There’s not as much difference between having a conversation with a coworker and public speaking as you might think. In each instance, you’re trying to get a point across. The point may be different in each case, but they’re more similar than you might expect. In order to become comfortable and even fluent in the ways of public speaking, you can use your daily conversations to make the skills you need become natural habits.
What is Public Speaking?
It could be a meeting with coworkers or a group meeting with friends, it could be that you want to achieve a career in public speaking and influencing others. Speaking in public means you will always be talking with a goal in mind. In a meeting with coworkers or your boss, you’re trying to convey a set message. On stage or in front of a class, you want to persuade people towards your personal point of view. Talking with friends, family or coworkers differs from speaking in public because you’re not actively trying to influence the conversation towards a certain goal. You’re likely to feel less anxiety because you know the people you are conversing with. This is a perfect time to hone the skills you will use in public speaking.
Building Your Skills
You can use your daily interactions with others to build your communication skills. For example, you can plan what you want to say in advance. Make sure you’ve practiced it, and plan on speaking clearly and definitively. Speaking in public requires confidence and authority in your words as well as your actions. You don’t have to have a mini-speech prepared in advance each day to practice, but you can use the opportunity to speak towards a message. That message can be anything from where you want to eat dinner to telling a coworker about a recent meeting with the boss. You want to be influential and persuasive without being aggressive or demanding. Think about the “why” of your point, rather than the “what”.
Passion is one of the biggest influencers. Think about the last public speaker you saw. It could have been a TED talk or a YouTube video where the person addressed an audience. The person spoke clearly and with authority. They kept a straight posture and moved and spoke with confidence. It’s important to believe in what you’re saying and to convey that belief with passion.
Eye contact with your audience is key to speaking with authority. If you look down at the ground or up in the air while speaking, you’re not giving your words the weight they deserve. This is one of the best things you can practice with your friends, family or coworkers.
When you pronounce each word on stage during a speaking engagement, it makes it easier to understand the message. You’re putting energy into your words. That doesn’t mean talking fast, though. Your words have to be clear and enunciated properly.
When you have a conversation at work, school, or with family, take note of your body. Hand gestures, posture, and other physical movements can be pivotal to a persuasive speech. You want to be authoritative and punctuate your thoughts without distracting from your words. You don’t want to be a “hand-talker” or pace with nervous energy, but you don want to make sure to take up space and stand tall in your conversation.
Build your vocabulary. Study new words and use them every day. While this might be difficult to do in everyday conversation, since it’ll seem unnatural, you can find ways to slip one or two words into the conversation to give yourself some practice.
Make sure to leave some pauses in the action to allow your words to sink into the minds of the audience. This is vital to speaking in front of a crowd, to the ebb and flow of your story, but may not come naturally (especially if you are nervous!)
Everyday Actions
- Straight spine during your speech
- Look your audience in the eye
- Talk with confidence
- Speak clearly
- Practice each day
Once you have practiced enough, transitioning to a real public speech in front of an audience won’t seem so daunting. Your skills will have improved, so you can speak to the audience with confidence and authority.
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