This is not your typical journey to public speaking success.

This is not your typical ‘How to’ speech on how to do a presentation. This is my story about my journey to public speaking success along with essential ideas and tips I’ve picked up along the way. It’s not an easy journey or a long one but during this talk, you’ll learn a few tips you can apply to your next class presentation, thesis, or even just having a chat with some people you’ve never met before.

 

I hope my experiences and my tips can open your eyes to the opportunities you might have in your near future or even better yet, starting now because I tell you what, we only live on this Earth once. You never know when you’re going to go, so make sure to make the best of your life. Focus on making an impact no matter how small or big.

 

You deserve to be in this world and the world deserves you. Click To Tweet

 

Fear of Public Speaking

One of the biggest problems now is the fact that you live in a world where most everyone is afraid of getting up in front of an audience. In fact, the fear of public speaking is so bad that probably at least half of you in this room would be afraid to get up and talk your heart out. I see this as a problem which can be helped if not stopped at least among this group today.

 

Today I will give you tools to change your fear into your strength.

 

What I’m going to show you are the steps I took to overcome my fear of public speaking and get to a point where I can give an impactful speech without dropping a sweat up on stage. To be honest, I still sweat before the presentation, but that’s natural for most people. It is quite nerve-racking to stand in front of a group of people all alone, but I like it. It’s thrilling. Think of it as an adventure.

 

It is my goal through this presentation to enable you to deliver a presentation with as much passion and technique as possible, no matter whether you’re an introvert or an extrovert. Let’s go on this journey together now.

 

Related Post: Mindset: Why You’re Here and How I Can Help – First Post

 

My Journey to Public Speaking Success Story 1: Elementary School and Junior High School

It was the beginning of my journey to public speaking success when I was in elementary school in Portland Oregon, USA. Although to be completely honest, I was a wreck when it came to speaking in front of people. Nonetheless, without these failed experiences at speaking in front of people, I wouldn’t be the same type of speaker I am today.

 

I wasn’t too much of a popular boy in school although I never really got bullied since I was taller than everyone else. My grades were very average, around the 70% range if I recall correctly. I also was very hyper and loved to run around the class, even crawling sometimes while most of the other students were sitting correctly in their chairs.

 

I had all this energy but nowhere to put it. It wasn’t that I was a bad kid, it’s just that I didn’t know how to control or focus that energy on the right thing. There were a few things I loved though. I was good in track and field, I loved the sensation of running so much because it was a way for me to focus my energy on a goal and to compete against myself. That’s a good lesson I learned from my childhood. If you aren’t already competing against yourself in everything you do then you should start today.

 

The principle is competing against yourself. It's about self-improvement. It's about being better than you were the day before. Click To Tweet

-Steve Young

 

Related post: 7 Benefits of Exercise On Your Brain

 

I also loved playing in the school orchestra since it was another outlet to let my mind wander in the wonders of music. Until today, both of those are hobbies I use to clear my mind and create a joy I cannot get anywhere else.

 

But when it came to academics, I just couldn’t put my full attention on the assignments. Partly this was due to the fact that I wasn’t interested in many of the topics, and the fact you had to sit in one place for an hour or two listening to the teacher talk at you.

 

Seeing that I had difficulties with academics at the time, I had it in my mind that I couldn’t ever accomplish major tasks let alone build what I’ve made today because I couldn’t focus long enough to achieve my goals. I was held back by this idea which was inserted into my mind by the education system from an early age.

 

But the education system was wrong! I’m up here on this stage today.

 

With hindsight, I see that it wasn’t my fault I couldn’t focus, it was the system’s fault for not having a more open approach to education which allows students to explore their own interests and build upon them.

 

Class Presentations

When it came to giving a class presentation or even reading in front of the class I froze, stuttered and couldn’t even memorize what I wanted to say for the presentations. What I really wanted to do at all costs was avoid giving a presentation. Most of you know that feeling probably.

