Public Speaking Tips

To prepare a speech, you need to

• Know your audience, content, and time frame
• Write it the night before
• Create a lot of slides to read
• Quote a lot of research

When asked to give a speech, you should

• Plan to bring your own microphone
• Ask details about the location and technology available
• Not worry about the set up time
• Ask about lunch

Before your speech,

• Make cue cards to read verbatim
• Stay up late and worry
• Have confidence that you can wing it
• Practice in front of a mirror, another person, or a video camera

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During your speech,

• use a lot of "ums" and "ahs"
• mumble
• do not use filler language or touch your face or clothing
• read off your slides because you are nervous

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Your hand gestures and body language should

• match your words
• confuse the audience
• not be done at all
• scare people

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Before you speak, you can

• stare at the audience to make them feel uncomfortable
• let the audience know you are scared and unprepared
• ask for a potium or stage to be put in place
• take deep breaths and have confidence that you are organized

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During the speech, you should

• never have props or visuals
• stand in one place the entire time
• Maintain eye contact and address the entire audience with your movements
• provide a bunch of handouts to keep the audience busy

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After you speak, you should

• entertain a few questions, thank the audience and the person who invited you to speak
• just pack up and leave
• answer 30 minutes of questions
• add some more comments that are unsolicited

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To prepare for speaking in public, you should

• share your speech on social media
• try out your speech on everyone, even if they are not the audience you plan to address
• be organized, practice, anticipate questions, and have brief notes
• buy expensive technology

If your speech did not fill the expected time frame, you probably were not

• nervous
• feeling well
• happy with the speech
• prepared