How to Improve Public Speaking Skills for Leaders

🎤 What’s Your Public Speaking Superpower? 🌟 The influence you have as a leader is directly connected to how effectively you communicate your thoughts, ideas, priorities, and strategies. This is crucial in everything from high-stakes meetings to speaking on stage. If you're dedicated to strengthening your public speaking skills—and you should be if you speak publicly—here are key superpowers to develop: 1️⃣ Superpower: Reading the Room. As a good public speaker, it's important to know whether your audience is engaged. Are heads nodding and are people taking notes? Or, do they appear confused, disinterested, or restless? 🧐 🔍 How to Build This Superpower: Pay attention to body language and facial expressions. Adjust your tone and pace based on the audience's reactions to keep them engaged. 2️⃣ Superpower: Limited Use of Filler Words. Frequent use of "uh," "umm," "so," and "you know" can undermine your credibility. These filler words detract from the strength of your message. 🗣️ 📖 How to Build This Superpower: Practice your main talking points. Focus on memorizing your opening and closing to ensure a strong start and finish. We all use filler words, but preparation can help you reduce your reliance on them. 3️⃣ Superpower: Inspiring Action. Your audience should know exactly what to do next with the information you've shared. Tracking the actions and outcomes linked to your directives shows the impact of your presentation📈  💡How to Build This Superpower: Clearly define and communicate the next steps. Follow up on the implementation of these steps to measure the effectiveness of your message. 🌱 Personal Highlight: Some of the best work I've done this year has involved one-on-one coaching with leaders to strengthen their public speaking skills. I create a safe space where leaders can practice all aspects of presenting, from developing their message and presence to refining gestures, voice modulation, and communicating emotion. The transformation I've seen in just a few sessions has been inspiring! What tips or strategies have you found helpful in improving your public speaking skills?

Recent work and world events have convinced me that practically everything you say and do as a leader must be thought of as a "media" appearance. It's likely that your video meeting is being recorded for playback. You're in a small box, competing with multi-taskers and so you must heighten your voice, expressions, and body language to convey energy and hold interest. And if you're speaking while sharing your screen, you're in an even smaller box! Think about it: Every audience member is in possession of a video and audio recording device. Almost every meeting is recorded and transcribed. Even if you can't see the device, you should proceed as if you are being audio recorded. So, speak as you were trained to do in media appearances: 👄 Use vocal variety: Vary pace (fast & slow), pitch (high & low), pause, power (volume), placement (where in the body) 👋 Use your hands so they are visible on the screen. Put down your pen and your notes! 👀 Use your eyes and eyebrows to convey emotion. 💬 Speak in short sentences that are easily editable on the periods. 🌍 To the extent possible, provide context in each sentence. 🌉 When answering questions, don't repeat negatives. i.e., Not, "No, we're not disappointed" but rather, "We're very happy that..." And, use bridging language to return to the message you want to deliver. i.e., "Let's go directly to our solution..." 🌟 Use highlighting language, such as, "The most important thing to know is..." and "The real issue is..." 👓 If you are going to read your notes, print on only the top 2/3rds of the page so you are not looking down and losing eye contact with the audience. #leadershipcommunication #presentationskills #mediaskills

Everyone talks about the need to be a great communicator as a Head of Growth but what does this actually entail? Here are 9 things I'm constantly trying to get better at - whether its clarity in presentations and discussions, addressing a team, stakeholders or at conferences: 1. Embrace Q&A Sessions: Dedicate a significant portion of your time to Q&A rather than just delivering a monologue makes your presentations more dynamic and engaging. It invites interaction and can help clarify points, ensuring the message resonates more deeply. 2. Engage the Questioner: Instead of broadly addressing the entire audience, connect with the person who asked the question first. This personal touch shows respect and also enriches the discussion for everyone. For e.g., if asked about tackling challenges, you might first relate on a personal level before expanding your answer to share broader strategies. 3. Balance Personal Engagement with Broad Appeal: After engaging directly with an individual, broaden the answer to include the entire audience. This helps personalize the message, making it resonate on a more personal level, and then ties it back to the broader themes relevant to everyone. 4. Approachability in Communication: When addressing questions from less experienced team members, make efforts to interact on their level by simplifying explanations to make responses more relatable and understandable. 5. Incorporate Humor: Using humor strategically makes presentations more enjoyable and memorable. It helps to lighten the atmosphere, making technical or dense information more digestible, and keeps the audience engaged. 6. Use Simple Language: Complex vocabulary alienates your audience, whereas clear and concise language helps ensure your message is accessible to everyone, regardless of their background or expertise. 7. Focus on Relevant Content: Avoid giving undue attention to competitors or external factors unless it directly serves the narrative. Instead, focus on crafting messages that highlight your unique strategies and achievements without unnecessary comparisons. 8. Make It Real: Link discussions back to real-world applications and effects. When discussing strategies or outcomes, illustrate how they impact the business or the team's daily operations, making abstract strategies tangible and actionable. 9. Narrative and Storytelling: This is the one I struggle with the most. People remember stories far better than facts alone. By framing your key messages within stories—especially those drawn from personal experience or notable case studies—you enhance their stickiness and impact. It takes practice to get good at all of this but that's what the role demands. If you can do this, not only do you get good at delivering content more effectively but in doing so you also build a rapport with your audience, foster a culture of openness and drive home the impact of your work in a way that sticks.

