Top Tips on Public Speaking to help you be a brilliant public speaker

Here is a huge resource of information on how to become a confident and interesting public speaker and presenter. Whatever it is you are looking for on public speaking you will find something on it here ... and, if by some fluke, you don't, then write to us at and we will try to provide it, and more tips are being added weekly. Here are just some of the things you will find: Free tips from an expert speaker on "How to sound confident in public speaking." Free expert tips on ways to "Overcome public speaking stage fright." A practical and inspiring 2CD set: "Confidence for women in public speaking." The opportunity to subscribe to a FREE fortnightly newsletter CONFIDENCE 4 U on confidence and public speaking. Free tips on how to make your presentations interesting. Free tips on what NOT to do when speaking in public. Free expert tips on how to overcome nervousness in public speaking. Free expert tips on how to be a Master of Ceremonies at a wedding. Free tips on how to be a good Master of Ceremonies. A very popular E-book: "A beginner's guide to being a brilliant Master of Ceremonies". Interviews with real women on how they have built up their own public speaking confidence. A very popular CD set "Happy not hassled" to rid yourself of tension and anxiety prior to speaking. Rachel uses the techniques on these CDs before she speaks ... Plus much more ... and all with a focus to help you be an interesting, confident and compelling speaker.

An Important Message For You Successful public speaking is a skill that can be learnt. Even if you are shy and nervous, new to it, or have technical topics to present, you can learn how to overcome your fear of public speaking, calm your nerves, and even enjoy speaking in public! And you can learn how to get your message across in a compelling and interesting way so that your audience is never bored and they hang off the edge of their seats wanting to listen. The following tips will show you how you can learn the presentation skills you need, one step at a time.

How to overcome your public speaking fears

1. Start to think like a confident speaker thinks. This is the TOP TIP for overcoming your public speaking stage fright. You probably already know the symptoms of public speaking stage fright. Blushing, shaking, sweating, butterflies in your stomach, nervousness, pounding heart, fear, and more. The good news is that these symptoms can be reduced dramatically so you can be calm and relaxed when presenting and speaking in public. What you think, imagine and do can increase or decrease your nervousness. Therefore, what you think, imagine and do can make you confident. What could you possibly do that makes you nervous? The commonest thing is that you spend your time saying negative things to yourself about how dreadful the experience will be, how many difficult questions you will get, that you'll go blank, that they are all looking at you, that they're out to trip you up, or even that you will trip up! Yes! I had one women I interviewed recently who was terrified of public speaking and she had convinced herself that she would trip up. Thinking like this paralysed her. Do you think like this? Do you think that successful speakers think like this? No of course not. Such thinking makes public speaking so much harder. So what can you do to overcome this kind of destructive, nerve producing thinking? You can start practising thinking like a confident speaker thinks, imagining what a confident speaker imagines and doing what a confident speaker does. What will you do? Here are three steps you'll need to succeed. Know what you are thinking. What you think may well not be the truth. You don't have to believe it. When it is negative - challenge your thinking and ditch it. Substitute negativity with positive thoughts, images and memories. How can you challenge your thinking? The woman who was scared of tripping up learnt to challenge her thinking. She asked herself where is the evidence that I will trip up? How many times have I tripped up? None. How many times have I seen other speakers trip up? None. How many times has Rachel tripped up as a professional speaker? None. So where was there any evidence she'd trip up. There was none. By challenging her thinking like this she came to the conclusion that her thinking was the only thing likely to trip her up! That she was thinking nonsense. That it was her thinking making her frightened not speaking itself. Does it matter how you think? Yes! After changing her thinking, this woman was able to overcome only being able to present to three people to being able to sing Karaoke in front of a 100, really well! When you say these kinds of negative things to yourself you are making your anxiety, panic or stage fright worse. Such thinking kills public speaking confidence. Thankfully, it is possible to change this kind of thinking and think like a confident presenter. Start practising now. Or are you already thinking it's too hard? That's what you would think if you wanted to fail.

