15 Best "How to" Public Speaking, Presentation Skills Tips

First, as always I want to thank you for making me an important part of your ongoing personal development and professional development. I am grateful for your choice and for being a part of your ongoing success.

You can watch the video below or read the written article on this page (below the video). I think doing both will be beneficial, but the video is, I believe, a more effective way to take in this information.

Are public speaking skills important to you? Do you have high professional or economic ambitions? If so, public speaking will almost certainly improve your prospects of success.

There are 15 tips for killer public speaking -- so you can "wow" people from the stage.

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https://youtu.be/8JCJ6Wj_7_E

Public Speaking Tip 1: BE A DYNAMIC SPEAKER

If I could offer only one piece of advice, it would be PASSION! Passion is at the heart of great public speaking and presentation skills.

Just as real estate’s first three rules are location, location, location, speaking’s first three are passion, passion, passion.

a. Pick a subject for which you have great, passionate feeling. Even if it’s accounting, identify, articulate and feel your passion for accounting and speak about it. If you must speak about something for which you aren’t passionate, first try not to, but if you must, tell a story of passion (and humor) that is related to or associated with your subject.

b. Access the great positive meaning to you in your subject—meaning that is likely to be shared by others; not meaning that is unique to you.

c. Then don’t “talk” about your passion. Don’t describe anything. LIVE and share your passion through stories and anecdotes, actively, vividly and intensely experiencing the story in your imagination, heart, soul and body. Feel your story and it’s great meaning in your entire spiritual and physiological being. Literally. Feel it. Then express it with your entire being.

d. Facts, figures, opinion, data, narrative are most often useless. Limit them as much as possible. Use them only and briefly as supporting evidence, not as a main storyline.

Public Speaking Tip 2: POWER AND PRESENCE

The second presentation skills tip: PRESENCE!!!

Presence is as important as passion. When you are wholly present in the moment with us, with yourself, and with your passion for your message: WOW!!! We will be captivated.

a. We perfect presence through meditation. Meditate! As a practice and in mini-moments throughout the day. Constantly check in with yourself and ask yourself if you are wholly present in the moment with whatever your #1 priority is or should be in that moment.

b. Presence is the foundation of all good things in life: mental health, emotional health, spiritual health, relationships (with ourselves, others and God), Peak Performance, public speaking, etc. c. And, again, meditation is the pathway to presence.

Public Speaking Tip 3: STORY-TELLING – HOW YOU CAPTURE OUR HEARTS AND MINDS

The third most important presentation skills tip for effective presentations: STORIES!!!

a. Don’t “tell” stories. Actively, passionately live the story in the moment, in your imagination, then share your experience with the audience through your voice, words and, most importantly, your body (arms, hands, legs, face, etc).

b. Stories must be about meaning, purpose, with conflict and obstacles

c. You should not be the hero of your story. Play, at most, a co-staring role.

d. Live the story vividly in your imagination as you tell it. See, hear and feel that action

e. Limit or eliminate stats and numbers.

f. If you must use numbers, humanize it. For example, telling you that 50,000 people a year die from heart disease (or whatever the real number is), leaves you cold. However, sharing a story of the pain of one person or family because of heart disease can, if told well, profoundly move you.

(After you finish, watch this highly popular, 5-minute video with 5 positive mindset tips)

Public Speaking Tip 4: STAGE PRESENCE AND POWER ARE PHYSICAL, NOT VERBAL

During a speech, don’t speak for the first 5 – 10 seconds (if appropriate, and it almost always is). Simply take in the audience. Look individuals in the eyes and briefly connect.

a. Pause for several seconds or more after impact questions, points or moments in stories to allow people to feel and think about it 5. Smile. Literally; but also metaphorically.

Public Speaking Tip 5: PRESENTATION SKILLS – NERVES ARE YOUR FRIEND

Nerves are your friend. You don’t want to not be nervous. Nerves heighten your energy.

Lack of nerves is not synonymous with good presentation skills. It likely indicates either arrogance or disinterest. Both of which are damaging to a presentation and rapport with the audience.

Channel your nervousness into passion for and expression of your subject and your audience.

Breathe deeply and focus on your deep breath for a moment when you feel nerves getting the best of you. Then bring your focus and energy to your message and your passion to connect with and serve your audience with your important message.

a. Practice this before you speak: stand with your feet shoulder length apart. Lightly bounce up and down while standing in place as a way to get a sense of your feet’s solid connection with the platform and your body’s life force as it flows up from your feet, through your legs, your pelvis, your core and the rest of your body, exiting your face, head, arms and hands and flowing directly to the audience.

b. Breathe deeply as you do this.

c. Maintain acute awareness of your body and energy flow.

d. Whenever you are speaking, have awareness of this connection with the platform, your body, individual audience members and your energy flow to the individual audience members.

