Public Speaking Is Bigger Than the Stage
Public speaking has a funny reputation. We tend to picture a podium, a microphone, and a room full of people waiting for us to say something brilliant. But most public speaking does not look like that.
It happens when you stand to share an idea with your team. It happens when you lead a meeting, answer an unexpected question, make a toast, or tell a story that helps someone understand what matters to you.
Learning to speak in front of others prepares you for all of these moments. You become more comfortable thinking on your feet. You learn to trust your voice instead of searching for the perfect words. Most importantly, you become more capable of creating a genuine connection with the people in front of you.
That is why we believe public speaking is worth practicing, even if giving speeches is nowhere in your job description.
Why Learn Public Speaking?
I smile when someone says, “I don’t need public speaking in my job.”
Getting on your feet and speaking to a group of people is a practice in human expression that goes back more than 2500 years. It’s in our DNA, not our job description.
And no matter how much we advance in technology, the in-person human being is still the richest, most miraculous “media” we have. To promote understanding, we bring nonverbal and verbal cues: body language, microexpressions, inflection, nuance, and gestures.
With this kind of ability, we should practice it and hone it! We practice everything else: sports, musical instruments, singing, dancing—and a thousand other things.
What is Public Speaking?
Is public speaking simply speaking in public? Easy answer, right? Kind of. The public can be large groups or a few people, and public speaking is about delivering a practical, genuine, authentic message.
Public speaking is an essential skill that serves you and your audience in many different settings. You use it in professional settings, such as giving a presentation to a group, and in personal interactions, such as making an important toast at your best friend’s wedding.
Public speaking can offer many benefits. These benefits can include developing self-confidence, increasing public awareness of a message, and developing new skills. Additionally, public speaking can lead to opportunities for networking and professional advancement.
Why Is Standing Important for Public Speaking?
Another objection I hear is, “I only meet with a few people at a time–and we’re seated. I don’t need to practice standing presentations.”
But the benefits of getting on your feet are more than meets the eye.
Muscle Memory. What you learn while standing on your feet, you embrace at a physical level that carries over to a seated position. What you learn in a seated position does not translate into public speaking skills.
Electricity. Breathing deeply and pushing past the initial adrenaline rush to your message is exhilarating. It lights up your eyes and kicks your power in.
Vulnerability. Being seated, we can stay in our heads, “hide” behind furniture, and feel safe. The primitive brain resists exposing our torso to injury–the ego resists exposing our heart to judgment. When you stand, you become vulnerable, where greatness begins.
Gestures. When you stand, you access natural gestures that help you develop understanding. A purposeful motion, such as laying your hand on your heart, can happen without you thinking about it.
Differentiator. The people who self-select into our classes tend to be different. They are some of the most exciting people you’ll meet, and they have the willingness to put themselves on the line and stand in discomfort to know more about themselves and their connection to others.
Trusting in Your Abilities
Albert Mehrabian, UCLA Professor Emeritus of Psychology, studied the impact of non-verbal communication. In 1971, he released a groundbreaking study that found the impression and the impact of your overall communication is 7% words, 38% vocal tone and color, and 55% visual.
This does not mean words are unimportant, and Mehrabian was not assessing the integrity of a lecture given to an audience of specialists. If you are called to lecture on quantum physics, you better know your subatomic particles.
Mehrabian wanted to know how we trust an individual’s sincerity. Do you say you are passionate about the organization’s mission?
We trust that’s true by seeing you speak publicly—by watching your expressions and gestures and hearing your vocal tone. We know the real thing when we see it.
Public Speaking Builds Your Confidence
Speaking to others can help build confidence in a variety of ways.
The first step to overcoming public speaking is realizing it’s an essential skill. Feeling like you can do it makes it less daunting and more achievable. Public speaking can also help you learn new skills.
For example, you might learn how to control your nervous emotions or use humor to make a presentation more engaging. The secret to not being anxious is to focus on the audience, not yourself.