2. Listen to these unique and inspiring ways to overcome your public speaking stage fright without having to leave your home or office This is new and it's exciting. It's a unique CD set featuring seven inspiring women all of whom demonstrate and tell you how to ditch your public speaking nerves and be confident in front of a crowd. How good is that? They've proved that public speaking stage fright can be cured, and recorded the evidence on this CD series "Confidence for women in public speaking: How to cure stage fright and develop more confident public speaking skills". Are you afraid to speak in public? The good news is that you don't have to be held back by it any more. They've shown that with a few easy-to-apply steps women (and men) with stage fright can overcome it and face a crowd with ease and confidence. Do you want to take giant steps forward with your confidence in public speaking? Yes! You can! These CDs will show you how. Click here for more details. Click here to buy this "Confidence for women in public speaking" CD set now.

3. Read these top tips on how to overcome your public speaking nerves and feel more at ease next time you speak There are a selection of FREE tips for you to read from our Personal Development page and in our "Confidence 4 U" E-magazines that will tell you how to stop your nervousness when public speaking. Here are some of the relevant ones you can read and download. Five ways to cure your public speaking stage fright. Click here to read them now. Five easy ways to overcome nervousness in public speaking. Click here to read them now. Newsletter 184 is on "Handling the pressure of public speaking". Click here to read it now. Newsletter 149 is on how to "Triumph over your nerves." Click here to read it now. Newsletter 137 is one man's account of how he overcame his public speaking nerves: "They tried to talk me out of speaking ... but once I'd got to my feet they were spellbound." Click here to read it now. Newsletter 195 is on "Overcoming the fear of public speaking". Click here to read it now. Newsletter 212 is on "How not to be afraid of public speaking". Click here to read it now. Newsletter 214 is on "How to manage anxiety and nervousness - an emotionally intelligent approach". Click here to read it now.

4. Settle your nerves and stay calm the night before facing the audience I thought butterflies were beautiful insects that flutter about the garden. Maybe so, but when they take over your stomach just before an important meeting, speech or presentation, there is nothing pretty about them. They can paralyse you. They stop you from being at your best and prevent you from speaking out. Don't let this happen to you. Don't be a slave to your nerves. There are many ways to ease nerves. You can take control. You can triumph over nerves. By doing this you'll have more chance to achieve all that you wish for in speaking in public. Practice being calm the night before any speech so you sleep well. This very practical and easy-to-follow CD set "Happy not hassled" will show you how. This CD is the one that most of our clients choose to calm their nerves, anxiety and tension, and to feel relaxed before a presentation. "Happy not hassled" will not only help you stay relaxed while you speak in front of an audience, it can also help reduce anxiety, stress and worry before your presentation. I am a professional speaker and I routinely use these exercises and meditations to help me soar with confidence at any presentation I give. I practice them the night before and they make all the difference to me. Click here for more details. Click here to order now!

How to look and sound confident when speaking in public. Adopting or using the body language of confidence when you are speaking can make a big difference to the impact that you make. What kind of eye contact do you have? How do you stand? How much space do you use? What do you do with your hands? How much should you move? How loudly should you speak? When should you use a microphone? These are all important questions. You'll find answers to these questions here: Newsletter 180 is on "How to be confident in front of an audience". Click here to read it now. Newsletter 209 is on "How to stay confident when things go wrong". Click here to read it now. Ten tips on what to do with your hands. Click here to read them now. How to sound confident when public speaking. Click here to read them now. How to look more confident. Click here to read them now. Ten Tips On Eye Contact At Work. Click here to read them now.

