How To Become A Public Speaker

The art of public speaking is an essential skill in any career path. The skill is an excellent asset on your resume and will benefit you no matter your job area. 

However, it is also a daunting and scary concept. Ever since childhood, the thought of standing in front of an audience and speaking invokes fear in us all.

Even the most confident of people can struggle with public speaking. We all get sweaty hands and shaking knees, and the trick is to convince yourself not to show these nervous traits. Your confident body language will infuse itself in your speech.

Whatever your dream job, any career guide will tell you that public speaking is a vital skill. Follow our introduction to public speaking to learn how to overcome your fear and become an excellent public speaker.

What is public speaking? 

Public speaking can be anything from speaking to an audience of a thousand strangers to talking in front of ten friends. 

To speak in public is the act of speaking face to face, or on-screen in todays’ world, to a live audience. Public speaking can also include the act of pre-recording your speech. While recording may seem a less nerve-wracking option, it requires the same skills to engage your audience successfully.

You might even have to work extra hard to capture attention through a screen. The aim of public speaking can be anything from informing and persuading to entertaining. 

The history of public speaking dates back to the Ancient Greeks, who practiced rhetoric. A timeless skill, public speaking is often one of those things that strikes fear in even the most confident of us.

Do you want to be a professional public speaker or a teacher at the front of a classroom? Speaking skills are one of the most valuable talents you can learn and improve.

Why is public speaking important?

Learning how to be a public speaker is one of the most important things you can do. Useful in day-to-day life as well as launching a public speaking career, the skill is crucial. So many doors will open for a powerful public speaker. 

The communication skills that public speakers possess enable them to motivate and influence. By forming connections with their audience, solid public speakers can drive change. From persuading buyers as a real estate agent to speaking at industry events, public speaking skills will improve your career prospects.

Event organizers will pick the best public speakers to attend conferences rather than the best in the field. Improving your communication skills will create many more opportunities to get your name known.

Public speaking is so important because it influences progression. Without anyone to drive change, the world would struggle to move forward. Social, industrial and humanitarian progression comes from those with the powerful skills to motivate development.

More personally, having the skills to communicate confidently will reduce your stress and anxiety. Knowing that you can do so professionally when you deliver a presentation will improve your mental well-being.

If you want to improve your confidence and learn how to speak in public, take a public speaking course to hone your skills.

What are some benefits of public speaking?

Public speaking is highly beneficial whether you want to be a professional speaker or improve your verbal communication skills. If you get nervous at each speaking gig, understanding how to better your confidence and skills is instrumental. 

Firstly, public speaking skills will significantly help your professional development. From shining more brightly at an interview to being more confident day-to-day, you will boost your career. You will also develop strong leadership skills, and taking a public speaking class will also look excellent on your resume.

Similarly, you will be more memorable at networking events. Even if you are not giving the key point speech, people will remember you for your impressive communication skills. 

Not only will your verbal communication skills improve, but also your written skills. Knowing how to compose a speech will help you convey concisely and informatively, which will benefit you at work and home. 

It will also improve your research and critical thinking skills. Knowing what information is useful and what is irrelevant is essential. You will also learn to think on the spot. Responding to the audience’s reaction is a vital part of public speaking. As a professional speaker, you will be able to make snap decisions based on the atmosphere confidently.

You will also be better at the art of persuasion. It is a valuable skill to convince your boss to follow your idea or encourage your partner to watch your TV show.

Public speaking is also a great life experience. Boosting your confidence leads to quality personal development. If you fear public speaking, it is personally satisfying to overcome that phobia. 

If you want to be a professional public speaker, learning the art will lead to smoother speaking engagements. Improving your skills as a motivational speaker will benefit your public speaking career.

What causes the fear of public speaking?

Fear of public speaking is a fear of the unknown. No matter your confidence as a person, standing in front of an audience can be scary. You don’t know how the audience will react to you or what you say.

Public speaking is rarely a risky activity. We overestimate the potential consequences of speaking in public. But what’s the worst that can happen? We stumble over a few words or get mediocre applause. Most speakers will be more relieved by the job being over than worrying about the audience’s response after the event.

When you are a confident speaker, you will get an impressed audience without giving yourself a panic attack.

