Public speaking is one of the best skills in the 21st century. And it will help you in almost every aspect of your life. It doesn’t matter whether you want to engage in a political debate, become a motivational speaker, or build confidence in front of an audience. Public speaking could be a tool for achieving your goals. If you are passionate about speaking in public, this article will teach you how to become a public speaker.
Contrary to popular belief, anybody can become a motivational speaker. Nobody was born with the skill. All you need to do is develop yourself and keep practicing.
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Every great motivational speaker you see out there wasn’t born with oratory skills. They developed it over time.
There was a time when even the greats like, Nick Vujicic, Brian Tracy, Zig Ziglar, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Les Brown, and Tony Robbins, didn’t know how to speak to a large crowd.
If you read their stories, you will realize that at some point in time, they were nervous when speaking with a small audience.
But over time, they mastered the art of public speaking, built up their confidence, and became some of the world’s most renowned speakers.
Below are step by step tips on how to become a public speaker;
Step by Step Tips on How to Become a Public Speaker
#1. Define Your Areas of Expertise
You don’t just dabble into public speaking. The first thing you do before you become a public speaker is to define your expertise.
There are different areas in public speaking. Try to choose an area that you know of, and are familiar with. For instance, if you are a trained psychologist, you can choose to become an emotional intelligence speaker.
Similarly, if you study business or marketing, you should have the knowledge and expertise to speak about marketing.
Once you niche down the area you want to focus on, you can develop yourself accordingly. Some of the best public speakers in the world are experts in a particular niche.
You can become an influencer or thought-leader in no time, once you define your area of expertise.
#2. Identify Your Target Audience
Once you define your area of expertise, the next tip on how to become a public speaker is to identify your audience. It’s an essential aspect of your public speaking journey.
It’s not enough to define your area of expertise; you should also identify your target audience. Your target audience is the people you will be talking to. Learn more about them, their age bracket, career, and where they live.
When you define your audience, you will know the right stories or examples to communicate your point. Additionally, understanding your audience gives you an idea of where to find them.
Here are some questions to ask to help you understand your audience and their needs;
- Who are they? This question will enable you to know how your audience receives information, the kind of information they like, their hot buttons, etc.
- What do they want? Every audience has its needs. Identify these needs, and tailor your speech towards them.
- What do you have in common? Try to understand what connects you with your audience. Once you identify that emotional touchstone, you will know how to tailor your messages.
- What’s their knowledge level? Before you speak to any audience, know their knowledge level. Otherwise, you won’t be able to get their full attention.
- What’s your audience’s mood? In public speaking, you don’t just use tone arbitrarily. It’s essential to study your audience’s mood, see if they are happy, skeptical, frustrated, impatient, etc. It’s your audience’s mood that will shape the tone of your message.
#3. Hone Your Public Speaking Skills
Public speaking isn’t all about knowing what to say. But you also need to learn how to say the things you know. So, you need to undertake a series of training to help you improve your public speaking skills.
You can take a course on public speaking, learn from experts, watch some motivational videos on YouTube, etc.
However, you need to practice all the things you have learned about public speaking before becoming an expert. Regardless of the training you have undergone, you can’t become a public speaker if you don’t practice.
#4. Learn the Art of Speech Writing
Once you define your expertise, identify your audience, and improve your public speaking skills, the next tip on how to become a public speaker is to learn the art of speech writing.
Speech writing isn’t like every other type of writing. It’s written in a way that wows your audience.
Every speech has three parts – the introduction, body, and conclusion. Spend more time learning to write an excellent introduction for your speech. It’s the most important part of speech writing because a good introduction helps you grab your audience’s attention.
Again, try as much as possible to align your introduction with your audience’s mood. You can start the introduction by appreciating the event organizers, asking questions, quoting a well-known authority in your niche, or telling a story.
There’s no one way of writing an introduction for your speech. Figure out what works best for your audience and write your introduction based on what you think will get your audience’s attention.
#5. Create a Professional Presence Online
Once you learn how to become a public speaker, the next step is to create a professional presence online. A strong online presence will expose you to more audiences. And this will possibly get you more public speaking gigs.
Try to create an account across social media platforms and develop a website for your public speaking gig. The website should be well designed and clearly state what you do.
If you are able, write inspirational, motivational, and engaging content on your website. The content will attract more people to your website and establish you as an authority in your niche.
If you want to become a public speaker, follow these tips religiously, and take action. But you need to practice. After all, practice makes perfect.