 

All through elementary school, junior high school, high school and even university I couldn’t bring up enough guts to do a presentation without reading straight from a script.

 

Somehow, I had to learn how to overcome my fear of presenting in front of others. But I wasn’t quite ready at that time in my life. I was still only 10 or 11 years old, and that’s pretty young to be expected to stand up and speak your mind about a topic you might not even be interested in. Here’s how I got better.

 

Presentations Are Unavoidable for Everyone But Doable for Anyone

Now think back to what it was like for you to present in front of your class in elementary school. Were you wreck or a natural?

 

Whether you were a wreck or natural, presentations are unavoidable for everyone. You may not have to do it that often, but eventually you’ll run into a situation where you’ll have to whether it be a class presentation or running a work-related meeting.

 

It is an unavoidable fact, but it doesn’t have to be an unpleasant one.

 

Luckily for some people, they are just more natural at speaking in front of others. You are lucky if you are one of those fortunate people. Those of you that aren’t natural at public speaking you still have a chance to drive yourself to public speaking success through determination and lots of practice.

 

Try making it an adventure! Most everyone loves adventures right?

 

I personally didn’t use to be natural at speaking and I never really have been one of those people, but through reading a lot of books and articles about public speaking techniques, practicing, and getting myself out there in front of crowds it has become more natural in a sense because I know what to expect and how to react.

 

So don’t dread your upcoming presentations or meetings, make them part of your public speaking success.

 

Related Public Speaking Post Series: Branding Yourself as a Public Speaker

 

My Personal Public Speaking Success Story 2: The Dawn of my Confidence

After years of failing to give a meaningful speech, going through primary and secondary school, and onto university I finally got used to speaking in front of other people when I started teaching English in Indonesia in 2011. Teaching is not exactly public speaking but it is similar in the sense that you stand in front of others to deliver a message.

 

I can remember back to that first day teaching when my hands were sweaty and a little shaky, but I got up in front of the class anyway and did my best. I feel bad that I couldn’t have done better for my students as I look back on my first couple of years teaching, but I’m grateful that those experiences have built up my confidence to be able to get out in front of crowds without it bothering me.

 

Since teaching is very similar to giving a presentation I’ll use it as an example of how you can use this skill to reach public speaking success.

 

Teaching has more of a two-way conversation whereas public speaking tends, although not 100% of the time, to be a one-way conversation. Yet, one of the secrets I’ve discovered about delivering a fantastic speech is, you want your presentation to seem like a two-way conversation even if your listeners are not actually replying verbally to you.

 

Public speaking is like having a conversation with your audience. You want your audience to be paying so close attention to the conversation you're having with them that they don't miss a thing. Click To Tweet

 

Some of you may never have the chance to teach something but I believe you can use your experiences from work in different fields to stretch your ability. That’s the amazing thing about skills. Any new skill you learn from any type of work can most likely be applied in a completely different field of work.

 

For example, you might be a leader or a member of a student organization. Use this as an opportunity to build your confidence. Take on extra roles in your group. Strech yourself beyond your comfort zone. Do something you’ve never done before.

 

Or maybe you do volunteer work at a local school or church. Here, you can be out in front of more people and get used to being at the center of attention. Another huge positive through these experiences is making new connections with people who, in the future, may present an opportunity which you can’t refuse.

 

For those of you who don’t like being at the center of attention look at it like doing exercise. When you first start exercising it’s tough because you get tired easily, but once you get in the habit of exercising, first, for 15 minutes a day for a week, then 30 minutes and so on, after two months of consistently exercising every day you’ll build up your muscles strong enough to where you can exercise non-stop for two hours.

 

Any of your life experiences can lead your closer to public speaking success.

 

Related Post: How to Change Your Habit – The Power of Habit

 

Building a Business and Reaching for Public Speaking Success

As I got more and more used to speaking in front of a larger group of people through my teaching experiences I felt this power come over me. It’s a power I’d never ever felt before in my life. This was around 2015 after four years of teaching as well as getting married. My wife encouraged me to build a business.

