Improving as a Public Speaker: How do you start?

The greatest fear among most people is the fear of public speaking. Even Cicero, a Roman considered the best public speaker of all time, use to cite it as the thing he was most afraid of. So how do you go about becoming a good speaker if you’ve never done it before?

First, you’re going to have to practice. You need to find a venue where you’re comfortable giving speeches. Start out by speaking in front of a mirror – pretend you’re giving a speech. You can watch yourself talk, and even experienced speakers use this as a technique to understand their facial expressions and how to change them. This will give you the comfort level you need to start giving speeches or presentations in front of people. After you feel like you could do this in front of a person, join a local speaking group. The Toastmasters are a good one – it’s a club for people who want to improve their speaking skills, and they have people of all experience levels. You can get started with them, in staged events with small audiences. It’s much easier to speak in front of a small group of people for a beginner than a crowd – you just pretend you’re talking with friends, and gradually the pressure and nervousness will go away. If you don’t have one in your area, you could try looking around for contests sponsored by the local Rotary club or other organizations. There often aren’t any people really entering these, and they don’t have much of an audience, so it’s not that hard to go do them. Alternatively, you could just try getting friends or family to listen to you. If you’ve got a big presentation at work that you’re worried about, do it several times in front of people that you know and are comfortable with. You’ll have practice for the real thing, and you’re less likely to get flustered when you’re actually doing it.