201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.

com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

Greetings! I wrote this e-book as a way to distill down a ton of public speaking information into a simple, organized list. Sometimes you want a lot of detail and depth, and sometimes you just want to scroll down the page and look for the tips that apply to you. Thats the purpose of this e-book. If you want to focus more on skill-building, learning about your own strengths and challenges, and digging deeper into effective public speaking tools and techniques, check out my 7-Week Shortcut to Public Speaking Confidence e-course at http://www.coachlisab.com/ecourse_go.html. But if what you want is more of a quick cheat-sheet, then this is the cheat-sheet for you! Enjoy! LB

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this report may be reproduced or transmitted in any form whatsoever, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any informational storage or retrieval system without express written, dated and signed permission from the author. 2
201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

Prepare your mind 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Visualize yourself in the room where youll be speaking. Visualize yourself successfully giving your presentation. Visualize yourself managing a potential mishap. Anticipate questions that the audience will ask. Be aware of your negative self-talk and turn it into positive affirmations. Reframe the way you perceive your audience see them as a friend, not an enemy. Cherish your uniqueness; it makes you stand out in the crowd.

Prepare your materials 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. Do your research on the group and organizational needs beforehand. Keep your presentation to just a few main points; theres no need to share everything you know. Write out your flip charts in advance. Keep handouts simple, not overwhelming. Print handouts on colored papers for stimulation. Its okay to use notes. Put them to the side and refer to them as needed. Keep your notes to one piece of paper, single- or double-sided, with simple bullets or a clean outline so you can find your place easily. Make sure you can back up any statistics; using unsubstantiated facts is a quick way to lose your credibility. Know your stuff inside and out practice, practice, practice then let it go.

Prepare your space and equipment 17. 18. 19. Check your venue in advance to make sure there are no surprises. Ask the organizers to work with you in making your space work. Have someone else proofread your PowerPoint and handouts for typos.
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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

20. 21. 22.

Have a backup plan in case your technology doesnt work. Practice with your props. Prepare video or audio equipment to record your presentation for later analysis.

Prepare your body 23. 24. 25. 26. 27. 28. 29. 30. Read aloud from a children's book to practice vocal variation pitch, tone, volume and pace. Warm up your voice by humming and singing. Warm up your face, neck and jaw by yawning and stretching your mouth. Warm up your body with deep breathing, stretches, and clenching and unclenching your hands and feet. Check your zipper! And your jewelry, hair, pocket change, and other potential distractions. Use your favorite rituals to calm or energize your mind and body. Take your allergy medication, your upset stomach medicine, your headache medicine or whatever else you need to avoid physical distractions. Avoid psychiatric anti-anxiety medications before speaking; you will not be as sharp as you could be.

Food and drink for optimum performance 31. 32. 33. 34. Avoid caffeine before a speaking engagement it will exacerbate your anxiety and its diuretic properties may affect you sooner that youd like! Eat bananas before a presentation the potassium is a muscle-relaxer. Avoid dairy before a presentation; it clogs the throat. Bring water to the stage in case your mouth gets dry.

Kick off the presentation 35. Ground yourself: plant your feet with knees loose and body relaxed. Look around the room and smile at the audience. Take a breath. Wait for applause to die down. Then speak.
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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41.

Start with a strong opening grab their attention from the first moment. Start off with a question, a quiz, a poem, a quote, a statistic or a story. Find out what their goals and expectations are. Identify learning objectives. Use icebreakers and energizers. Start on time, even if people are late. Dont reward the latecomers by waiting for them.

Respect your audiences needs 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54. 55. 56. Act as a facilitator or guide rather than a lecturer. Allow the audience to be responsible for their own learning. Dont assume that your participants are blank slates. Create activities that call on them to use their experiences, for example, in small group discussions. Ask the audience to share some of their own experiences and expertise. Discuss and ask for sharing of real-world applications of your topic. Avoid giving a workshop or presentation that's too theoretical. Allow them to voice opinions and share in class leadership. Use problem-solving activities as part of learning. Create action items or task lists together with participants. Create an experiential learning environment. Use examples to help them see the connection between classroom theories and practical application. When facilitating a meeting or workshop thats two hours or longer, make sure to give short breaks every hour or 90 minutes. Balance your knowledge of your subject matter with the awareness that your audience members have some knowledge, too. Break the audience into pairs or groups to encourage participation.