If you know anything about financial icon Warren Buffett, you know that he regularly talks about the fact that developing the confidence to speak in public changed his life.
Buffett enjoys having town halls with grad students and answering their questions about succeeding in today’s financial world. At some point in the discussion, he encourages them to develop public speaking skills. He promises to increase their earning potential by 50 percent by staying a student of communication.
Many of our clients tell us that their experience in our classes was life-changing. They have discovered they are more powerful than they realized. Every time they speak, they gain confidence as they see themselves as well received.
Public Speaking Teaches You to Trust Your Voice
There is a moment in almost every public speaking experience when preparation has taken you as far as it can go. You have to stop thinking about how you are doing and trust yourself enough to speak.
That is where some of the best learning happens.
The more you speak in front of others, the more comfortable you become hearing your own voice in the room. You begin to trust your point of view. You discover that you can lose your place and find it again. You learn that a pause is not a disaster and that you do not need perfectly polished words to make a meaningful point.
That confidence follows you beyond the presentation. It shows up when you contribute an idea in a meeting or navigate a difficult conversation. You become more willing to speak when something matters because you have practiced trusting yourself.
Public speaking gives you the opportunity to discover that your voice is enough. Then it gives you the practice to believe it.
Public Speaking Skills are Life Skills
In The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life, author Steven Pressfield tells a powerful tale of a man rediscovering his authenticity.
The man is Rannulph Junuh, once the pride of Savannah, Georgia, but now a hollow and deeply wounded survivor of World War I. A turning point comes with the advice of the mysterious titular caddy, Bagger Vance: “Inside each and every one of us is our one true authentic swing. Something that’s ours and ours alone. Something that can’t be learned, something that’s got to be remembered.”
Public speaking is another way to find one’s authentic “swing”– or voice– which is where we will have the most impact on the world.
The fear surrounding public speaking is not that different from the fear deep within the human psyche: the fear that we will fail to meet the standard, look bad in front of others, stumble in public, and be criticized as incompetent. But when we remember to be true to ourselves, we succeed in ways beyond our dreams.
How Do I Practice Authenticity in Public Speaking?
I practiced public speaking early in my career by going over my notes a hundred times. I memorized as much as I could, including the exact wording. Focusing on getting my words right kept me locked in my head and disconnected from the audience.
Authentic speaking requires you to practice your talk in your own words and your own style. Here are some suggested steps to show up authentically.
1.) Keep it simple.
Identify your main purpose and the 3 to 4 key messages or focus areas to support it. Try not to fall into the trap of thinking a complicated talk makes you look smart. We will remember what it feels like to be with you and your generosity.
2.) Keep it short.
We are more likely to hear what you say if you say it briefly. One reason TED talks are so listenable is their length: 18 minutes. Early on, the folks at TED found that given 18-minutes, speakers who are used to lecturing for 45 minutes have to think about what they want to say to bring it down to 18 minutes.
3.) Share your experience.
Trust yourself to use your own words and speak to the information, rather than giving us impersonal information. Here are some prompts to help you do that:
- What is interesting to me is…
- For example…
- Throughout my career, I’ve seen a trend…
- Historically, the industry has seen…
- The real story behind these numbers is…
4.) Have a conversation.
Have a conversation with a friend or teammate out loud, on your feet. Talk about your focus areas. You can keep it casual; the important thing you are practicing is actually speaking out loud.
5.) Record yourself.
When you’re ready, record yourself on audio via your smartphone. You’ll hear redundancies, bland business-speak, and where you don’t sound like yourself. Shorten, tighten, and re-record. When you’re happy with the audio, videotape yourself, and more will be revealed, such as body language signals that don’t match the message.
6.) Rethink PowerPoint.
If your slides look like eye charts, you will fall short of an engaging presentation — every time. Notice what influential speakers do with just a few slides. They use images to deepen the meaning of their message.
7.) Know your audience.
