Here's how you can hone your future public speaking skills.

Remember to be your authentic self and use the art of story telling to connect with your audience. Anyone can read from a PowerPoint slide, but speakers who are vulnerable and invite the audience to experience a journey throughout the presentation will be remembered. Using phrases like “take a moment to imagine” (insert relevant story) or “I’m sure several of you here can relate to this” (insert topic) or my absolute favorite “raise you hand if (insert). When speaking it’s so powerful when you can find a way to get people moving whether it’s standing up, raising a hand, looking in a certain direction etc - it gets the audience invested in the moment and the topic at hand. I have a lot of fun and my audience even the serious ones smile :)

As a former educator, I believe it's important that a speaker recognizes their responsibility to educate, inspire, and drive curiosity in the audience. If the audience doesn't leave feeling smarter about the topic, it doesn't matter how "smart" you think you are. The presentation isn't about you, it's about them, so make the effort to learn where they are coming from, what they might already know, and what they are hoping to learn and tailor to that. The audience is your customer - how can you cater to their needs and engage them to make it worth everyone's time? Be real with them, find connections between you and them, pull them in with stories and please, please, smile once in awhile (if appropriate, eulogies might be a different case!).

Simply put, start by answering this question: Who is your audience and what do you want them to know or do?

Don't make the mistake I made early in my speaking career! I failed to connect with my audience and missed out on future opportunities with that planner. Learn from my experience and nail your next presentation! Know your audience inside out - it's the key to success. Research, invest time, and put in the effort to understand them. Just like an iceberg, there's more beneath the surface. I use the iceberg model: what you see is just the tip. Go deeper to uncover the real depth - their values, beliefs, and preferences. Connecting on a deeper level leads to impactful communication. Improve your intercultural communication skills by truly understanding your audience. Navigate the waters confidently and watch your communication skills soar

I agree, knowing your audience is crucial in networking as it allows you to tailor your communication to their interests and needs. By understanding your audience, such as their careers or demographics, you can make your speeches and presentations more relevant. You can adjust your tone and content depending on the audience - your presentation will look much different when delivered to a group of young children compared to your managers.

Crafting the message is critical, but an overwrought speech or lecture is cold and disengaging. Avoid the urged to be totally scripted. Sounding like a robot does not draw people into your message. Know your topic, of course. Every aspect of it. But allow for some spontaneity and don't freak out when the talk that you memorized is not the one that comes out of your mouth.

To craft your message, you need to know your audience. We can all talk for hours on topics that are important to us individually, but when we have been invited to deliver a message for a client or a conference audience, we need to make sure that we understand what is important to the listener, & align our message to their needs & requirements. For example, if I am delivering a training session for Property Council of Australia (Property Council Academy), I am presenting to facility & operations management teams. What they find important and useful, is going to be very different to what retail team members from Woolworths find useful & beneficial. Always make sure that you make it about them, not about you.

Personal stories are the best way to build connections with the audience. The craft is about creating the hook.Any story well told can be the hook. Whenever I talk about the fear of public speaking, I share the example of standing before my audience and going blank about the speech. The outcome however could have been either never stepping on stage ever again or facing my fears. I then share how facing my fears was what I chose by joining classes. This shaped my confidence. This message of not giving up goes very well with the audience as I make myself the believable and motivate them to try harder.

Know the demographics of your audience and build your messaging with anecdotes and stories that they will understand and correlate with their own life experiences. Serve them a tasty gumbo that is a mixture of facts in the base, a dash of humor and room for their input and reaction for dessert.

To get better, you need to go beyond simple repetition. Instead, turn it into play. The kind that has immediate direct feedback, yet you're consistent enough to notice patterns that work or don't with that particular group. It's about deliberate practice and keeping yourself honest. Never get defensive. Instead, explore and ask for more input. This is the most underrated, yet effective way to earn a living and make an impact with public speaking work. Listen to your audience, and know when to disregard the feedback. This requires you to continously build mental models about how humans pay attention, remember, decide, and act. Ultimately, it's about knowing yourself and them. Build trust, and they will keep it real with you. That's it.

Knowing what you are going to say, how you want to deliver your message (tone, cadence, etc), and what you want the audience to come away with are critical. However, the way to get to an effective presentation is different for everyone. You will have to find out what works best for you. Some people memorize, some practice, some people go over the message in their heads then speak from the heart, others wing it. Only practice and self awareness will get you there. To be good at anything, you need to know your strengths and weaknesses. If you have a bad memory, maybe the memorization technique is not for you.

Repeat, repeat, repeat! Focus on the outline not the actual words for a speech you would like to memorize. Take every opportunity you get to speak and ask for instant feedback to help you refine the presentation.

Practice is positive, however, trying to memorize the speech can be complicated and counterproductive for some individuals. I recommend focusing on storytelling skills; knowing how to tell stories helps us connect with our audience and sound more natural. Test your storytelling ability by challenging yourself with free topics and recording yourself, adding a touch of emotion to enhance your nonverbal communication. ;)

I totally agree that practice is crucial for success in public speaking. I tell my students that there is no such thing as too much rehearsal. That explains why experts recommend 30 hours of rehearsal for a 60-minute speech. The more you practise your presentation, the better you get at delivering it.

Non-verbal cues or body language is a natural thing, and it's almost impossible to fake your body language. However, when it comes to mastering non-verbal cues, you need to first realize and understand how your body moves in different situations. You can start recording yourself while doing public speaking, and analyze your body movement thoroughly. After that you can start to make simple adjustment to the way your body moves, consciously. Make sure you apply that "new moves" in your daily life until it become a habit. The point is, to master non-verbal cues in public speaking is to be as natural as you can be in that situation.