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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

Build trust 57. 58. 59. 60. 61. 62. Demonstrate passion and enthusiasm for your topic. Demonstrate authenticity. Create a safe space by requesting confidentiality if necessary. Use positive reinforcement to encourage participants. Provide activities that are low-risk before moving on to activities featuring higher risk. Be yourself the best, most confident version of yourself.

Use effective speaking techniques 63. 64. 65. 66. 67. 68. 69. 70. 71. 72. 73. 74. 75. Build a relationship with each and every person in the room. Use analogies and examples that apply to concepts the audience already knows. Use stories to illustrate your points. Everyone loves a story! Use examples from popular culture, TV, movies and music to connect with your audience. Vary your pitch, tone, volume and pace. Pay attention to grammar and pronunciation. Give the audience useful, practical and relevant information about the topic of interest, not an hour-long commercial for your company. Give the end of every sentence the same energy as the beginning of the sentence and dont allow your voice to trail off. Use silence and pauses to emphasize your points. Slow down your pace so the audience has time to process your ideas. Dont worry about the ums and uhs unless youre over-the-top unprepared, no one will even notice. Lose the jargon and the lingo. Avoid clichs.

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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

76.

When introducing yourself at a seated event, make sure to be fully standing before you start to speak, and completely finish what youre saying before sitting down. Use movement, laughter and activity to keep your audience alert, especially after lunch.

77.

Keep movement purposeful 78. 79. 80. 81. 82. Come out from behind the lectern; the lectern creates a physical and mental barrier between you and the audience. Only move when necessary; dont pace around the stage or shift from foot to foot. Men, take change out of your pockets so you wont be tempted to play with it. Dont wear jingly or distracting jewelry. Women, clip or tie back your hair so you wont be tempted to play with it.

Use visuals to enhance your words 83. 84. 85. 86. 87. Props and visuals enhance your presentation and the audiences retention. Make a vertical display board for the back of the room that includes photos, maps, graphs, charts, text, and other visuals that supplement your talk. Use demonstration as part of your presentation to show hands-on application of your ideas. Use sticky flip chart paper so you can post it on the wall without tape. Read Beyond Bullet Points for a fresh approach to image-based PowerPoint design.

On-the-spot troubleshooting 88. 89. 90. If you don't know the answer, say so. If you don't know the answer, ask your audience! If youve lost your train of thought, acknowledge it and move on.
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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

91. 92. 93.

When theres a loud distraction, stop talking; its okay to wait until you can be heard to finish what youre saying. A little anxiety about speaking means you want to do a good job. Use that adrenaline to propel yourself to the finish line. Whatever it is, move on and forget about it.

Wrap it up 94. 95. 96. 97. 98. 99. Finish your presentation a little early the audience will love you for it! Prepare a strong closing end with a bang. Save handouts till the end. Help learners transfer learning to daily practice by offering follow-up coaching or mentoring. Repeat back questions so the audience doesnt miss out. Save your closing until after Q&A. Make sure your message is the last thing they hear, not someone elses random question.

Back at the office 100. Watch your video at regular speed, on fast forward, and without sound to analyze your movements and performance. 101. Use evaluations to get feedback on what the audience wants to know more about. 102. Take some time to analyze what went well and what needs work. Final thoughts bonus! 103. Experience is key to improving as a speaker, so embrace speaking opportunities when they present themselves. 104. You need the audience more than they need you. Without an audience, you are just talking to yourself, so thank them at the conclusion for participating with you. 105. Theres no need to be perfect as a speaker. The more approachable and human you are, the more the audience can relate to you.
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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

106. Instead of dwelling on what went wrong in a presentation, focus on what went right and work on doing more of that. 107. Reward yourself for a job well done! Celebrate your success and get psyched for your next gig!

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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com

101 Tips to Improve Your Public Speaking ___________________________________________________________________

About the author: Lisa Braithwaite, M.A., is a public speaking coach and trainer who works with entrepreneurs and professionals to build skills and confidence and grow their businesses through public speaking. Sign up for the Presentation Pointers newsletter or a free consultation at http://www.coachlisab.com. And check out the Speak Schmeak blog for daily tips on public speaking: http://coachlisab.blogspot.com. For more information on services and products, or to book Lisa as a speaker, visit http://www.coachlisab.com/services.html.

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201 Copyright 2012 Lisa Braithwaite. All rights reserved. http://www.coachlisab.com