Your #1 goal is to provide value to the audience. Talk with influencers within the group to understand whom you’re talking to—and what they need from you. Knowing what concerns your listeners will help you relax, and it will feel as though you’ve met them.
Great Speaking Begins With Generosity
It is easy to make public speaking about ourselves. Am I nervous? Do I look confident? What if I forget what I wanted to say? Great speakers learn to turn that attention outward.
Instead of asking, “How am I doing?” ask, “What does this audience need from me?” That small shift changes the experience of speaking. You stop performing for approval and begin communicating in service of the people listening.
Generosity can mean making a complicated idea easier to understand. It can mean sharing a personal story because someone else might see themselves in it. Sometimes it simply means being present enough to notice when your audience needs you to slow down.
When your attention moves toward the audience, something else happens. There is less room to obsess about yourself.
Public speaking becomes less about proving that you belong in front of the room and more about giving something worthwhile to the people in it. That is where authentic communication begins.
Just Breathe: Public Speaking Relaxation Tips
Public speaking can be stressful for many. A few things you can do to relax when you are in the moment are:
- Breathe deeply and slowly
- Count to 10
- Picture yourself in a relaxing place
- Imagine yourself speaking in your natural voice
Try to visualize what you want to say, and use deep breathing to help relax your body and mind. This helps you focus on the present moment and clear your mind.
When we breathe, our muscles relax. We can breathe from the diaphragm or keep our breathing steady without worrying about how deep our breath goes. Inhale and exhale through your mouth and nose.
What Is Spontaneous Public Speaking?
Spontaneous public speaking is a form of speaking that is not airtight and planned in advance. Spontaneous moments within a presentation allow for a more genuine connection with the audience.
It takes confidence. Spontaneous public speaking happens in any setting when you have to give a speech or presentation in the moment without scripting or preparing every part. You have not memorized the content so much that you can’t “free-wheel” with a story or example here and there.
When you don’t know the answer to a question, and you need to tell the audience what you do know, you are speaking spontaneously.
In our class, “Your Authentic Speaking Style™,” we practice spontaneous public speaking. Participants are unscripted and have the opportunity to turn their thoughts into words.
In spontaneous moments, our authenticity surprises us. It’s as though we’ve stopped for the first time in a while and allowed ourselves to feel how much we care about our world. Let yourself feel the energy and passion you have for your topic. You will forget about yourself and focus on the audience.
Find Your Voice by Using It
You do not become a confident speaker by waiting until you feel completely ready. You become one by speaking.
Each time you stand in front of others, you learn something about your voice. You discover which stories feel like yours, how you naturally connect with people, and what happens when you stop trying to perform and simply communicate.
That is why public speaking is so much bigger than presentations. The confidence you develop travels with you. It changes the way you contribute in meetings and share your ideas. It gives you the courage to speak when your voice needs to be heard.
You already have an authentic speaking style. Developing it takes practice, curiosity, and the willingness to get on your feet.
At Interact Studio, we give you a safe place to do exactly that. In Your Authentic Speaking Style™, you will practice, receive coaching, tell your stories, and discover the strengths that make your communication uniquely yours.
Take the leap. Your voice is worth developing.
Key Takeaways
- Public speaking is useful far beyond formal presentations. It strengthens the way you communicate in everyday professional and personal moments.
- Confidence grows through experience. The more you speak, the more you learn to trust your voice.
- Authentic speaking is not about memorizing perfect words. It is about communicating in a way that sounds and feels like you.
- Standing and speaking gives you access to your voice, gestures, energy, and physical presence.
- Great speakers focus less on themselves and more on what their audience needs.
- Practicing out loud helps turn preparation into real communication.
- Stories and personal experiences help audiences understand your message and connect with you.
- Breathing, pausing, and staying present can help you manage nervous energy.
- Spontaneous speaking develops your ability to think on your feet and communicate naturally.
- Public speaking is ultimately a life skill. Learning to use your voice gives you greater confidence to contribute when it matters.
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