I remember being scared to death to speak in front of my classmates.    For most people, fear of public speaking is greater than fear of death! Being able to speak effectively to groups is a key leadership skill, but fear can hold us back, cause us to doubt our abilities and shy away from opportunities that could propel us forward. I decided to follow my mother’s advice and take a public speaking class. Fast forward to today, over forty years later. I learned public speaking skills, taught university classes, and became a marketing and sales director.  I went on to become a paid speaker, life coach and the host of The Hero Within Podcast.  Learning public speaking was one of the most important career decisions I've ever made. Through the years, I've had the privilege of coaching others to become better entrepreneurs and leaders.   Whether it's delivering a sales pitch, leading a staff meeting, or engaging the audience, effective communication is critical to success. I continue to learn from my coaches who are helping me improve my presentation skills.  It isn't a one-time endeavor; it's an ongoing process that significantly enhances our effectiveness as a leader. Here are seven steps to becoming a better presenter and a more effective communicator: 1. Know your audience, their needs and interests.  Research and understand their problems and gear your message to solving a specific problem. 2. Become well versed in your content, allowing you to deliver it confidently.  Don’t memorize your material because then you’ll sound scripted.  Instead, be comfortable enough that you can talk about the main points from your heart. 3. Practice, practice, practice and practice some more!  It’s great to practice in front of a mirror, and it helps to become comfortable hearing your own voice. 4. Become an engaging storyteller to connect with your listeners.  Personal stories or hypothetical scenarios can make complex information more relatable to the audience. 5. Pay attention to your nonverbal body language, using posture, gestures and movement to enhance your impact.  Your posture conveys your level of confidence and your eye contact helps the audience build connection with you. 6. Manage nervousness by focusing on the excitement to share your message.  Instead of telling ourselves to “calm down,” reframing our anxiety as excitement is more effective because the feelings are nearly the same physiologically!    7. Actively seek feedback and continuously work to improve.  Be the first to give yourself feedback, assessing what you think went well and what you think you could improve.  You may also seek feedback from audience members, mentors, or your coach.  Take the feedback that you feel applies, disregard the rest and continue practicing.  See #3. By embracing these principles and dedicating yourself to ongoing growth, you’ll increase your speaking skills, empowering yourself to lead and inspire others with clarity and confidence.  

One of my clients is brilliant but he’s also laid back. As a result sometimes he is perceived as being a “low energy” speaker. Recently he asked me how he could bring more energy to the stage. Since I don’t struggle with this I was stumped and gave him a half-baked answer about vocal variety. I was annoyed I didn’t have a better answer so have since given this a lot of thought. I now think bringing more energy to the stage gets down to 7 things: 1️⃣ Layer energy into your content. Share stories. Share humor. Add in audience participation. Make sure that you’ve run your content through my free resource: 12 Questions You Must Ask for a Killer Speech. 2️⃣ Layer energy into your visuals. I told my client he should have a designer redo his deck. It lacked energy. Make sure that your visuals are bringing the energy up, not down in your presentation. Add more color in the deck, break things up with a funny photo, etc. 3️⃣ Pregame physically and mentally While higher energy personalities might need to calm themselves down by taking slow breaths, you might need to pump yourself up with a quick walk, jumping jacks, or another physical energy booster like an upbeat playlist you listen to before you take the stage. Mentally: Focus on your passion for the topic and let that energy flow out. Talk to yourself in the third person–“(Your name) you’re going to rock this speech and have lots of energy!” 4️⃣ Demonstrate energetic and confident body language 55% of communication is nonverbal, so level up your body language. For you this might mean quickly walking or even running onto the stage to start. During your presentation it might look like making your gestures bigger to meet the size of the room, holding eye-contact longer, physically moving and working the stage more, smiling, and animating your facial expressions to match the words that you’re saying. 5️⃣ Add vocal variety. Speed up, slow down, get loud, or get quiet. One way to do this is to look for the big statements or ideas in your speech and ask yourself, “How can I add vocal variety around this part?” Need some examples on how to do this? Watch TED talks. Virtually every TED talk speaker begins with a slower rate of speech and then gradually speeds up, only to slow back down at the end. 6️⃣ Use confident language and end your phrases strong and loud. Many speakers who lack energy get quieter at the end of each sentence or end every sentence like it has a question mark. Right?! Instead use confident phrases like “I know you can do this.” “I believe in your ability.” 7️⃣ Wear color. I’m no fashionista but I told my client to avoid black, gray, or white (his go-to) and instead consider a brighter blue shirt. What other ideas do you have on how my client can bring more energy to the stage? If you’ve ever struggled with this, what have you done? ----- Hi, I'm Eva. I help professional speakers develop and deliver compelling speeches. Need help? Send me a DM. Back