How to prepare and structure your presentation: The top tips. Prepare a spoken speech. Too many people write a written speech with complicated grammatical structures and a more complicated vocabulary. Prepare a spoken speech. Wander around your home and office and talk your ideas in a dictaphone and then write them down. After all, you will be speaking and not writing on the day. I can help you prepare for any presentation you have coming up so you are brilliant on the day. It can be over the phone, email or face to face. Click here for full coaching details. Know what outcome you want your speech to achieve. What do you want the audience to be thinking by the end. Only once you've decided this start preparing the content. Don't prepare a word by word script. Do not over-prepare and think you need to be word perfect and must have every single word written out. You are speaking. Spoken speech is different from written speech. For most people having a word perfect script can increase fear and anxiety as they become worried that they will say the wrong word or lose their place. It also doesn't allow you enough flexibility to adapt to the audience's responses and needs on the day. Know your key points. Instead of a word for word script, make sure you are very clear on the key points you will make. Know these off by heart, keep them simple, don't have more than 7, and have them on your power points or in large print in front of you. If you ever forget what you are saying you can always fall back on a key point. Extra information on speech structure: There is a newsletter on "Public speaking made easy". It provides tips on how to give and prepare a good presentation. Click here to read it. Do you have to give a short speech, of say ten, fifteen or twenty minutes? It is not easy, and is an art form in itself. So, how do you give a ten minute speech and make it the best speech you've ever given? How do you give a short speech and manage to fit in everything you think is needed? How do you not bore or overwhelm your audience yet still make it an informative speech? How do you make it a persuasive speech? Find out by reading this newsletter "How to give a ten minute speech or presentation."

How to make bland, detailed or technical presentations interesting. Do you get concerned that the audience isn't going to be interested, or that you can't fit everything in, or that the audience will be hostile or fall asleep? If so, help is available, right here, right now. Here are lots of tips for speaking in public in a way that captures the attention of your audience. Be relevant to your audience. The most crucial aspect of a speech or presentation is to focus on the audience. On what they need to learn. On whether they are learning it. On making them interested in the topic. On convincing them that this is a good idea. On getting them to the point they need to be at by the end ... and so on. When you do this the audience is far more likely to find your speech interesting and relevant. The audience is everything. Who should you be concentrating on? The audience of course! They are the most important part of your speech or presentation. How can you focus on the audience? Here is an E-magazine article with free tips that will help you: Presentation Skills - taking the audience into account, by Rachel Green. Once you have focused on the audience there is much you can do to make your speech or presentation interesting. Here are some resources to help you do this: Newsletter 203: How not to give boring speeches and presentations, by Rachel Green. Ten tips on making your presentations interesting, by Rachel Green. Eleven things to avoid in public speaking, by Rachel Green. Ten tips for better presentations, by Miranda Liebmann. If you are still struggling to make your presentation interesting, get some coaching - then you can have a 1-1 presentation coaching session with me. I am a very experienced presenter and coach, and a professional speaker. You can see me face-to-face in Western Australia or talk to me over the phone. Click here for more details. I also cover how to make presentations interesting in our public speaking workshops. Organise a workshop for your group now. Click here for more details. Here are some more FREE tips from our "Confidence 4 U" E-magazines that will tell you how to give interesting presentations. Newsletter 226 is on "Why it's important to be an interesting public speaker - and how to be one!". Click here to read it now. Newsletter 221 is on "Presentation skills: How to capture and maintain the attention of your audience". Click here to read it now.

How to handle difficult questions. Oh no! There he goes again, getting defensive because someone has asked a difficult question. Do you do that? It's not a good idea to get defensive or to start arguing with your audience. What's the alternative? Don't be defensive. For example, if a member of the audience is opposed to the introduction of a new speed restriction on the road in which they live, and you are representing the road authority, a defensive response might be "you've got to understand how much research there has been into the use of road restrictions, we haven't made this decision lightly you know, our crash investigators have taken hours to work it all up successfully". This is defensive. It leaves the listener just as antagonistic. Promote your idea. Instead of getting defensive, sell your idea. Promote your product, plan or organisation; convince them of the value of what you are saying. For example, "It sounds punitive to you I know. What matters to me most though is that you can sleep soundly in your bed each night, undisturbed by the noise of speeding cars and trucks, and without any fear of someone crashing into your lounge room. These restrictions will go a long way to ensuring that this is the case; so you, your wife and family can stay safe". Be willing to say you don't know. It's okay to say you don't know. Don't be frightened of not knowing. You aren't expected to know everything. What matters is that you can say you don't know in a way that leaves your audience feeling good about you and good about themselves. We look at ways to do this in our public speaking workshops.

