can move and how the audience will sit and, therefore, avoid last-minute surprises. You will feel more self-assured as a result. 

Do not read

When public speaking gives you anxiety, you might tend to write your speech down word for word so you can refer to it if you forget what to say next. However, this can annoy the audience and make them lose their trust and interest in your presentation.  

If you have paper notes, only utilize a brief outline that can serve as a reminder of the points you want to make. Use your slides as the cues if you’re using a PowerPoint presentation as your audio-visual aid. Additionally, practice enables you to unwind physically on stage by making you feel confident in your material. 

Make eye contact

Making eye contact also increases the likelihood of connecting with the audience around you. You will be able to see if the crowd understands your central ideas or if you need to make further clarifications. 

You have a better chance of being heard if they feel seen. Start with one welcoming face and act like they are the only ones you are chatting to. Then on to the following face. This may take some practice if you’re shy or anxious, but it will be good for your presentation. 

Work on your body language

Develop strong and self-assured body language to support your presentation. Without using words, you can communicate a lot with body language. 

You should smile while maintaining a straight back and good posture. Allow your arms to hang freely. Avoid tense motions that might detract from your message, such as stuffing your hands into your pockets or scratching your head.

Use stories and humor

Stay true to yourself in any form of communication. Your credibility will increase if your personality comes through, and your audience will believe you more if they can relate to you personally. In general, audiences appreciate speeches with a personal touch.

If you include a humorous story in your presentation, your audience’s attention will be captured. When your speech begins, you have one minute to make a strong first impression on your audience. A tale, anecdote, or query may grab their interest and encourage them to continue listening.

Use audiovisual aides to your advantage

Visual cues are an effective technique to distract the audience’s attention while keeping the conversation on track if the thought of having all eyes on you makes you uncomfortable. You may make your main arguments and better engage the audience using a visual aid, such as a PowerPoint presentation. 

They should either improve or clarify your material or grab and hold your readers’ attention. However, use them judiciously because too many can sever the audience’s direct line of communication. Make slides with graphs and pictures that illustrate your points. If writing is necessary, keep it to a few brief bullet points.

Record yourself

Since it’s easy to be critical of ourselves, recording yourself giving a speech can be a little unpleasant at first. However, it can be a helpful exercise once you get past how strange your voice sounds on the recording. It might assist you in recognizing any speech tics or fillers you may have, like “uh” or “like.”  

Also, if there are problems with your tempo or delivery, recording yourself can help you find them. If you seem to speak too slowly or quickly, this will be clear when you hear yourself. When you play the recording back, it will become clear whether any sections drag or if your audience is drifting off, so you can fix it. 

Have a strong introduction and conclusion

Employ an eye-opening statistic, a captivating narrative, or a brief quote to make a strong introduction. But just like the beginning of your speech can make or break your presentation, having a good conclusion will make your presentation memorable. It may involve a call to action, a memorable quotation, a narrative illustrating why this topic is so important to you personally, or an overview of the key lessons learned.

Once your presentation is over, don’t forget to thank the audience for their time. If there is time, you can take questions from the audience and respond to them on stage. 

Wrapping Up

Nobody expects you to be flawless, and good communication is never perfect. But taking the necessary time to prepare will improve the quality of your speech. We can not promise that you will completely remove your anxiety about public speaking, but you can learn how to manage it.

With the help of these public speaking strategies, you’ll be able to connect with your audience more effectively while remaining composed on stage.