Public speaking can be very scary due to the fear of being rejected because of one’s accent, inability to communicate the intended message, and anxiety. Hence, affecting a person’s self-esteem. However, public speaking and presentation skills are essential skills that every individual should convey to facilitate effective communication among people. The aspect of public speaking and presentation skills can be utilized in various advanced ways such as public talks, speech delivery, motivational speaking, training in events, and professional presentation. Public speaking and presentation skills act as a channel for building confidence and opening more underlying opportunities. Therefore, to stand out in the midst of professional gurus in public speaking, one must understand the following tips to become an effective speaker.

5 Tips to Help You Become a More Effective Speaker

1. Identify your strengths and weaknesses

Self-assessment is one of the vital tools that a speaker should utilize to identify their strengths and weaknesses as this helps in analyzing their previous speaking experiences. This will enable the speaker to identify the areas that need to be improved in their public speaking and presentation skills to grow their personal abilities and become unique professionals to be successful in what they do best. This will also allow the speaker to tap into new heights. Secondly, the speaker will be in a position to identify their strength and weakness form soliciting feedback from others, which will help one to evaluate if they are meeting the needs and demands of the audience. Being a speaker, the audience becomes the judge of your presentation; therefore, analyzing their feedback helps a speaker in ensuring the presentation meets their expectation and it’s in the best version.

2. Understand your audience

For a speaker knowing their audience is essential since they will be in a position to create the right content for the presentation to meet their expectation. The knowledge of the audience towards a topic may vary; therefore, the speaker should find out the extent to which the audience are aware of certain topics to avoid misrepresentation of the information. This also helps in eliminating complex presentation of information that the audience does not clearly understand or is already aware of, as this can propel them to lose interest in the topic. Secondly, it is also good for the speaker to understand their audience to identify the issues they are facing and try to provide solutions during their presentation. 

3. Plan your presentation

A speaker should plan their presentation by logically outlining the key point in a hierarchical way, from the banger point to the least points, to keep up with the audience’s attention to avoid boredom. Through this, the speaker will be in a position to create an impact on the audience, leaving them demanding another presentation since they enjoyed it. Most of the time, people get distracted and fail to concentrate if a presentation is dull or too long, leaving them dozing off, having unnecessary movement in and out, and browsing through their phones to pass the time. To curb this, the speaker should introduce eye-catching visual aid in their presentation to support their message, which will help in keeping the audience alert. The speaker should also consider the aspect of time to avoid a lengthy presentation that will distort the audience’s attention.

4. Practice, practice, practice

Practicing the speech presentation is always essential as it enables the speaker to clearly understand the concept and present it effectively with a lot of confidence, thus gaining trust from the audience. Also, practicing a speech several times before the grand event enables the speaker to become more familiar with the concept, thus being able to deliver in the best way possible. While practicing, the speaker should read their speech out loud as they highlight words or concepts they would like to emphasize more during their public presentation. This will help the speaker become more comfortable with their material, such that they are aware of when to “crake a little joke” or “give a demonstration” to keep the audience entertained and alert.

5. Engage your audience

It is always difficult for the audience to stay focused on speakers without feeling bored and tired, but by engaging them, it becomes easy to spark their attention by using interactive activities, asking them questions, and using stories they resonate with to maintain the liveliness of the presentation. A speaker is also supposed to engage with the audience by using body language, vocal variation, and eye contact to promote efficient public speaking skills. Remember, effective public speaking and presentation skills can be learned and improved with practice as well as preparation, design, and effective delivery. By following these tips and being open to feedback and learning, you can develop effective public speaking skills and become a more confident and engaging speaker and presenter.