How to stand out as a superb master or mistress of ceremonies at an event. The role of a master of ceremonies is to keep an event flowing, to keep the energy of the audience up, to ensure that everything runs smoothly, to help the audience feel welcomed, to help speakers and guests feel appreciated ... and so the list continues. It is not simply to watch the clock, tell jokes or to give information. Here are some tips to help you be brilliant: Ten tips on being a good Master of Ceremony, by Rachel Green. Ten tips on how to be a good Master of Ceremonies at a wedding, by Rachel Green. There is also a newsletter about how one of our readers prepared to be a successful master of ceremonies for a big and daunting event at his school: Click here to read: "The man who spoke to the chickens before he spoke to hundreds." "Five ways to be a brilliant master of ceremonies or speaker." Click here to read it now. Want to know more? Got your event coming up soon? Then there is an E-book you can get immediately that is packed full of practical information to help you MC your event: A Master of Ceremonies: The beginner's guide to being a brilliant MC. Have it delivered immediately to your e-mail box so you can be a brilliant master of ceremonies. Click here to order now. Once you have read the book you are welcome to send any questions you have about being a master of ceremonies to me, so I can personally answer them for you. You can even receive a free set of wedding jokes if you're mc'ing a wedding.

How to organise a successful seminar or conference programme Are you running a seminar or conference? Are you trying to put together the program? Then there is an excellent set of tips and a unique E-book to help you: "Organising conference or seminar programs: Seven fatal mistakes people make and how to avoid them." It is available for you to download immediately: Click here to order now. Avoid the mistakes so many people make. There are a free set of tips on "Running Conference Sessions", by Rachel Green. Click here to read them now.

How to speak at special occasions including weddings and birthdays There are many special occasions that you may be speaking at. From a friend's 40th or 50th birthday party, to your daughter's 21st or communion party, or even your parent's 50th wedding anniversary or your nephew's wedding. And those are just a few of the relevant occasions you may be involved in. We have started collecting together a variety of tips, for you, to cover them. Click here for "Ten tips on Wedding Speeches for the Groom", by Thomas Murrell. Click here for Newsletter 131 on: "Speaking at weddings and special events - doing a great job," by Rachel Green. Click here for Newsletter 224 on: "How to write and give a birthday speech (and find happiness on the way!)," by Rachel Green.

How to speak at meetings Speaking out at meetings is a common task for those of us in the workplace. It may also be a task that we are involved with in social groups, community groups, church groups, voluntary positions and the like. There are no shortage of meetings are there? So how do you present well at meetings? What can you say that will get your message across? How can you speak at a meeting so people listen and your nerves don't get the better of you. Much of what has already been covered also applies to meetings but here we are collecting additional resources for you that are specific to meetings. Click here to read Newsletter 117: Chairing meetings - how to ensure everyone gets a fair hearing, by Rachel Green. Click here to read Newsletter 113: Speaking Out At Meetings, by Rachel Green. Most of us regularly attend meetings, whether at work or at neighbourhood or social groups. So how good are you at speaking out? Do you join in and make sure your opinion is heard? Or do you take it all in but say little? Click here to read Newsletter 117: Assertive communication skills in meetings, by Rachel Green.

How to present at job interviews Click here to read Newsletter 117: The Keys to Successful Job Interviews, by Rachel Green.

Enjoy speaking in public. Rachel Green. To view all the other books and CDs people are also buying click here.

	To book a 1-1 presentation coaching session with Rachel: Phone: (+61 8) 9390 1188 Fax: (+61 8) 9390 1199 E-mail: To get feedback on a presentation you have already given: Phone: (+61 8) 9390 1188 Fax: (+61 8) 9390 1199 E-mail:
or, click here for extra details on the coaching page. To buy "A Master of Ceremonies: A beginner's guide to being a brilliant Master of Ceremonies." To buy the eBook "Organising conference and seminar programmes: The 7 fatal mistakes people" make and how to avoid them.

Thanks to bigstockphotos.com for providing most of the photographs on this page; and to clipart.com for the rest.

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Updated 12-May-2009