Most public speaking guides will tell you the very basics: practice makes perfect, use a good hook, know your audience. This guide isn’t that broad or general – this guide is about specific technical aspects of public speaking that are immediately actionable.
There are 6 things you need to keep in mind to immediately improve your public speaking. Think of them as tools that you can add to your kit and reach for anytime.
There are 3 things to keep in mind regarding your voice and 3 things regarding your body. We’re going to address the voice first.
How To Use Your Voice For Public Speaking
1. Pace – How quickly or slowly you talk
Great public speakers add variety to their voice in the same way great writers change up their sentence structure. As a speaker, you need to consider switching up the pace—or the speed—at which you talk.
Talk quickly to convey urgency, excitement, or anxiety, but talk slowly to convey sadness, tension, or mystery. You don’t want to be one of those monotone speakers that talk flatly. It’s ineffective because it’ll get boring.
2. Pitch – How loudly or softly you talk
Talk loudly to draw your listener in, but whisper to get the audience to lean in and pay a little extra attention.
Imagine you’re in a room and the music is playing. All of a sudden, someone turns the music off. You notice. You pay attention to find out why it suddenly got quiet. So use this to your advantage and vary how loudly or softly you talk based on which part of your speech or story you are on and how closely you want your audience to listen.
3. Pause – A temporary break
The pause is important because it adds emphasis, and it gives people time to process. Just like how lowering your pitch interrupts your rhythm and catches your listeners’ attention, the pause is like a little cliffhanger. It engages the listener and gets them to actively think about what might come next.
It’s also a great substitute for filler words, although I do want to note that it’s okay to have some filler words – great speakers like Obama used filler words all the time. The audience understands that you may be nervous or need time to find the next word. However, eventually with enough practice, you can learn to replace most of them with a pause to make them appear deliberate.
If you’d like additional information on how to master your voice, check out our detailed guide here.
Now we’re going to address the body.
How To Use Effective Body Language For Public Speaking
4. Eyes – Focus on the individual
Eyes are the windows to your soul (or to my lack of sleep). The reason eyes are so important is because you can create a personal connection with your listeners through eye contact.
Sometimes, people look down at the floor hoping they’ll find their notes or look up searching for divine inspiration. Don’t. Choose an audience member and look directly into their eyes because for a split second, they’ll feel as if you’re speaking directly to them. Make enough eye contact with enough people and the entire room will feel like they’ve developed a personal connection with you.
Lastly, eyes are powerful because we associate eye contact with conviction, so the more eye contact you make, the more confident your statements will seem.
5. Hands – Hands enhance your message
Hands are great for augmenting your point and keeping the audience engaged. Let’s start with placement. Pretend that there is a box in front of you that goes from your chest to your waist. 90% of your hand motions should be kept in this box. Keep your elbows at 90 degrees to your body. Once you get more comfortable, you can leave this box and start jazzing it up a bit. Point at different things, gesture at audience members, touch your temple to convey a memory or thought.
Box guideline for hand placement
While in this box, there are two very basic hand motions that you can use. One is to keep your hands vertical while keeping your elbows at 90 degrees. This technique is best used to depict a point or convey your main thesis. The second is to angle your hands at 45 degrees, and this position is to talk over details. See video at 4:20 for an example.
Now, a question I always get asked is, “Chris, where do I put my hands when I’m not using them?” Some people use the power triangle, but I feel like this has fallen out of favor. Over time, you’ll find your neutral position or what feels good for you. For me, it’s right at my waist or if I’m really comfortable – in my pocket.
6. Feet – Command your space
If there’s a podium on stage, don’t stand behind it. It may seem more comfortable, but it acts as a physical obstacle between you and your audience and can make it seem like you’re hiding behind it if the audience notices that you’re nervous.
So instead, move around the stage and be deliberate. Walk to one side of the stage, stop, stay rooted, talk for a bit, and then walk to the opposite end of the stage. Don’t pace back and forth. Not only will the audience interpret this as confidence, it will help them pay attention, because it will encourage them to track your movement with their eyes and not just zone out.
That covers it for now. If you’d like to see these 6 principles in practice, check out the video below:
Check out some of the other articles for more lessons on public speaking. If you have a public speaking gig coming up, feel free to reach out at [email protected] and we’ll get you set up with one of our coaches.
Some additional information on mastering body language.
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