 

At first, I had no idea what to do and I was very skeptical about my own ability and the idea of running my own business. I had no idea where to start and it made me feel afraid. I was afraid of failure and most of all I still had that nagging feeling of inadequacy inserted falsely into my brain by the education system.

 

On top of that, I was too comfortable with my situation. I was stuck in a rut of mediocrity. Have you ever had the feeling of being too comfortable in your own situation? That is what I was like. I was not raised with an entrepreneurial mindset which is pretty normal for most middle-class families in the US.

 

Eventually, after some nagging (cause that’s usually what wives are best at) I went to PeriPlus and bought my first business book ever called Second Chance by Robert Kiyosaki. This book literally changed my life and it got me going on the path I am on today to spread the importance of gaining knowledge through reading so that YOU can empower yourself to make impactful changes in YOUR life.

 

Public speaking success, for me, took a few years of reading books, many confusing months deciding what field of work I would go into and eventually putting myself out there in front of a few small public speaking events around Surabaya. And of course, I know my journey of learning and improving my skills is not over. You can never stop learning and growing no matter how old you are.

 

In January 2018, I started my website BookMattic.com which is the home base of my purpose of making the world become a smarter place. Just before the launching of my own website and brand was really when public speaking started for me. Audiences specifically watched and listened to me to learn from my experiences. Despite all the years of being nervous in front of audiences, surprisingly I was not nervous. I wasn’t nervous because I trusted in my ability to deliver a message to my audience.

 

All those years of NOT believing in my own ability to deliver and follow my purpose was because other people told me I couldn’t. I started to trust myself because I stopped listening to other people and gained confidence and power from reading books about self-development.

 

In order to become better at anything, you need to trust yourself. You need to use all your uniqueness to your advantage when you get up on that stage. Never doubt yourself. Click To Tweet

 

I’m not perfect and neither is anyone else. I still need to improve a great deal of feeling more natural at expressing my thoughts and feelings. However, I’m so much better than I was before and I know you can be better too through perseverance and gaining confidence in your own ability to express yourself how you want to.

 

One of the biggest factors in getting up in front of people is to have confidence and trust in yourself in addition to the time and preparation you’ve taken before actually giving a presentation. Confidence and trust are key components to bring yourself closer to public speaking success. Taking these steps I’m referring to now doesn’t mean you have to make a career out of public speaking. It means that you’ll be that much closer to owning every future presentation, or conversation you have.

 

These are skills which you can apply to any part of your life no matter what the situation is.

 

Related Post: Marketing Yourself as a Public Speaker

 

But just having only confidence and trust in yourself won’t make a great speech. The best way to build your presentation in your audience’s mind is to use these next six tools to create a great presentation.

 

1. How to Know Your Audience to Bring Yourself Closer to Public Speaking Success.

One of the very first things you want to do before you even start planning your presentation is to know your audience. If you’re presenting for your class this is much easier to do, but if you’re presenting to an unknown audience you’ve got to do some research before you arrive at the event.

 

Think about these questions when it comes to knowing your audience:

• Is this a public event anyone can attend?
• Or is it a business community?
• Is the audience high school or university students or maybe even teachers or parents?
• What, in general, is the audience’s interests or what faculty are they involved in if you’re giving a presentation to students or your peers?

 

The list above could go on endlessly. The point is you must pick a topic, structure it, and include related stories which match all the other aspects of language and content to suit your audience.

 

No matter who the audience is, the best ways to make sure everyone understands your presentation is by explaining using words that a 10-year-old can understand. This means your vocabulary should not be overly complicated except for in situations where you’re talking to experts in a particular field.

 

How to Get to Know Your Audience Before and During to the Event?

This may seem like a simple question but it’s worth taking a look at.