Some theories suggest the fear of public speaking arises from evolution. As we evolved, we learned to fear large groups of others. When speaking in public, you usually are standing by yourself in front of a larger group, the minority. Ever heard the saying “safety in numbers?" Essentially this is where your survival instinct kicks in.

Even professional public speakers get nervous, and the trick is to be confident enough in your skill level to overcome the nerves.

If you want a career in public speaking, take online public speaking classes to overcome your fear.

How to overcome your fear of public speaking?

Taking public speaking courses will help you speak in front of others. Online classes will give you the skills and speaking confidence to make public speeches. 

You can overcome your fear of public speaking in many ways by catering to your target audience. When preparing and delivering your speech, stay aware of what they are interested in and keep on topic.

Address why you feel scared. If you fear the audience laughing, ask yourself why. The possibility that your audience will laugh at you is very low. If it helps, visualize a solution to such a scenario. Perhaps prepare a one-liner that can turn the situation around and get the audience on your side.

A more likely scenario is fumbling your words, forgetting your place, or messing up your slides. To avoid this:

• Prepare thoroughly.

• Go through your presentation again and again.

• Organize your slides. You will be so ready that you won’t have time to worry about messing up.

Even if you do fumble, you will know your material so well that you can easily pick your place back up. Any audience will be forgiving enough of tripping here and there, and they might not even notice it.

Don’t fear the silence. If you need to pause to find your place again or reorganize your thoughts, don’t fill it with um’s and ers. Silence always feels far longer to the speaker than the audience, and the audience will likely think that any pauses are intentional. Pauses are often suitable as they allow the audience to soak up what you have already said.

The main way to overcome your fear of public speaking is by forcing yourself to do it. Sign up for online classes and make yourself speak at events. You will soon realize that it is not as fearful as you imagine.

How to improve your public speaking skills?

The primary way to improve your public speaking skills is to practice practice practice. Try to gain experience wherever you can, whether from public speaking courses or by signing up to speaking events.

The best way to better your dynamic public speaking and create compelling presentations is to offer a unique perspective. Try tailoring your message to suit your audience. The key here is paying attention when speaking. If your audience seems uninterested, try twisting the angle of your speech.

Don’t rewrite everything in your head, but see what they seem more interested in and emphasize that element. The most important aspect is to deliver your ideas with clear explanations. If the audience understands what you are saying, then you have done an excellent job. 

Practice time management. Rambling is too often the downfall of public speakers, and learning to keep to time will help you stay on topic. Enroll in an excellent course on public speaking to learn the techniques to improve.

How to practice public speaking?

Practice public speaking by preparing a presentation on a familiar subject matter. Knowing your topic in detail will help you with speaking confidently. You can practice your presentation skills without worrying about the topic.

Maintain eye contact with your audience. Eye contact is perhaps the most challenging element of public speaking. Use the triangle technique, looking at three points of the room interchangeably.

It is often a good idea to include personal information in your speaking. You sound more sincere. The audience is more likely to be engaged when you share personal details. It doesn't have to be your life story, but a personal anecdote here and there. Practice dropping personal details into your speech.

The best way to practice is to take online public speaking courses. Continuing education in speaking and receiving professional certificates will benefit you in two ways. 

1. You will have time to practice your public speaking. 

2. The certification will authorize you and boost your confidence next time you speak in front of an audience.

Where to learn public speaking? 

Learn public speaking on a certification program. Popular courses, such as the Courses for Success Public Speaking Online Certificate Course, give you the tools to boost your skills.

This popular course boasts many success stories. Anyone from school students, college students, and working professionals can complete this course. Taking 6-8 hours to complete, you will spend your time honing your craft.

This course will boost your skills, from learning how to write an excellent speech to create effective support materials. Once you have completed this course, you will be a solid and confident public speaker.

Why Courses for Success? 

Courses for Success offers over 10,000 online courses, all of which aim to help you in your personal development and career progression. Not only that, but you can also study them anywhere and at any time, and take them at your own pace, too.

You don’t need career diplomas or specific experience to get started. From our coding courses and trading courses to design courses and developer courses, every course we offer will help boost your prospects, no matter who you are.

Beyond just the education itself, students will be issued a certificate online after completing each of the learning courses they do. Our public speaking courses are no exception. Industry leaders recognize our online public speaking certificates and you could make a name for yourself by signing up for a Courses for Success short course today.