What is a good way to maximize public speaking skills?

[kf4qhk]

Just thought that I'd ask. I preach occasionally, and I struggle with presentation, talking too fast, keeping ideas, though written, together, and making everything progress smoothly.

Jeremy

[AlexG]

Toast Masters!

and

continuously getting better by being aware of what you need to work on. (which you are)

[chrisafrica]

without a doubt, Toastmasters...

[Infinite]

Practice, practice......, and more practice.

[coLLege kid07]

Experience can help greatly....join classes, groups, "toastmasters", and learn from people who do it for a living and/or are professionals.

[hkalchemy]

Keep practicing. Take every opportunity. Also, I am a firm believer in hypnosis. I know it can sound a bit 'full on' but it's alot simpler and more natural than many people think. Check out the Silva Method for example.

[The Cloud]

I'd say focus on the aspects of speaking that you are good at. Personally, I'm terrible at prepared speeches. If I have a preplanned script that I have to memorize, I get sweaty, shaky, and forgetful.

But I'm great at answering questions. So, instead of preplanning my speeches and going through all the sweaty shakiness, I turned the whole thing into a big Q&A session. I looked at my notecards/powerpoints as questions being asked to me, and I answered them as well as I could. This instantly took me from horribly nervous to what a very critical professor deemed a naturally talented speaker. Plus, I only had to look over my presentation once beforehand, whereas previously I'd have to spend hours working through what I was going to say.

I'm not saying you have to do it my way, or that practice isn't important. I'm saying that practice is only important once you've figured out what you're good at. It all depends on how you look at it. There are many different ways of saying the same thing, and you should find the best one for you before you "practice, practice, practice."

[simonsta]

You're hearing a lot about practice, and indeed you should, but make sure you're practising the good habits and not the bad!

One thing I do is to picture a metronome in my head and speak to the rythm of it. I also allow 1 beat to pass before I move onto my next sentence. Breaking the beat frequently though adds more life to the speech and stops the audience falling asleep or losing concentration .

Also, this may sound counter-intuitive, but I read some research recently that says that a speech punctuated with errmmmsss and ahhhhs is more memorable by the audience! Maybe because it breaks the beat occasionally.

Don't worry - keep practising - and try what I said. You could try the book I recommend on my blog here - the book was written early in the last century but is still the best in my opinion.

[Brutha]

Also, this may sound counter-intuitive, but I read some research recently that says that a speech punctuated with errmmmsss and ahhhhs is more memorable by the audience!

Could you link that source? I would find it really interesting.

[karinalynn]

Personally, I can't do prepared. I have to create an outline of my main ideas, and then just let it flow. If you are preaching, speak from the heart. People will be able to relate better than if you have everything prepared. Also, watch the crowd and feed off of them. They will often give you silent feedback in the form of expressions, tears or even restlessness.

I also think those who said "know your faults and work on them" and "practice, practice" are right on track. The more experience you have, the less you will worry about what you are saying and how you are perceived.