How do I start learning public speaking?

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Public speaking is more than just being able to stand up and speak in front of people, it’s a business skill that helps you communicate your industry knowledge and life experiences to succeed in your career.

When you have the tools you need to master public speaking you can apply these anywhere, that might be a paid event where you are asked to be a guest speaker, your own event where you provide rewarding information to a paying crowd, or in smaller situations like team meetings. No matter where you are or what the venue, having public speaking skills is valuable for:

Brand recognition and product marketing
Motivating, encouraging and engaging with your team
Speaking with current and prospective partners and investors
Stepping up to a leadership role naturally
Building and maintaining your self-confidence and comfort when speaking to others
Connecting to and engaging with audiences with genuine authority and integrity

If you are nervous or maybe even terrified of public speaking, you’re not alone. Just about everybody feels uncomfortable and most people avoid it at all costs. You are out there where you can be criticised, and judged and everyone can see your mistakes. I know when I was starting out, I’d have preferred to jump out a high window than actually talk to anybody…about anything.

Now public speaking is pretty much the number one way I generate income for my company, and I love it.

What’s changed, was it my personality? Nope, I’m still an introvert at heart. The difference is my mindset. I’ve trained my brain to shut off that internal critique that says “Everyone is laughing at you”. Instead, I’ve told it to pay attention to where I’m standing, how I’m breathing, to listen to the room and be there for the people I’m presenting to. And things don’t go perfectly. I make mistakes, I leave out sections sometimes, I forget what I’m talking about and go off talking about something else, but you know what, those times when I’m talking about something different to what I’m supposed to be talking about is when someone has a big breakthrough.

When you let go of this whole idea of right and wrong and just get in the moment stuff happens guys, stuff I can’t explain but I know it works.

And it’s 100% teachable.

I’ve seen the shyest, quietest students get up and do the funniest, most entertaining talks, and surprise the pants off everyone in the room because they get access to a new kind of thinking in my classes.

I know that anyone can do this. So what does it take?

You don’t have to have an outgoing personality to be really great at presenting, anyone can learn the skills to be great at it.

You just need to learn to be present…

How You Can Learn to Become a Better Public Speaker

Everyone feels intimidated sometimes

It’s easy to think that someone has something you don’t. You look at comedians, movie stars and big presenters and think they have a special talent or skill that’s out of reach. Everyone feels unsure about themselves sometimes, even the best presenters. Every one of them started small and worked their way up through experience and determination. This is not something you have or you haven’t got. It’s a skill that, like a muscle you build and grow.

The only difference is, they do it anyway. They stand up, work through their fear and get that big winning feeling at the end that serves them the next time they are called onto the stage.

We can show you in our classes how to use anchors that lock in positive emotions to give you a boost of confidence or calm exactly when you need it.

Get your physiology right

On some level people know that when you feel a certain way, you carry yourself in a certain way too. So if you are feeling down, your shoulders will be rounded, your head tilted towards the floor, you won’t make eye contact. But the opposite is true too. The way you hold your body affects how you feel emotionally and how you think about yourself. If you deliberately stand tall, chin up, eyes focused you will feel energised, confident and empowered.

Positive body language for public speaking

Stand tall
Relaxed muscles
Slow steady breathing
Make eye contact
Move naturally
Change your position and move to different points on stage
Open stance
Inviting gestures
Address the whole room

Body language to avoid when public speaking

Hands in pockets
Fiddling with fingers, buttons, cards, microphone
Reading from cards (eyes down)
Crossed arms
Rapid breathing
Moving and speaking too fast or without thought or purpose

Practice every day

It’s a mistake to only use your public speaking skills when you are at an event. It’s not just for special occasions. You need to build up to make it a natural response by using it every day that way when it comes to your big night, it feels natural and you feel comfortable stepping into the presenting zone.