1. First of all, you can find a lot about the organization you’re going to be speaking for by going to their website, skimming and reading through some of the pages and especially focusing on the vision and mission (this post is based off the presentation I gave at Petra Christian University on May 5th, 2018).
2. Speak with the organizer(s) about the audience. Get as much information about who will be attending the event especially if there is no website to refer to. Also be sure to ask if there will be any special guests you might need to draw attention to or mention at the beginning or end of your presentation. Knowing the names of some of your audience is a big plus as well.
3. Test the waters on how much humor if any you should put into your presentation. One way to do this is by watching the reaction of the audience after telling a joke close to the beginning of your presentation. If the audience doesn’t laugh then it’s safe to stay away or minimize your jokes. Another thing to be aware of is your own personal sense of humor. It’s better to be your natural self than to try and be someone you’re not just because you want to make the audience laugh. For me, I don’t feel natural at telling jokes, so I rarely ever tell them. That’s just me.
4. Put your audience first. After researching and talking with the organizers of the event you should have a general sense of what type of people will be in the audience. Craft your presentation to fit their needs not your own. It’s okay to talk about your own experiences as long as your personal story clearly relates to your chosen topic. What you really don’t want to do is make it seem like you’re bragging. Make yourself approachable instead.
5. What do they expect to learn from your presentation?
6. Be considerate and understanding of cultural and religious backgrounds. Basically, this means don’t offend anyone.
7. When arriving at the location of the event try chatting up some members of the audience before even going out onto the stage if you get the chance. Just have a basic conversation to get a feel for the types of people who will be out there in the sea of the audience. This also helps with knowing a friendly face you can search for and connect with.

 

2. Knowing the Venue Before Giving Your Presentation Will Bring You Closer to Public Speaking Success

Knowing the location and what you’re speaking conditions will be like before you arrive at the event is quite simple yet so important. If you’re speaking in a familiar place it’s not much of a problem. However, if the venue is unfamiliar here are some questions you should ask and find the answers for.

 

Important things to know:

• Will you be on a stage? What’s the layout like?
• Will the organizers provide the laptop for your slides?
• What’s the lighting like?
• How crowded will it be?
• Will there be other people up on the stage or speaking area with you? Will you be standing or sitting?
• What’s the event’s schedule? How many speakers are there?
• How long is the event?

 

Before the event starts:

Check all of these things before the event starts if you have access.

• Mic
• Screen
• Projector
• Laptop
• Pointer
• Sound system

 

It’s by far better to be just a little paranoid about these things than to show up to the event unprepared for things in case they go wrong. Taking just that much more effort to check these things could be the difference between bombing your presentation or having a public speaking success.

 

3. Using Body Language and Your Voice to Bring Yourself Closer to Public Speaking Success

Knowing particular public speaking success techniques you can use with your body, tone of voice and volume to connect with your audience before and during your presentation is a skill you can use to emphasize the main points you want your audience to remember. It’s an important part of your presentation and your presentation will be screwed up no matter how well you do in the other areas of your presentation if you lack in this one.

 

That being said, present yourself on stage in a confident yet welcoming way through the way you use your body language and voice.

 

Body Language

1. When you first walk out on stage make sure you look at your audience with a smile on your face. Actually look at individuals in the audience. Walk out at a nice pace, not too fast like you’re in a hurry and not too slow like you don’t care.

 

2. Start talking when you feel comfortable after you have found the position you want to be in. Don’t start talking until after you have stopped walking.

3. Always keep your eyes on the individuals of the audience throughout your whole presentation. Try making eye contact with almost everyone in the audience at least once. This will help your audience to feel more connected with you like you’re actually having a one on one conversation.

4. Use your hands in unison with your voice to emphasize parts of your presentation. Of course, just like with anything, anything in excess is not a good thing. Always make sure to have open palms and never point with your finger if you’re referring to the audience. Keep your hands away from your pockets or crossing them.  Picture your hands like supplements to your voice. Although you can keep them in a comfortable visible position, I recommend using them some throughout your presentation.