> Maintain an open posture to appear approachable. > Use hand gestures to emphasize points but avoid overdoing it. > Practice smiling and other facial expressions to convey warmth and confidence.

Agreed. Be careful with regular pacing up and down as you speak - it becomes quite soporific to watch. Develop a stillness to your stance. It’s disconcerting to have ‘all eyes on you’ at first but in time you learn to be less self-conscious.

Always remember the 7%, 38%, 55% Rule. Communication is 93% absorbed by the audience through a "non-verbal" communication. Therefore, by the time you are thinking and designing your speech, think about it and how can you add the "non-verbal" communication. Some Graphics, arts, draws, gestures while speaking, etc.

One common misstep is to pace back and forth or constantly move one's hands (i.e. jazz hands). I recommend movement with intention and purpose. For instance, when transitioning topics it makes sense to pace across the stage, or when listing a number of items they can be illustrated by counting on your fingers. Move for a reason - constant movement is distracting and detracts.

The more familiar I am with the material, the more confident I feel. I practice regularly in front of smaller, supportive groups to help build my comfort level, and I also use relaxation techniques such as deep breathing, visualization, and mindfulness to calm my mind before stepping on stage. I also reframe nervous energy as excitement to shift my perspective in a positive direction. I engage with the audience early on to create a connection, making the environment feel more conversational than intimidating. Reflecting on each speaking experience to identify what strategies helped manage my nerves gives me something to gradually build on.

Two recommendations: 1) reframe your nerves as excitement: nerves mean you're alert and ready. 2) Power Pose (search Amy Cuddy Power Poses) - while it may be a placebo, Power Poses reduce stress and boost confidence.

Nerves are natural, right? Every presenter will tell you that they have experienced some form of jitters or nervousness prior to, or during a presentation. It might be because it is the first time you are delivering a new session, or it might be because the audience & venue is difficult or overwhelming. I remember when I was the G20 Business & Critical Infrastructure Engagement Mgr for Queensland Police, & I was delivering my very first G20 session to a large group of licences premises owners in Brisbane. I didn’t know my topic well (I was new to the role), & so I was nervous. I made it through the presentation & questions, & left feeling deflated, but learnt a valuable lesson…know your topic well! This will help to reduce nerves.

I begin with a story—that I know by heart—even with my eyes closed so I won’t be rattled or distracted by nerves. Covering your heart conveys sincerity and I try to do that at the beginning of speeches as well.

> Perform relaxation exercises before going on stage. > Focus on the message you want to convey, not on yourself. > Remember that some level of adrenaline can actually enhance your performance.

> Use rhetorical questions to provoke thought. > Incorporate multimedia elements like slides or videos to support your message. > Encourage audience participation through polls or interactive activities.

Being a great presenter is a little bit like being a performer. Not only do you need to know your topic intimately (one of the keys to presenting), but you need to deliver it in an engaging and entertaining way that will maintain your audiences interest. One great way to engage your audience is to demonstrate your knowledge or expertise on a topic through story telling. With so many choices available to gather information (books, podcasts, internet, documentaries) if someone is willing to take the time to listen to you, then you need to take the time to entertain them. Work out how to demonstrate your knowledge and convey your point through a story, and your audience will leave satisfied that their time listening to you was well spent.

Números reais e causais. Não gosto de trabalhar com análises superficiais e/ou correlacionais. Também não precisa ir no complexo. Por exemplo, falar sobre a Evasão Escolar do Brasil (25% no EM) , o custo dessa Evasão (+200 bi / ano) é a taxa de Aprendizado dos nossos estudantes em MT (5%) e LP (33%) ao final dos estudos já atrai a atenção do público ao problema que queremos conversar. Reforça que aquele é realmente um grande problema, dentre tantos que enfrentamos.

Uma palestra em que só o orador fala e o auditório fica calado o tempo todo tende a ser monótona e enfadonha. Fuja disso e tente interagir com a plateia. Use perguntas retóricas, método socrático para levar as pessoas a pensarem sobre determinado assunto, para só então você complementar a ideia e dar uma possível resposta.

Engaging your audience is essential for a memorable and impactful presentation. Use techniques that draw them in and keep them invested in your message. *Ask Interactive Questions: Engage with questions like 'Raise your hand if…' or 'How many of you have experienced…' to make the presentation interactive and gauge their interest. *Use Imaginative Phrasing: Phrases like 'Take a moment to imagine…' or 'Picture this scenario…' help your audience visualize your points and make the content relatable. *Incorporate Catchphrases: Use catchy phrases to reinforce key points. Alliteration or rhyming makes information more memorable. *Reiterate Key Messages: Repeat important information memorably to ensure it sticks with your audience.

Be thyself. It is your authenticity and passion that will evoke interest in the audience. Know thyself. You need to know what areas are your strengths and weaknesses and how to harness each appropriately. Resist imposter syndrome. Remember people have come because they want to hear what you have to say. You are good enough, just believe it.

Get training, get training, get training! Becoming a powerful speaker is not guesswork. Like any skill, learning from an expert will dramatically speed up your learning process. In fact, it’s crucial because without it, you’ll end up making the same mistakes over and over again. Find a coach with a proven track record. Invest in your future. And even things that seem intangible, like confidence and presence, can become yours quite quickly.

Know your subject; as this help you to not focus on slides or notes, it allows you to bring you presentation alive, engaging your audience, it also gives you greater impact in the words you deliver.

Be aware of your why. Why do you speak? What is your purpose in sharing your story? Don’t lose track of this because it will continue to fuel you.

Be adaptable and authentic in the moment based on audience feedback (verbal and non-verbal). As I watched some eyes get teary during a public speaking engagement, I intentionally added an example of life experience to bring encouragement. I re-framed an earlier concept as well with a relatable idea. I could only do that by being myself.