10 Tips for Becoming a Public Speaker
If you are wanting to break into the world of public speaking to grow your brand, it can be hard knowing where to start. Becoming a published author can help increase your credibility and get your foot in the door, but your future success depends on your on-stage performance.
Being able to address a room full of people isn’t easy. It is a skill that needs to be practiced and worked on for some time before you can become an impactful public speaker.
Public speaking is a great way to develop leadership skills and to connect with an audience of people. The purpose of addressing a crowd could be to inspire action, to motivate, or to simply inform. Regardless of your motivation for wanting to become a public speaker, there are several key tips that you can keep in mind when you’re getting started.
1. Take a course on becoming a public speaker
If you don’t have much experience giving speeches apart from the occasional presentation at school or work, taking a course on public speaking can be extremely beneficial. The environment of a public speaking class can allow you to gain valuable practice before setting out on your own venture.
Public speaking courses go over the fundamentals of delivering an effective speech, from the speaking techniques themselves to the ability to interact with an audience and present topics in an attention-grabbing way.
Taking in-person public speaking classes at a college or other facility is an option, though there are many online resources as well. LinkedIn and Coursera are just a few examples of places offering virtual public speaking courses.
2. Practice relaxation techniques
One of the most important things about public speaking is feeling comfortable and relaxed when you’re on stage. You don’t want to be visibly nervous when talking in front of a bunch of people.
Taking a course is one way to gain the experience you need to feel at ease when you’re speaking, but it also can help you to practice mindfulness and relaxation techniques. Even the most seasoned public speakers can get nervous!
Making time to practice meditation, yoga or another form of releasing tension can help you maintain a level-headed energy throughout your career. Just five minutes a day can make you more clear-headed, improve your mood and even make you more creative, which is great when you’re coming up with ideas to talk about!
3. Research your audience
Knowing who you’re talking to is one of the key things to have nailed down before you start delivering speeches. Being prepared and knowledgeable can be the difference between an effective speech or not!
Find out what your audience is motivated by and what they like and dislike. What are their demographics and knowledge level? Knowing these things allows you to tailor and target your speech so that it resonates with the crowd and sticks in their memory.
4. Define your messaging
So you want to talk to a crowd – but what do you want to talk about? Being able to define what your messaging is and establishing a clear point-of-view is crucial. Even if you’re speaking on a topic that’s been covered by others, you can make it your own and get others to listen if you have a solid focus.
One of the best ways to become a thought leader is to write about your ideas. Consider writing a book (we can help you with that) and make sure that what you’re publishing is quality. The written word is powerful – and it can help give you a foundation to stand on when you’re establishing yourself in the public speaking space.
Services like ours help you to write, publish, distribute and promote your book so that you can build credibility, define your messaging and grow your audience. It’s a great way to get started.
5. Build your brand
When it comes to the visual side of public speaking, building a brand is important. You want your audience to have a clear idea of who you are and what you’re about. Brand recognition can make a big difference as you move throughout your career and get more speeches under your belt.
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Developing a personal brand requires you to use different visual aids to help convey your message and style. Choosing a color palette and fonts for your brand is a great start. Developing a logo is also a smart way to make yourself stand out from the crowd.
Building a website can also be a great way to establish your presence to your audience. A website gives you the opportunity to establish connections after you’ve given a speech and lets people find out more about you. It can also be a way for event coordinators or planners to get in contact with you and book you for future events.
6. Be active on social
In today’s day and age, having a social media presence is crucial for being relevant. When you’re trying to establish yourself as a public speaker and build your brand, people are going to want to look you up and find out more about you.
Having social media is a way for you to engage with your audience, build relationships and keep up with current events. Even having just one or two social media accounts is a great way to grow your audience. Whether you’re tweeting details about your next public speaking engagement or sharing photos from another, people will appreciate that you’re taking the time to stay present.
7. Take free gigs
While your end goal might be to earn money delivering speeches, you have to start somewhere – which means being willing to volunteer to speak at different events or smaller gigs until you can build up a portfolio of speaking examples.
This can look different to a lot of people. One option is to look at different educational institutions in your area, like high schools, vocational and technical colleges, community colleges or universities. Getting in touch with your local Chamber of Commerce can be a great place to become aware of the industry events in your community.
You can also utilize event hosting platforms to organize your own meetups. Eventbrite is just one great platform where you can post yourself (and find events, like we mentioned before). Leveraging relationships you have with people from work or in your personal life to drive attendance can be a great way to gain a foundation you can build upon.
8. Establish credibility
As you start to speak at more events and gigs, you can establish credibility in the public speaking space. To be able to get on larger stages means that you want to have a good amount of experience, testimonials and speaking examples under your belt.
You can find out if an event you’re speaking at is recording, and if they are, have them provide you with a clip of your talk. It also can make sense to hire your own freelance videographer for events that aren’t being recorded so you can start to build your portfolio. Thumbtack is just one resource where you can find experienced freelancers in your area.
Another great thing to have in your portfolio would be references or testimonials from those who have booked you for events. Consider asking the event coordinator or host if you can get a quote from them referencing your talk. It might seem simple, but it can go a long way!
9. Email public speaker event organizers
Something you might not realize when trying to get into public speaking is the ability for you to reach out to different conference organizers. You might think you need an agent or assistant, but this isn’t the case!
Research different industry events in your area that you’re interested in speaking at and look into who is the committee or person responsible for selecting speakers. This information can often be found on the event page’s website.
Then it’s time to make a pitch. Talk about who you are, explain your brand, what you want to talk about and why you’re the best person for the job. Provide examples of events you’ve spoken at before – this is where that portfolio comes in clutch!
10. Work your way up
It might seem obvious but start small on your public speaking journey and remember that you will need to work your way up to speaking at larger events and conferences. You don’t need to be the keynote speaker your first time around or give a viral Ted Talk.
Speaking to smaller audiences that are off the beaten path such as student groups or universities can be a great way to start. It also can be helpful to research new conferences in your industry when you’re trying to scale up. It helps to break into those, as there are usually less applications from prospective speakers.
If you’re trying to break into a larger organization or speak to a bigger crowd, as stated before, be open to offering your services for free. This can be mutually beneficial when it comes to building your experience and for the event organizers themselves.
Try not to get frustrated if the process is slow going at first. Remember that practice makes perfect, and gaining any experience as a speaker is allowing you to get one step closer to making it a larger-scale gig.
Committed to putting in the work and becoming a public speaker?
These public speaker tips should help you get the ball rolling and start you in the process.
Many of the tips we shared above shared a common thing: building up your portfolio and your credibility. Establishing and growing an audience can help you become successful in the public speaking space.
Publishing a book can be one of the best ways to start, and we’re happy to help you through every step of the process. It doesn’t have to be a daunting task. Our team can help come up with a strategy, create a manuscript, design and market your book for you.
We’re happy to share more advice and information – book a free consultation with an experienced Publishing Consultant today!