Better Public Speaking – STP048

Episode 48 - In this episode, we talk about why public speaking and presenting can be difficult, and we give you 13 tips to help you get better in this tricky area.

Some of the USEFUL stuff in there is:

• My terrible presentation
• Trust me - you look better than you think
• Why we can find public speaking difficult - even scary
• Glossophobia
• Lisa talks to us from a different table about her experience
• Have your opening lines prepared
• Feeling anxious
• Tapping your fingers (not EFT)
• Relaxing about not having all the answers
• Using a 'car park'
• A great Psychology Today article on why public speaking is so difficult
• Our physiology
• Anxiety about being anxious
• The stakes are raised
• Overestimating the skills needed and the consequences
• People's status
• Judgement and evaluation
• A new audience or a new idea
• Tips on speaking in small groups
• Toastmasters groups
• Knowing your subject
• Engaging with the audience
• Slowing down
• Thinking about breathing
• Conversation, not presentation
• Less is more
• Have a look at this Toastmasters video
• Tips for larger, more full blown presentations
• Accepting that nerves will happen
• Realising you look much better than you think
• People won't react like you expect, and that's ok
• Planning
• A beginning, a middle and an end
• Knowing your audience
• Practice
• Talking to one person at a time
• Use media carefully - Powerpoint can become your enemy easily!
• Aiming for average
• What we can learn from TED Talks
• Have a look at this great video from Chris Anderson at TED

If you want to do further reading, here's where we got some of the insights



• Toastmasters International
• Grammarly
• Mindtools