How to develop public speaking skills

If you have a "silent" blog where you show some sort of activity like cooking, repairing, creating products that means you are getting your audience engaged by a bright idea. If you run a conversational blog, then your speech is your key tool. No matter how great you look, you won’t get a viewer excited. Nowadays bloggers have inflated demands: they must look perfect, create an attractive background, work with high-quality equipment, speaking skills, and a great sense of humor.

Today we’re going to talk about speech, and this is the most difficult thing to work on. And there is no problem to come up with an appearance; you can simply consult Pinterest for this.

So, you eventually come to realize that you are far behind a "skillful speaker." You’re about to give up? That’s too early. Skilled public speakers are not born, they become them.

Start recording yourself with a voice recorder

First, we need to see how big the problem is. If you use too many junk words, involuntary grunting, ugging, and growling, you must focus and work on this. Don’t try to read before the voice recorder; instead, try to think of a topic and speak it out as if you were talking to a friend. Repeat this exercise several times a week and work on the points you think you are still bad at.

Read more

You don’t necessarily need to start reading advanced literature to experience all the beauty of the language, although it’s also okay. However, you should read what you’re most interested in. Nonfiction, newspapers, magazines, Wikipedia articles, Instagram blogs - whatever, until you see you expand your daily vocabulary. You won’t even notice how your speech will involuntarily become more colorful, and your thoughts will progress a lot.

Start visiting interesting places

How long have you been to the theater? What about stand-up? Have you heard anything about open microphones, lectures, and conferences? You can find something that will reflect your interests and, at the same time, start interacting with the outside world. Trust me, such events refresh your brain and speech. Listen to other people. Reading helps us expand our vocabulary, and social events help us adapt what we learn in a modern way.

Chat and communicate more

Analyze how many people are around you and what do you usually chat about? Besides friends, you should also talk to different people without pinning labels. Don't be afraid to talk about topics that you aren’t good at. You don't have to be savvy about everything. Live and learn, as they say.

If you think that "This is not for me, I am an introvert and I do not like interacting with people", then listen to this: you should first learn what "introvert" and "extrovert" mean. Introverts can be great public speakers, great friends, and public figures. This is not about “staying at home and sitting with your head down,” it’s about a way of replenishing a resource. Someone needs to be in the spotlight to get energized, while others are at home, in silence, with a book and a cup of coffee. By the way, the one who wrote this article is also an introvert, but he can also get inspired from communicating with people. Analyze yourself, think unconventional;)

Start taking the initiative

It can be scary and your comfort zone will take you tight by your shoulders and will screech, "Stay where you are, don't be silly," but you have to take a step forward. You've actually done it already since you have created a blog on YouTube. Then try yourself further. Read poetry before the public, try to speak at conferences from colleges, universities, and even work, sign up for a book club. Record yourself on camera more often and do not be afraid of a huge number of takes. This way you learn and grow. If you don’t make mistakes, you won't be able to move forward.

In any endeavor, support yourself. That’s the most important. If you look around, you will see that this world consists of 50% of criticism, and mostly it’s non-constructive. Be a friend to yourself, not a prison guard.

We hope that this article inspired and motivated you to develop. We followed the recommendations of experts for a long time, tested some hypotheses on ourselves, watched how our colleagues developed, and we ourselves continue to move towards something. Good luck!