How Can I Improve the Speech I Have to Give in Public?

Public speaking is one of the most common phobias, but is also one that is easier to overcome than others. The secrets to giving a successful public speech involves preparation, practice and developing the ability to tell the difference between what sounds good when read and what sounds good when heard. The most important of these is probably practice. The more you rehearse your speech out loud, the easier it will be for you or others to locate ways it can be improved.

The most memorable speeches are those that involve and engage the audience and even the most perfectly written speech can have trouble accomplishing that if read in a monotone. Go over the speech and find points where you mix things up by changing inflections, inserting long pauses, raising your voice to a shout or lowering it to almost a whisper. Dump the monotone and add emotions in order to make your speech better.

Posture may not seem like a big deal when it comes to giving a speech, but you run the risk of losing the confidence of your audience if you don't look dynamic. Practice standing up straight, but without looking stiff. Be willing to step out from behind the podium to increase the dynamic attraction of your words.

Tape yourself giving the speech to make sure that you can actually understand every word you say. Pay special attention to slurred words, words that run together and informal pronunciations if the speech is formal. Even when giving an informal and conversational speech, you will want to avoid an overabundance of informal pronunciations like "didya" or "lemme."

Practice the speech out loud to friends if you are an especially good writer. Great writing doesn't always translate into a great speech. While keeping in mind the avoidance of informal pronunciation, you do want to make the tone of the speech more conversational and less like you are reading an academic paper.

Give your speech a conclusion. A great speech can be severely impaired by the lack of a formal conclusion. You want to avoid coming to a sudden end as much as you want to avoid a conclusion that merely restates in essentially the same words everything that came before it. A speech that just suddenly stops creates an awkward situation for both you and your audience. Summarizing the contents of the speech is fine as long as you only restate the main points and avoid repetition. A good way to stamp a period on the end of a speech is leave with a quotation that directly refers back to the main point of your speech.