Tips for Public Speaking

Berkeley’s Office of Educational Development has a helpful guide for making your public speaking more effective. They list numerous points for consideration, here are some of them.

• Keep the audience in mind as you prepare.
• Stay away from predictable beginnings, rather, start with an intriguing question or set up a clear problem.
• You won’t be able to cover everything you’d like to so set some clear goals regarding the most important points and focus on those.
• Talk about your material instead of lecturing about it. This is easier to achieve if you are not reading your script, rather, use notes.
• Interact with the audience - ask questions, get people involved - since people learn better when they are actively participating.
• Leave time for Q&A and address everyone politely.

The site offers many more details.

How to Make Your Speaking Easier and More Effective

Die Dulci Fruere