HOW TO BECOME A GOOD SPEAKER

A person who gives speeches or lectures to a large group of people is called a public
speaker. Public speaking is an art. To be a powerful and smart speaker is a necessity in
practically every profession. Speaking with fluency and accuracy has become one of the
basic tools of assessment in selecting students for various jobs. A good speaker is a
valuable manpower resource in every organization. Good speaking quality helps a
person to be successful, established, and also familiar. So, the development of
speaking skills has become one of the prerequisites in the modern era.

Fortunately speaking is a skill that can be learned, studied, polished, and enhanced by
regular hard work and persistence.

A good speaker should have required some qualities. The qualities are given below:

Explain his ideas: A good public speaker always tries to explain his ideas to the
audience. He identifies the positive and negative aspects of the topic. He encourages
his audience about the speech by explaining his ideas to make clear his position.

Present reports: A good speaker presents some reports about the selected topic. He
represents his research and analysis of his presentation towards the audience so that
they can easily understand what the speaker wants to say.

Convince or persuade others: A powerful and effective speaker tries to convince or

persuade his audiences. He deliveries very simple words to make his speech easy. He
also talks fluently and accurately to make his speech meaningful for the audience.

Carry out various activities: A good speaker carries out various activities. He always
gives information to the audience through his speech. He deliveries structured speech
and try to follow a deliberate manner to inform or entertain the listener.

Speaking can be a powerful tool to motivate, influence, persuade, inform entertain, and
produce better results. However, very few people are by born speakers. But with proper
planning, preparation, and practice, anyone can enhance his speaking skills to a great
extent. Four major stages are to be kept in mind while speaking. The stages are
discussed below:

Planning: When A speaker plans for a presentation or a speech, he should do some

research on the topic and acquire the required knowledge. He should understand the
purpose and objectives of the speech. A good speaker shouldn’t memorize the speech
word for word, he should plan it out. With proper planning, the speech will have a logical
flow and he will be better prepared to handle the last minutes of his speech.

A good speaker should aim to communicate not to perform. He should focus on the
message rather than making a presentation. As a result, he can present more naturally
and the audience will perceive its authenticity.
Preparation: By taking proper preparation, a speaker can enrich his speech. A speaker
should have prepared a presentation or speech by giving it a logical flow and making it
more relevant. He should discuss the main points, sub-points to make his presentation
more realizable for the listeners.

A speaker should use supporting information, compare and summarize the body to
make the speech effective and adaptable. By taking equitable preparation one can be a
good speaker.

Practice: We know that “Practice makes a man perfect.” A good speaker should
practice repeatedly in front of the mirror or friends with confidence and comfort until his
words flow smoothly and easily. Then if appropriate, he should do a dummy run in front
of a small audience. This will help him to calm his jitters and make him feel more
comfortable.

A good speaker should bear in mind that he should have to be a polished version of
himself by practicing more and more.

Presentations: Good presentation is one of the most important stages for a speaker. A
speaker’s efforts depend on proper presentation, so he should give emphasize verbal
as well as nonverbal aspects like gestures, postures, eye contact, dressing properly,
etc. A speaker should avoid the use of jargon and should maintain appropriate volume,
pleasant tone, and appropriate pitch and inserting pauses. While speaking, a speaker
must be conscious of the correct articulation of sounds.

To be persuasive one must keep a few guidelines that not only attract the attention of
the audience but also establish the credibility of the speaker. To be persuasive, a
speaker must begin with the listener’s mind and know the techniques of expressing the
views and also outlines the crux of the speech. To make his presentation perfect a
speaker should capture the attention by focusing on the main aspects of the
presentation and bringing out innovative ways that create an impression in the mind of
the listener.

To be an effective and good speaker one should bear in mind some guidelines which
are discussed below:

Opening: It is important to capture the attention of the audience within the first two
minutes. A strong opening will establish a powerful impression on the audience.
Because the first impression creates a strong influence on the listeners.

In the beginning, one must give a statement that creates a surprise and establish the
seriousness in the audience. It also creates a rapport with the audience and establishes
the credibility of the speaker. A public speaker should point out the important contents
with supporting ideas. Humor should be incorporated in the content or by the speaker
when required. Personal experience and anecdotes should also be used in the content
when required and not include statements that may be controversial.
Thus, a powerful opening helps a speaker to build a positive impact on his listeners.

Using appropriate body language: A speaker should match his body language with
the theme of his speech. It is the non-verbal form of communication. The language of
confidence which begins by how a speaker holds himself. A speaker also should have
to avoid fidgeting, slumping in his seat, clasping his hands, and remaining stoned face.
He should try to remain normal by using appropriate gestures, facial expressions, and
poses.

Speaking with conviction: A speaker needs to be convinced about what he is saying.

If he wants to have an impact on his listeners.

To avoid reading from notes: A speaker should avoid reading from notes because
reading out from handwritten notes doesn’t have a positive impact on the listeners. It
doesn’t add to the speaker’s credibility.

Speaking with passion: To communicate with people through speech a speaker needs
to have a passion for his subject. He needs to exude a level of sincerity in his emotion
while communicating with the audience. The more the speaker knows about the subject,
the stronger will be his position, and more passionate and convincing will be his
delivery.

Vocal elements: Vocal elements like; adjusting the volume, pitch, rate of delivery,
pauses, good punctuation, etc. are very important aspects of effective speaking. The
pitch should be optimal, the volume should be inserted appropriately and vocalized
pauses are to be avoided to make speech impressive.

Maintaining eye contact: A speaker should maintain proper eye contact with the
listeners as it makes the audience believe in the speaker and what he is saying.

Motivational speaking: For being a good speaker one should deliver a motivational
speech. A speaker must incorporate innovative methods to take up the discussion at a
different level. The speaker should inform the audience about the objectives and
develop each point with an example that encourages the audience.

Projecting Confidence: Confidence is the key for any public speaker. According to a
study published by the University of Wolverhampton, “A highly confident speaker is
viewed as being more accurate, competent, credible, intelligent, knowledgeable, likable
and believable than the less confident uncertain speaker.” When speaking in public, it’s
natural to be nervous. Mark Twain once said, “There are only two types of speakers in
the world (i)the nervous and (ii) the liars.” So, it is very clear that by projecting
confidence, the desired goal of the speaker will be achieved.

Fear of public speaking: Public speaking causes headaches, nausea, sweaty,

paleness, etc. People often get stressed out just by anticipating the moment of
addressing a group of people. However, the speaker’s speaking nerves may be used to
make his speech exciting. Visualizing success is important for a speaker to accept that
he might make some sort of mistakes like stumbling upon a word, losing his train
thought, etc. Deep breathing exercise before public speaking is an effective way to
control nerves.

Analyzing the audience: A speaker should analyze the audience because it’s a matter
of mindshare. So, he should analyze the age of the audience's, educational level,
technical knowledge, political interests, cultural backgrounds, experience level, etc.

Closing: The closing is a way of reinforcing the message and must also be memorable.
People will remember the last thing that they hear. An ideal speaker should follow some
ways to close a speech. He can tell a story, quote someone, summarize the main points
of his speech, end with a visual aid, etc.

In summary, the best way to become a good speaker is by having a message that a
speaker believes in, that the audience can connect to. The connection between a
speaker and the audience allows the audience to truly to listen the message and be
inspired. It takes a lot of practice and experience to become a powerful speaker. By
emulating the mentioned characteristics of effective public speakers, anyone can
become more inspiring and more influenced.