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐛𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞. – 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐓𝐰𝐚𝐢𝐧 I get asked often- how do you communicate effectively as a public speaker? Lately, I’ve found myself on the podium a bit and while public speaking terrifies many, I actually draw energy from it. Most people think great communicators are born that way. Nope. They just prepare better. Here’s my fool-proof method to sound sharp, engaging, and at high-stakes events: 1.    𝐖𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐜𝐡. Yes, all of it. Sounds tedious, but trust me—seeing your words on paper reveals the clunky bits. 2.    𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐮𝐝. If your tongue stumbles, so will your audience. Fix it. Swap out heavy words for simpler ones. 3.    𝐓𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐥𝐟. Stand in front of a mirror and speak. Notice where you ramble. Edit again. 4.    𝐋𝐞𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐬𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫. Give it a day or two. During that time, you will revisit the speech in your head whether you like it or not. Next day, come back to it with fresh eyes. 5.    𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭: Read it aloud, practice at least thrice in front of a mirror. Now, the secret sauce: Start with a short self-deprecating story. If you can make people laugh, you’ve got them. Then, give them a fresh perspective. Something they hadn’t thought of before. And finally, end on a positive note. Leave them wanting more. Remember, great communicators aren’t just talkers. They’re also editors, timers, and storytellers. #CommunicationSkills #PublicSpeaking  

I’ve been helping leaders do better storytelling in workplace meetings for 12 years I come from a highly deferential culture (Indian) and I’m often working with women of color raised to respect authority. 2019, a pharma company about to be acquired by a much bigger one. Given its largely Asian population, I was brought in to teach a workshop on how speak up (and do it gracefully). Especially as folks stood to become small fish 'in a much bigger pond.' Here are 7 most common mistakes I noticed (+ how to fix them): 1/ 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 Plan 1:1 meetings with your boss to share  recent wins  priorities ask specific questions that you need his/her input on bring new ideas to the table Put awards and laurels in your email signature 2/ 𝐀𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐢𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐭 𝐄𝐲𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐚𝐜𝐭 Practice training your eye on your audience for 5-7 seconds. Look away. Try it in low stakes environments, like standing in line at Trader Joe’s and chatting with the person behind or in front of you. 3/ 𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐀𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐎𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 Fix: Prepare your points ahead of time and practice assertive communication. Use phrases like "In my experience" or "From my perspective" to share your views confidently. 4/ 𝐓𝐨𝐨 𝐌𝐮𝐜𝐡 𝐀𝐩𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐢𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 Download the “The Just Not Sorry Google Chrome Extension for email. It builds self awareness around both written and oral words that undermine your authority. Save apologies for genuine mistakes. Skip words like “for example, very or really.” 5/ 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐦 Get your idea out there. Again, practice in low stakes environment first to flex that muscle. Be clear. Be direct. Keep bullet points handy and prepared ahead of time so you don’t miss key points. 6/ 𝐏𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐩 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲 Fix: Introduce diversity of thought with scripts like this: "I realize this might be a bit controversial and different from what we’re accustomed to...“ "I know this might be a departure from our usual approach, and it may seem a bit controversial at first...." "I’d like to discuss an idea that might be a bit unconventional, but I believe it has the potential to significantly benefit our project...." 7/ 𝐔𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐢𝐬𝐤𝐬 & 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 Fix: Address challenges and risks openly. Present them as opportunities for improvement and learning. Come to the table with the problem ---and a potential solution. _______________ "When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you." — Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching) In tomorrow’s newsletter, I’ll break down how I helped my Pharma client and its Asian American Pacific Islander Employee Resource Group become better advocates for themselves in that exact workshop Subscribe here. https://lnkd.in/gk_MAUrh

