Six tips for great public speaking

Here’s what I learned from giving last night’s speech to 138 members of an exclusive men’s club. It was ladies night so I was speaking to the members and their wives. I was keen to do well as I was speaking in front of my parents and many of their close friends… not to mention Groover.

1. Choose your subject well

You are normally given a little leeway in what you can talk about – find out who your audience is. In my case it was an older audience – average age probably 65 – and I knew that most of them had grown up with my radio station so I went back and relived some of their history – and I tried to find links between the club and the story of the radio station.

2. Know your subject

Even though I didn’t write my speech till the night before I had been researching the topic for a while and knew the history well. This allowed me to tell the story without using notes… although it was helpful to write out the full speech to get a sense of how it might flow.

3. Test your equipment

I used archival audio pieces which enabled me to take a breath and re-group in my mind for the next section… but to do that the equipment had to work. First off I added about 4 minutes of blank sound after each piece – so that the tracks couldn’t run into each other. Secondly I went in early to test the equipment. Twice.

4. Practice

I had several practices. One where I timed myself, and two others in front of two very supportive individuals – my boss and Groover. This helped me learn the material.

5. Trust yourself and have fun

Instead of reading word-for-word I just wrote a list of key memory-joggers for each paragraph – or section of my speech. Then I told stories around each key word. This helped to keep eye-contact with the audience and allowed me to ad-lib. And someone told me just before I started to enjoy it. Great advice! I was sad when it was over. Warning – add about 5 minutes to your timed speech.

6. Have a clear end-point

You need to make sure your audience knows when you’re finished so they know when to clap. Make it easy for them with a good punch line and then a thank you.

I hope that helps you next time you have to give a speech or talk. It’s helpful to remember that the audience are willing you to do well – so use that energy!

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