An American study shows that adults fear public speaking more than they fear death. This astounding finding led comedian Jerry Seinfeld to once quip, “At a funeral, the average person would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.” What is it about public speaking that people shy away from it so fervently? 

“A lack of confidence causes speaking anxiety,” says Feroza Engineer, a trainer with Dale Carnegie India. “Concerns about public speaking emanate from the inability to face an audience. It isn’t really about a lack of speaking skills.” That said, learning how to speak more effectively can go a long way in helping an individual gain the confidence to address and make a lasting impact on an audience. 

Founder of Qualified Learning Systems, Shiv Khera describes public speaking as a learnt art and science—art because speaking is more spontaneous than merely delivering information. A good speaker has the ability to touch hearts and minds, and thus change the physical and emotional state of the audience, provided that the speaker is sensitive to the needs of each individual listener. The best part is that speaking is a science as well. Precise practices and techniques help get positive results.

For entrepreneurs certainly, the skill can be a valuable boon, while making pitches, meeting potential clients and achieving buy-in from partners and employees. Read on for tips to pull off a great talk.

Keep it simple: Good speeches convey a simple message, clearly. Motivational speaker and corporate trainer Minocher Patel recommends focusing on delivering the key points in the time allotted. Try not to go overboard and say too much—excessive description detracts from the main message. Not to mention that a simpler speech is easier to rehearse and deliver.

Also, peoples’ attention spans are shorter now, and their ability to retain information is less. If you need to leave the audience with facts and figures, convey the basic idea in your speech and share the hard details in    a handout. The audience can process the additional information at their ease. 

“Since people have become very result-oriented, a talk goes down best when the content is brief and focuses on outcomes. The message should be easily actionable,” adds Usha Periasamy, VP, brands and operations, Royal Classic Groups.

Know your subject: “In-depth knowledge of the talk’s subject makes one confident,” says Periasamy. Nothing holds an audience’s attention more than a passionate, energised speaker. There can be no shortcuts to passion—it comes from genuinely knowing and loving the subject. Listeners can tell good speakers apart from those who have just memorised lines. The latter lack command over the situation, especially if challenging questions are asked. It takes a thorough knowledge of the subject to make a speech interactive and to respond to the audiences’ needs. 

Show, don’t tell: Personal experiences help establish a connect with the gathering. Stories go down much better than facts. That’s why Patel says, “Good speakers are good storytellers.” Work humour and relevant (not rambling) examples into your narration.

Speaking from personal experience is always useful—your passion is evident when you speak about something that is a part of you and this helps win over the audience. The audience sees you as open and willing to share yourself, and that merits their attention.

Practise a lot: Put simply, speaking is a skill. The more you practice, the more proficient a speaker you become. “Practice, practice, practice, is the way to hold an audience spellbound,”  says Anurag Aggarwal, a public speaking trainer. 

Give it your all, advises Dale Carnegie’s Engineer. She stresses ‘live’ practice —in front of a mirror or people you are comfortable with. You can even record and play your voice. Practice improves speech delivery. It is equally important to get into the skin of the presentation, which means keep at it until the day of the speech.

Practising aloud compels one to enunciate words and get the pronunciation and grammar right. If in doubt, ask an expert. There is no bigger put-off than incorrect language. Also, speaking aloud helps develop the habit of using short sentences, which are much easier to understand.

Personal experiences help establish a connect with the gathering. Stories go down much better than facts.

Use silence for effect: Good speakers talk at the right speed. Speaking too fast rushes the thinking process and can muddle speech. Pause during an oration, for effect. This also gives the audience time to digest the last point. 

Don’t fear silence, it can create emphasis and impact. An interlude gives a speaker an opportunity to collect his thoughts and to find the right words, instead of “umming” and “ahhing”. Silence also helps build anticipation among an audience for what the speaker has to say next. 

Use body language: “A good public speaker is a presenter and a performer. It isn’t enough to get the structure and substance right, you must also have style to make an influential speech,” says Khera.  

Body language is a part of a speaker’s style quotient. According to Patel, “It includes the ability to modulate your voice, gesticulate to create interest, stand straight with your hands in front, and make eye contact with individual members of the audience.” Speakers who address one person at a time, by making eye contact, are perceived as genuine. This builds trust for them and for what they have to say.

Speakers who have had the opportunity to interact with the audience prior to the presentation can use this familiarity to their advantage. They can make eye contact with known individuals at the outset, and slowly extend their attention to the  rest of the audence.

Respond to the audience: Good speaking is about being out there, adopting an inclusive approach and taking the audience along. Good speakers aim to hold a dialogue with their listeners, not preach to them. After all, delivering a talk is about the audience, not about the speaker. “For this, the speaker must be aligned to the audience’s thoughts. Otherwise, instead of allowing the transfer of learning, a talk could become a boring monologue,” cautions Engineer.

Practise responsive speaking by focusing on the audience. Start with one individual, watch the facial expressions and body language as you move through critical points. Then, move to other members of the audience. The more you practise reading people, the better you will get at it.

Responsive speakers use their observation to give the audience what they need. This may involve abandoning or improvising upon the planned script if the game plan does not appear to find resonance with the audience. Remember, speaking on the fly requires a thorough knowledge of the subject.

Get Audience Feedback
Audience participation makes a talk lively and keeps interest levels high. Still, there are differing opinions about whether to invite questions during the lecture, say after each part is concluded, or at the end. If the speech is long, Patel feels this is best done during the course of the seminar as “that takes care of queries promptly and retains interest. Otherwise, as they say, when an audience starts thinking, they stop listening.” But the speaker must be experienced enough to know how much time to give to each answer and not get stuck on a question. If the speech is short, allocate some time at the end for questions.

At the end of the day, remember that effective speakers are made, not born. “Only babies are born. A good speaker is a blend of many ingredients —hard work, perseverance, knowledge, dedication, and so on. Inherent potential can be developed to make a charismatic speaker,” sums up Swati Sachdeva, a senior trainer who also works with Anurag Aggarwal. 

So, tap your talent. The world is waiting to hear from you.