 

5. If you’ve got the ability to move around the stage or speaking area it’s actually alright to do. Meaning you don’t have to just stay in one spot the whole time. The only thing you want to avoid is pacing back and forth or rocking between feet.

 

Tone of Voice and Volume

1. A major thing you have to concentrate on during practice is the pace in which you speak. You’re bound to speak a bit quicker during presentations due to your nerves. So, the best thing to fight that off is by practicing your speech slowly and quickly. Try many different paces while timing your presentation. When it comes to the day of your presentation pick a nice comfortable pace so your audience can easily understand what you’re saying.

 

2. Make sure your voice is loud enough for your whole audience to hear especially if you’re not going to be miked.

 

3. Vary the intonation and volume of your voice. The longer your presentation is the more variation you should consider adding. Some parts will be softer yet still audible and other parts you should use your booming voice from deep within. Another way to think about this concept is imagine if you had to sit through an hour presentation where the person talked like a robot the whole time. How boring would that get? You’d all probably be asleep by the end of the presentation. Now imagine your voice like an instrument with many different keys and octaves. Play a sweet song with your voice to please your audience’s ears. Treat your whole presentation like an orchestra concert starting out softly then coming to the climax by the end of your heart’s work.

 

4. Please enunciate your words. Meaning say your words very clearly. This is a problem I often see in Indonesia, and maybe that has something to do with the language,  but when you speak English a lot of the consonants come out very strongly. Nothing is worse than a speaker who mumbles of just doesn’t speak clearly enough.

 

5. Use pauses and silences to your advantage. Just because you’re giving a presentation doesn’t mean you have to constantly be speaking the whole time. The best time to make a pause is directly after a strong point of your speech.

Look at using your hands, eyes, and voice like the icing on top of a birthday cake. Without it, your cake will come out bland. Click To Tweet If you take out the purpose or the stories from your cake, you end up with just the frosting which would be unpleasant to eat just frosting right?

 

With these tips on the foundation of speaking in public, think about these aspects while you’re planning, practicing, and doing your presentation. This will most definitely set you on a path to public speaking success.

 

Related Public Speaking Post: Why Word of Mouth Increases Your Public Speaking Credibility

 

4. Split Your Speech Into Three Major Sections But Still Have Only ONE Clear Purpose to Your Presentation

The two most important parts of your presentation are the beginning and the end. That doesn’t mean the middle isn’t important though. Every single second of your presentation is important. Every single word you chose can go a long way in the minds of your audience. Even silence can be a powerful tool…..

 

But on top of everything else, it’s essential to open your presentation up with a problem or question to make the audience think.

 

Then as you go through your presentation you gradually reveal solid or possible solutions to the problem or question you originally pose at the beginning of your presentation while supporting your main idea with examples and facts which strongly support your cause.

 

It’s also essential that your presentation follows only ONE major idea. Taking, for example, this presentation’s goal is to show you tools you can use to bring you closer to public speaking success while using stories as the vehicle to carry the facts. The supporting facts are the guide markers along the way which are shaped into three sections told through my own story. It has a beginning, middle, and end.

 

The goal of using these three sections of your presentation to shape it in an easily understandable fashion and make your message as clear as possible with a strong opening and strong conclusion with a clear call to action. Call to action meaning, give your audience a task to take away with them, or ask them a question which will prompt them to take action. At the very least make your ONE major point stick in their brains through repetition.

 

In this case, the repetition of this speech is to show you that you have the ability to reach public speaking success. Or, in other words, you could just say, anyone in this room has an amazing ability to speak with a purpose in front of an audience by using your own uniqueness through your personalized stories to reach the heart of your audience.

 

5. Why Are Stories Important for Public Speaking Success?

Stories are what we, as humans, are made of. Think back in history, well, history IS a story. Anything that happened a second ago is history and that means the only thing left of history is the story to tell. Click To Tweet Think of the best books you’ve read, you can remember most of the details, right?