Ways you can strengthen your public speaking ability each day:

Get rid of that internal negative self-talk
Breathwork
Pay attention to your body language
Practice matching and mirroring to get into rapport
Study presenters and entertainers that you admire and respect
Fill in any gaps of knowledge on your topic or what you want to say

Forget about a script

Looking at and following cards or a script stops you from connecting with your audience and going with your gut instinct. The topic you are talking about should be one you know inside out already, that’s your area of expertise, if not, why are you even discussing it?

That means you should already be up-to-date on what’s going on in this area and what to say, no memorising required.

While it’s good to have a plan for a topic and the important points to cover, leave it at that, just a general plan and an idea of how long it takes to say what you need to say. If you find you keep losing track of time, have some kind of backup, a timer (on vibrate) in your pocket or someone standing in the wings who can let you know your time marks (halfway, almost done etc).

A rehearsed and scripted presentation isn’t going to be anywhere near as impacting as you, showing up and being present to your audience and rolling with what they need to say. Get them involved early on by asking why they are in the room and what they want to achieve. Use a show of hands to get a read of what they need and be there for them. When you are passionate about what you have to say and working in an area you’ll have experience, life stories, solutions and metaphors you can draw on that will be far more valuable than something that looks good on paper or sounds good in the mirror. Remember, your presentation is for them, the audience, not for you, so put the ego down and be there for them.

Get feedback

Rehearsing in front of people you trust is a great way to get a feel for how you present, what works and where you need improvement. It’s also great for measuring how well you keep track of time. Make sure you ask for feedback and take it on board.

It’s also good to get feedback after your presentation is over. You can record it and watch it yourself afterwards to see areas you can continue to strengthen your public speaking skills. Also ask the audience how the experience was. You can pass out feedback forms at the end of the event, send an online feedback form if you have their contact details or make yourself available to mingle directly afterwards.

How studying others work

My Influence Now course is based on a Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) approach: Anything others can do well, I can map and do well too.

When we look at the people we admire and want to be influenced by, we can reprogram our brains to focus and emanate the things we like most about them, rather than letting that internal critique and self-doubt get the better of us.

Search for examples of great public speakers

YouTube and TED Talks are a great place to start but they can also be actors, sports coaches, politicians, or anyone who has something you admire and want to bring to your own presentations. As you build up the examples from life you like you create your own presentation persona that is unique to you and amplifies the very best in you.

As well as using your body language as part of your communication, you’ll learn how voice, tempo, tone and volume work to create an atmosphere and get your audience to follow you deeper and deeper into your message.

Complete A Training Course

If you are ready to overcome your fear, take the stage without notes, deliver your message in an engaging, motivating and genuine way, Influence Now can help you become the authority, and earn more from your business.

My five-day in-person training gives you high quality and proven presenting skills and tools, to be used not just for public speaking but for stepping into the best version of yourself without that voice of doubt nagging in your ear.

When you are able to overcome your fear and tap into your passion and confidence, you can connect and engage with people in an authentic and valuable way so they remember what you say, and who you are.

We show you in person how to master the skills of presenting and match it with your business goals to get the outcomes unique to you. My method of preparing for a presentation is not only rewarding, it’s also fun, inspiring and motivating.

As well as learning public speaking skills and building your confidence, you will get to practise these skills in the room, in front of your classmates, all of whom are on the same journey with you, to support and encourage you in a safe environment and offer feedback to get you to the next level.

We record your speech so you can look it over and see for yourself how well your training has worked and where you’d like to put in some work to improve.

As well as learning life skills and gaining public speaking experience, you’ll train your mind to see positives and opportunities, draw on beneficial influences in the real world and make life-long friends.

If you’re looking for a public speaking course in Sydney, Influence Now is the ultimate public speaker training, and is one of the most powerful training’s we offer. We have witnessed so many participants start the week absolutely frozen in fear go on to deliver highly emotive, jaw-dropping presentations at the end. If you are petrified of public speaking or suffer from ‘stage fright’ then get excited, it’s all about to change!