HOW TO BE GOOD AT PUBLIC SPEAKING IN ENGLISH - TIPS AND TECHNIQUES

INTRODUCTION

In this article about public speaking in English, we will give you useful advice on how to prepare, as well as the expressions to use during your public speaking event.

We will also give you tips and tricks to use during the speaking event, to help you with stress, and to manage difficult situations.

(Don´t have time to read it now? Download the complete guide in PDF here: GUIDE TO PUBLIC SPEAKING IN ENGLISH.)

CONTENTS:

Why you should practice public speaking
How to prepare
Useful expressions in English
During the speech
Handling questions
Focus on pronunciation
Final thoughts

WHY SHOULD YOU PRACTICE SPEAKING ENGLISH IN PUBLIC

If you are reading this, you probably have to speak English in public in the near future.

It could be giving a presentation in an internal meeting at work, or maybe you need to pitch to a client.

Perhaps you even need to speak at an English friend´s wedding!

This article focuses on giving information, with or without a presentation, but the topics covered are useful for all types of public speaking.

If you want to practice speaking to attend a job interview see THIS BLOG POST for advice on doing interviews in English.

2. HOW TO PREPARE

This part is the key to success.

You need to prepare well in order to feel more confident and in control during the speech.

Check:

KISS - Keep it short and simple!
Make sure your speech is organised well - say what you want to say, say it, say what you said
Time management - try to obtain the following distribution:

10% for the introduction,
70% main
body,
10% conclusion,
10% Q&As

Prepare word prompts if you are not going to use a powerpoint presentation.
Practice practice practice!

Here are some tips on how to practice speaking English in public:

Practice out loud, often. Until you are sick of hearing yourself.
Practice in front of someone or a group if possible. If this is not possible, record yourself on your mobile and listen back to see where you need to improve.
If possible, practice with your English teacher if you have one, or someone who speaks English well, to help you correct any mistakes.
As well as practicing, listen to English a lot coming up to the presentation.
The more you practice, the more in control you will feel, the less nervous you will be and the fewer mistakes you will make.
Do not memorise, KNOW! If you memorise you might forget sections and it will sound monotone and boring.

While you practice, watch for:

Pronunciation - speak clearly, slowly and deliberately
Silence is golden! Avoid fillers (um, ah….mine is ´for example´ or ´OK´)
Body language e.g. hand gestures - some are OK, but too much is distracting
Tone - avoid monotone! It´s difficult in another language but you have to ensure that your tone modulates.

Do this by:

Listening to a recording of yourself practicing the speech and identify where you need to modulate more
Copy great speakers that you admire - listen to how they vary their tone
Stress important words so that people pay more attention
Pause at important parts of the speech

Enthusiasm - ties in with tone - if you sound boring, your audience with be bored. Smile, make eye contact around the room, modulate your tone. Be enthusiastic about your topic.

3. USEFUL EXPRESSIONS TO USE IN ENGLISH

The language you use will depend on how formal the speech or presentation is.

These expressions are especially suited to presentations but you can use them in any type of public speaking.

Introduction:

Good morning/afternoon/evening.

My name is (if they don´t know you).

As you know (if they know you), I´m Sabrena and today I am going to talk to you about (TOPIC).

Let me start by saying (thank you/welcome, or other important point about the presentation).

Structure:

In this presentation/talk/speech, I will focus on 3 main areas

This presentation/talk/speech is structured as follows:

Timing:

It should take around X minutes.

Material:

You will find a copy of this presentation/handout in an email I sent you earlier / I will send you a copy of this talk afterwards.

Questions:

I will be happy to answer any questions at the end / please stop me if you have any questions.

Sequencing:

Firstly / to begin with / my first point is /

first and foremost (first & most importantly)

Next / moving on to our next point / our next point deals with

Finally / last but not least

In summary / to sum up / in a nutshell (to summarise)

As I mentioned earlier

Let´s recap (recapitulate, review)

I´d like to review the main points

In conclusion

I would like to finish by (verb +ING)

(people often use an impactful quote here)

That wraps up my talk/presentation/speech on (TOPIC).

Does anyone have any questions?

Referring to visual information

As you can see from this graph/chart/picture

Looking at these figures, we can see that…

Checking understanding:

Are you with me so far?

Is everyone following so far?

Can I clarify anything for anyone so far?

Does anything have any questions on this part?

4. DURING THE PUBLIC SPEAKING EVENT

Tips on dealing with stress:

Breath. When we are nervous we breath more quickly and shallower.

Take 6 long, deep breaths before your interview to help you remain calm.

Don´t worry about making mistakes with your English. It is more likely to happen when you are nervous.
Speak more slowly (we tend to speed up when we are nervous) and deliberately.
Speak clearly, good enunciation and PRONUNCIATION.
Fake it til you make it! Deliver your speech confidently on the outside, even if your legs are turning to jelly.
Focus on the reason for the talk/presentation - all that matters is that your audience understand the points you are making clearly.
Body language - make eye contact, watch your hand gestures, posture, & facial expressions.

Try these breathing exercises:

PRACTICE 1:

Close your eyes.

Concentrate.

Breath deeply in through your nose and out through your mouth, evenly, 6 times.

This will help you regulate your breathing and calm your body.

Remember to breath during the event

- add it to your notes if necessary.

PRACTICE 2:

Say these sentences:

If you cannot say the full sentence without stopping, you are not breathing properly.

Watch your stress and modulation.

No man would listen to you talk unless he knew that it was his turn next.
It is always the best policy to speak the truth, unless you are an exceptionally good liar.
One of the tests of leadership is the ability to recognize a problem before it becomes an emergency.

Troubleshooting: resolving problems during the event:

Sometimes bad things happen to good people - here´s what you can do if:

Your technology breaks - smile, make a joke, troubleshoot calmly, tell people to take a 2 minute break if necessary.
You forget your words - improvise or move on to the next part.
You are shaking before the event - shake your self out for 30 seconds - this will relax your body and help prevent shaking
Your breathing is shallow and you are losing your breath - this happened me the first time I did a live video and you don´t notice it! (Don´t look for it, it was terrible haha!) Keep going, push through it, it´s likely no-one will notice. Keep breathing regularly and deeply, take your time.
Dry mouth - sip water slowly.

5. HOW TO HANDLE QUESTIONS

Q&A:

Be prepared - know your facts
Always remain professional
Be honest
Take your time
Take control

Useful expressions for the Q&A:

That´s a good question, I will have to get back to you on that

I´m not the best person to deal with that, why don´t you ask…

To be honest…

If you don´t understand:

Could you say that again? I didn´t catch it, sorry

I´m sorry, I don´t follow

If I understand correctly, you want to know….

7. FOCUS ON PRONUNCIATION

Pronunciation is important.

This topic is too in-depth to cover here, but needless to say pronunciation is important - you want your audience to understand you.

One way to help improve your pronunciation is to repeat tongue twisters, like the following:

TONGUE TWISTER

She sells sea shells by the sea shore. The sea shells she sells are sea shells, she's sure.

• Very berry

• Betty bought a bit of butter.

Not so easy, is it?

Other ways include:

Reading out loud in English
Practice your speaking and have a teacher correct you (try our speaking classes free ENGLISH SPEAKING CLASSES.)
Record yourself speaking and play it back to ensure you are clear and identify areas for improvement.