Oral communication skills are underrated. Here’s how you can improve your game and deliver more impactful presentations: 1. Delivery is just as important as content. How you say something, and the way you say it, can fundamentally change how your audience engages with you. This includes pacing, pauses, and facial expressions - you can smile and joke! Your goal is to grab their attention, keep them engaged, and commit to being present. 2. Be clear about what you want. When you’re leading a review or giving a presentation, tell people what you want from them - set expectations from the start. “I’m going to share an update on X. I’m looking for feedback specifically on Y.” 3. Define success. One of my favorite things to do in presentations is to finish my agenda with, “if we’re successful, this is what we’ll achieve.” This allows leaders to anchor on the million dollar questions: “Why am I here?” “What is this person hoping to get out of this?” 4. Call out the tension. In any presentation, you’ll need to address points that may be at odds with each other. “Our goal is to achieve X, but in order to do that, we’ll need to solve Y. And Y is really hard.” You need to proactively demonstrate that you have a plan to address and solve it (and then tell them what that is). 5. Call out the experts. You’ll have people in the room that you want as allies, and who have expertise in areas where you may not; Proactively call them out. “We know that in order to do X, we will need to do Y. We will be sure to work with your team to help us understand our current gaps, pressure test our assumptions, and make sure their feedback is incorporated into our plan.” 6. Play back what you heard. You asked for feedback, and you got it. Summarize what you heard in the meeting and share how you’ll plan to incorporate the feedback. Ask if you missed anything and what the group can expect from you for next steps. I’ve been incredibly lucky to get to present to senior leaders like Jackie Pimentel, Brett Vogel, Justin Taylor, Monica Ea Chander, Chad Kimner, Sudeep Eldo Cherian and Neha Khanna who’ve shared feedback with me that have only improved my ability to lead effective reviews. Hopefully this can be helpful for you!

Early in my career, I learned a tough lesson: expertise alone isn’t enough. It’s your ability to communicate that sets you apart. Here are 9 practical ways to build this essential skill. Small changes can lead to big results. Which of these tips will you put into action first? 🌟 9 Active Ways to Improve Your Communication Skills 🌟 If you're serious about improving your communication, here are 5+ action-oriented ways you can elevate your skills today! 1️⃣ Enroll in Communication Training Take a structured course or workshop that focuses on communication. Whether it’s public speaking, business communication, or conflict resolution, formal training offers valuable frameworks for improvement. 2️⃣ Read Books on Communication Expand your knowledge with books by experts like Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People or Chris Voss's Never Split the Difference. These provide actionable insights and real-world communication strategies. 3️⃣ Join Toastmasters Toastmasters is a global organization focused on public speaking and leadership. Practicing speeches and receiving feedback in a supportive environment will enhance both your speaking and listening skills. 4️⃣ Attend Webinars & Online Workshops There are plenty of webinars that focus on different aspects of communication—be it persuasive speaking, non-verbal communication, or effective emailing. Sign up for one today to deepen your knowledge! 5️⃣ Invest in One-on-One Coaching A coach can offer personalized feedback, help you identify blind spots, and guide you toward meaningful improvements. Whether it's speech coaching, executive coaching, or career coaching, this one-on-one attention is invaluable. 6️⃣ Practice Active Listening with Podcasts Listen to podcasts on communication and leadership (e.g., The Art of Charm, The Communication Guys). Pay attention to the speakers' techniques and how they engage with their audience. 7️⃣ Record Yourself Speaking Practice makes perfect! Record yourself presenting or explaining a concept, then review the recording. Notice areas for improvement in tone, clarity, and engagement. This will boost your self-awareness and refine your delivery. 8️⃣ Join Discussion Groups or Networking Events Engage in conversations at local networking events, professional associations, or discussion groups. The more you practice speaking in varied settings, the more comfortable and effective you will become. 9️⃣ Seek Feedback from Mentors or Peers Ask for specific feedback on your communication style—whether it’s in presentations, meetings, or casual conversations. Regular, constructive feedback will accelerate your growth. Ready to take action? Start incorporating these resources and activities into your routine today, and watch your communication skills soar! 🚀

Public Speaking Used to Freak Me Out. (Not anymore! Here's how I changed that.) Have you ever felt your heart race just thinking about speaking in front of a crowd? I know that feeling well. Sweaty palms, trembling voice - that was me. Public speaking used to be my nemesis. Years ago, I faced crucial projects. It was sink or swim. Spoiler: I didn’t just float. I learned to swim, starting with a doggy paddle. Here’s how I transformed from panic to poise: 1. Use pauses well. (don’t rush) 2. Practice daily. (in front of a mirror) 3. Accept feedback. (and actually use it) 4. Dedicate time to learn. (from mistakes) 5. Visualize success. (before every speech) 6. Record each speech. (for playback review) 7. Engage audiences. (ask questions, tell stories) 8. Manage your anxiety. (with breathing exercises) 9. Update your content. (keep it fresh and relevant) 10. Reflect post-presentation. (identify hits & misses) Before all of the above: → Admit your fear. (it's there) → Know your material. (prepare well) → Focus on growth. (optimize mindset) Improve your skills → Then help others do the same Your public speaking will surely enhance. If you find this post helpful, hit repost ♻️ Thanks! P.S. Which step challenges you the most? (1-10) — Found this helpful? Follow Wyatt Sterusky I post regular insights on HR Tech and HR #PublicSpeaking #CareerGrowth #LeadershipDevelopment