 

It’s no wonder that way back before there was even writing, records were kept and remembered through storytelling. Stories excite us, make us sad or intrigued. Stories are part of humanity, and best of all if the story is told right in a presentation people can connect on an emotional level with the story and remember it days, weeks, months and ideally years afterward.

 

By incorporating stories powerful and vivid enough into your presentation you will have a much higher chance of implanting your message into your audience’s minds.

 

Better yet, through stories, you can expand people’s minds. You can help people to imagine something they might not have ever imagined before. Stories are what drives us.

 

When it comes to telling stories as part of your presentation there are several ways you can go about doing this effectively.

 

Here are some tips on how to make your story meaningful so that you and be closer to public speaking success:

1. Base your story on someone, whether that’s you or someone you know or heard a story about, your audience can empathize with.
2. Build tension through a problem, new research, curiosity, or a tragedy.
3. Include a good amount of detail, not too much and not too little. If it’s too much the audience will lose interest. If it’s too little the audience won’t be able to build a clear enough image in their mind.
4. No matter what kind of story you’re telling, end on a positive note such as funny, inspiring or just plain awesome.

 

Stories resonate deeply in every human. By giving your talk as a story or a series of related stories, you can greatly increase your connection with your listeners. But, please: let it mean something. Click To Tweet

-Chris Anderson,

Head of TED 

 

The great thing about stories is you can include them in almost any topic you choose to present about. If you don’t have a personal story to tell you could always interview someone or search for stories which relate to your topic as long as you credit who the story is about.

 

And as you’ve seen and heard part of my own story in this post I want to say that examples are best set by people who give examples of what you’re supposed to do.

 

There are many different ways you can structure a story into your presentation. The choice of which one you use is up to you, but all of them have their own unique attributes. Here are 4 different ways you can structure stories in your journey to public speaking success. (The following list was taken from Sparkol.com)

 

1. Monomyth

The monomyth (also called the hero’s journey), is a story structure that is found in many folktales, myths and religious writings from around the world.

 

In a monomyth, the hero is called to leave their home and sets out on a difficult journey. They move from somewhere they know into a threatening unknown place.

 

After overcoming a great trial, they return home with a reward or newfound wisdom – something which will help their community. Lots of modern stories still follow this structure, from the Lion King to Star Wars.

 

Using the monomyth to shape your presentation can help you to explain what has brought you to the wisdom you want to share. It can bring your message alive for your audience, and it’s fairly easy to incorporate into your presentation.

 

2. The mountain

This is the format for this presentation. The mountain structure is a way of mapping the tension and drama in a story. It’s similar to the monomyth because it helps us to plot when certain events occur in a story.

 

It’s different because it doesn’t necessarily have a happy ending. The first part of the story is given to setting the scene and is followed by just a series of small challenges and rising action before a climactic conclusion.

 

It’s a bit like a TV series – each episode has its ups and downs, all building up to a big finale at the end of the season. I personally like using this style in my personal presentations.

 

3. In medias res

In medias res storytelling is when you begin your narrative in the heat of the action, before starting over at the beginning to explain how you got there.

 

By dropping your audience right into the most exciting part of your story they’ll be gripped from the beginning and will stay engaged to find out what happens.

 

But be careful – you don’t want to give away too much of the action straight away. Try hinting at something bizarre or unexpected – something that needs more explanation. Give your audience just enough information to keep them hooked, as you go back and set the scene of your story.

 

This is actually the best style of structure to use but the unfortunate thing is I can’t use it for this presentation because it only works for shorter TED Talks-style presentations which are no more than 20 minutes usually. If you tried this in a longer presentation, your audience would get frustrated and lose interest.

 

4. False start

A ‘false start’ story is when you begin to tell a seemingly predictable story, before unexpectedly disrupting it and beginning it over again. You lure your audience into a false sense of security, and then shock them by turning the tables.