Public Speaking Tip 6: PRESENTATION TECHNIQUES: CONNECT AND CARE

Make eye contact with many people.

Truly connect.

Feel the connection.

Send them positive energy.

Smile at them.

Spend a few seconds in eye contact with many people. Don’t scan over them, not really connecting with them. On the other hand, don’t stare anyone down. It’s as if you are having a conversation with one person at a time, traveling from person to person throughout your presentation.

Public Speaking Tip 7:  BE A GIVER – SELFLESS AND COMPASSIONATE

Give. It’s all about you serving the audience with your important message.

Public Speaking Tip 8:  BE VULNERABLE AND AVAILABLE

Be naked. Be vulnerable. It’s scary, feels dangerous, but only this can capture our hearts.

a. Not to be confused with emotional diarrhea or self-absorption.

b. Not emotion for the sake of emotion. It’s tapping into universal meaning that you feel deeply, then candidly sharing your soul with us.

c. Find your passion. Express it candidly, with vulnerability and honesty.

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Public Speaking Tip 9:  SELF CONFIDENCE – ABSOLUTE CERTAINTY IN SELF AND MESSAGE

The next presentation skills tip: Don’t doubt yourself. Be profoundly confident in yourself and certain in the profound importance of your message. Believe you are superman/woman.

a. Not to be confused with narcissism or arrogance.

b. This means recognizing, respecting and honoring your individuality, your soul and your passions.

c. It’s not in any way superior. Your individuality just makes you valid and special, but in no way superior to anyone else.

d. You will read and misread some audience members, believing them to be disagreeable or critical of you. You will be right half the time and wrong half the time (roughly speaking and on average). Even in those times when someone does disagree: IT DOESN’T MATTER!!! It may just be their opinion. They may be haters. Naysayers. Any number of irrelevant things. Focus your attention and self-image only on those people who are sending you positive energy. Don’t be rude to, or dismissive of others, because you might be wrong in your perception and because even if you aren’t wrong, others have a right to their opinion and you are there to serve them, not judge them. But you and I will never please all of the people all of the time. It’s simply not possible. Let it go. Focus only on positives; on empowering things.

Public Speaking Tip 10:  CAUTION TO THE WIND - LIVE ON THE EDGE 

Take risks.

Great presentation skills require that we take risks.

Do something(s) novel and unexpected. This is about the best way to capture attention and interest.

Public Speaking Tip 11: POWER PRESENTATIONS – BEGIN STRONG! 

Start strong. NEVER begin saying “good morning,” “hi,” “Ya-da-ya-da-ya-da.” BORING and the kiss of death. Always open with an impact question, statement or story.

Public Speaking Tip 12: AND END EVEN STRONGER!

End even stronger. Perhaps by circling back to the beginning and tying everything together… or by ending in any other powerful way.

Public Speaking Tip 13: LIGHTEN UP

Add humor. Have other people whose opinions you trust review your attempts at humor. Don’t begin with a joke though… unless your speech is predominately humorous.

a. Don’t be a drama-queen. Even in serious or tragic stories there is humor. But also don’t be trite or inappropriate.

Public Speaking Tip 14: BE DYNAMIC – MASTER YOUR VOICE

Use your voice. Vocal variety. Sing (not literally, but metaphorically). Take risks with your voice too. Have fun. Play. Dance and sing with your voice (and your body). Suggestions: Study acting, meditation, voice, speech-writing, public speaking, business, sales/persuasion. Read voraciously on your subject, your passion. Become an expert.

Public Speaking Tip 15: LIVE AND EXPRESS THE STORY IN YOUR BODY

Body language is the primary communication vehicle we have for presentation skills and, in fact, for all communication skills.

Free up your body.

Express with passion.

When you speak, tell us stories. LIVE the story in your mind, in the moment, as you share it with us.

While you share your story with us, focus on what you see, hear and feel in your imagination. Actually LIVE the story in your mind and body as you share it. Focus flows between your live experiencing of the story and your connection with the audience and your passion to share your passion with us.

That’s it friends. Hope this is helpful. I look forward to connecting with you further.

Again, thanks so much for making me an important part of your ongoing personal development and professional development. I am grateful for your choice and for being a part of your ongoing success.

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If you're committed to professional and personal growth, subscribe to my blog and to  my YouTube Channel and you'll get FREE, ongoing training in Life and Leadership Skills.