If you have been looking for ideas on how to improve public speaking, then this article gives you two methods for getting clear on what you want to achieve and the best way to get a good result when it comes time to delivering your speech.
1.
Define Your Objectives The essence of learning how to improve public speaking is to have a well-defined goal, or objective.
Perhaps you simply want to deliver a speech at a relative's wedding without embarrassing yourself, or maybe you want to become a professional public speaker.
It doesn't matter, as long as you are clear about what your goal is.
The reason for this is that without a goal, you will not know what practical steps you should take to get there, nor will you have any clear idea about how long it will take.
How can you - because you don't know where you're going! The first step is to write down in one sentence what your 'end goal' is in public speaking.
Then underneath that, write down some short-term goals (next 3 months) and medium term goals; say for the next 12 months.
Underneath these again, write the actions you are going to take to achieve these goals.
They could be as simple as - research my speech, write my speech, practice my speech once a day for the next week, join a speaking club, etc.
As a part of learning how to improve public speaking you can even write down your goals and actions for individual speeches as a means of getting focussed on your messages and how you want to put them across.
Make your goals and actions simple, achievable and most of all - FUN.
And don't forget your other life priorities; these are just as important.
2.
Know Your Material Professional public speakers don't memorize huge chunks of text and then regurgitate them.
They know that this is unnecessary, and worse still, can lead to disaster if some of that text is forgotten.
Instead, they become thoroughly familiar with their subject through reading, talking to experts in the field, listening to audios, watching videos; that is, by using whatever source material is available to them.
They then work out a structure for their speech, breaking it down into perhaps 5 or 6 easy to remember headings or subtopics that flow from one to another, following the sequence of ideas they want to put across to their audience.
To use a very easy example of how to improve public speaking, let's say your speech is about how to plant a tree.
You decide that you will use the following sequence of 6 ideas - tree selection, preparing the soil, planting, mulching, watering schedule, and long-term pruning.
All you need to do is practice articulating your thoughts for each idea, without worrying about the exact wording.
That isn't important unless you have a particularly nice turn of phrase that you want to use.
Then slowly bring the whole sequence of ideas together into a complete speech.
As a back up, write the concepts or headings in bold, easy to read text on a small piece of card that you can glance down at if you momentarily lose your way.
Remember that you have to tailor each section to the time you have available.
For example, if you have 6 ideas and 20 minutes, that equates to about 3 minutes per idea, allowing for a brief introduction and conclusion.
You now know that defining your public speaking objectives and having an in-depth knowledge of your speaking material are keys to success in how to improve public speaking.
Follow this approach and you will be able to deliver professional-sounding speeches with ease!