NationStates Jolt Archive

What makes a good public speaker? Seriously, I want to know. I would like to be a good public speaker, but I'm shy...so what do I do?

Bose makes good public speakers.

Seriously though, you shoudl take a class. It helped me som. They have great pointers and practice speeches.

Join Toastmasters.


avoid the jelly though, its petroleum

Speak forcefully and don't say "um."

What makes a good public speaker? Seriously, I want to know. I would like to be a good public speaker, but I'm shy...so what do I do?

It's important to sound interested in what you're talking about. I used to get nervous about 'sounding a bit over the top', so I'd just speak in a dull monotone.

I have a couple of other suggestions, but I'm not feeling particularly articulate at the moment...

be confident, engage the audience, look people in the eye to make a connection with them, have well prepared notes and know your subject

Speak forcefully and don't say "um."

Nah, I think he should operate on the assumption that people will expect him to say 'um' a bit. Then he'll be less worried about messing up and will probably say 'um' less.

One thing I learned to do from an early age is to address the crowd almost as you would as a single induvidual. The "Group" is a whole unit, so treat them as such, talk to the group as if you knew them personally.

Depending on what you are doing as a public speaker, you can vary this to be more professional or more conversational. Have fun with it, and ad-lib where appropriate. It okay to be human, to allow your emotions to rise and fall with your speech. (don't go all Hitler-over the top though ;) )

I've debated in competitions and adjudicated, so let me just say:

1.Eye contact
2. Never ever ever ever ever write your full speech on your palm cards. You should only note your main points, no sentences
3. Practice in front of a mirror, if you can watch yourself while delivering your speech more than 3/4 of the time you have established decent eye contact and you know your material

It helps to picture your audience naked. Unless your speech is in front of the AARP. :eek:

Make sure you empty your bladder before going up there.

Study Hitler!

You must look like you care about what your saying!
He did and he frothed from the mouth too-extra points!

Make sure you empty your bladder before going up there.
Or up there! :D

be confident, engage the audience, look people in the eye to make a connection with them, have well prepared notes and know your subject

Also, you should just try not to be nervous. Yes, I know everyone says that but in the saying, "Fear of Failure is the father of failure", then it really works. Confidense, not carring of you make a mistake, and having well-prepared notes will definatly have you on the right track.

What makes a good public speaker? Seriously, I want to know. I would like to be a good public speaker, but I'm shy...so what do I do?

Well, the best thing I can think of is to watch some videos of Hitler speaking at rallies. Horrible man but best public speaker of all time. (as an interesting sidenote, he took classes on communitcation, crowd psycology, and body language)

Well, the best thing I can think of is to watch some videos of Hitler speaking at rallies. Horrible man but best public speaker of all time. (as an interesting sidenote, he took classes on communitcation, crowd psycology, and body language)

Heh, you beat me to it. Yeah, I've gotta agree with this.

What makes a good public speaker? Seriously, I want to know. I would like to be a good public speaker, but I'm shy...so what do I do?

I like public speaking. It's fun.

But I used to be nervous about it. What I used to do - and don't laugh - is pretend I was in a film, playing a role, and anything that I said, be it genius or screw up, was part of the script. This way I had no audience, and was just playing a role that wasn't me. Indeed, sometimes I would just "ham it up". It really helped me get over my nervousness. It also let me forget that I was speaking "in public" so I could really get into the part.

At any rate, no one really grades public speakers, because mostly they are all bad, so don't worry about it.

Heh, you beat me to it. Yeah, I've gotta agree with this.

Well, he did convince an entire country that waging total war on Europe was the best thing to do at the time...

Best thing is to be truly interested in what you are saying. If you care enough about the topic then you'll automatically assume it's your sacred duty to make sure the audience doesn't become bored with it. I wasn't good with speeches until I actually cared about the message I was trying to send.