 

This format is great for talking about a time that you failed in something and were forced to ‘go back to the start’ and reassess. It’s ideal for talking about the things that you learned from that experience. Or the innovative way that you solved your problem.

 

But best of all, it’s a quick attention hack which will disrupt your audience’s expectations and surprise them into paying closer attention to your message.

 

I can just continue raving about storytelling for a whole presentation since it’s a major key factor used in connecting with your audience. The way I see it is storytelling is the most powerful tool to help your audience remember your message.

 

6. Knowing What You Want Your Audience to Take Home Will Bring You Closer to Public Speaking Success

The biggest and most important part of your public speaking success comes at the very end of your presentation. It is what we call the ‘Call to Action’. No matter how good the beginning and middle of your presentation is no one will remember it for months or years to come if you don’t leave them with something to take home. That’s why having an awesome ‘Call to Action’ is so important when giving any type of presentation.

Think of speaking to an audience as gift giving. What kind of gift would you like to give them?

 

As a speaker, you’re there to give to your audience, not for your own pleasure, but for theirs. You have to take yourself out of the equation and just think about your audience. By thinking about this, you can craft a closing to your presentation which will stick in your audience’s mind.

 

A few ways you can do this is by posing a question after summarizing your main points you want your audience to take away with them.

 

Ways of doing a ‘Call to Action’ which will bring you to public speaking success

1. Ask your audience to take one action. Only focus on one because you don’t want to confuse your audience with too many demands.

2. Here are some different examples of the topics for a ‘Call to Action’ depending on the topic of your presentation.

• Sign a petition
• Buy your product
• Volunteer their time
• Visit a website
• Read a news article
• Call their legislators
• Visit their member of Congress
• Vote for your preferred candidate
• Support your position
• Join a cause

3. What happens after the ‘Call to Action’?

You have given your ‘Call to Action’ now I recommend telling your audience the possible outcome if they follow through with what you ask them to do.

 

An example from Duarte.com:

Alfred Chuang, founder and CEO of Magnet Systems, recently delivered a UC Davis Commencement speech that contained an example of powerful a Call To Action that describes what will happen if listeners choose to act. Chuang encouraged the audience of engineering graduates to keep working on innovative projects and to accept the power of an immigrant-rich workforce. He ended:

 

A new world is on the horizon. And it will be more incredible than any of us can possibly imagine. Our greatest innovations are ahead of us, not behind. But we need great engineers to build that world for us. And that’s you. We need you to not give up. Ever. We need you to finish your projects. Done, done, done. We need you to leverage the power of an immigrant-rich workforce. And we need you all to be a little insane.

 

 

By adding a strong ‘Call to Action’ and vision of the future at the end of your presentation you’ll have a greater lasting impact on your audience’s public speaking success.

 

Being a public speaker is like taking your audience on a rollercoaster ride and you're in control over which way the ride turns, how fast or slow you go, and what surprises are in store. Click To Tweet You are the master of your speech and you decide what you want your audience to take away.

 

And Now I’m Here

And now I’m here standing in front of you at Petra University in Surabaya Indonesia. I’ve come a very long way from that time in primary school where I was afraid to even stand up in front of an audience. I even went through University hating presentations.

 

In preparing for this presentation and any other presentation you might have in your future it takes many hours of practice, run-throughs, edits and practicing again and again.

 

I even presented in front of my wife and friends to refine its message to make a bigger impact on you. I practiced in the bathroom, in the car on the way to work or while taking a trip to Jember.

 

Preparation, practice, editing, and practicing some more are four things that are required for public speaking success. I cannot emphasize enough what the importance of these four things mean for someone who speaks with their audience.

 

Since starting my own business and through the inspiration of reading books, I have gained the confidence to give a powerful presentation and I know you can do the same thing.

 

To Close Things Up

Today I shared stories about my own personal life I have not shared with anyone else before, at least not in public. So what you learned about me today is pretty special and I hope you have learned something about yourself as well. Please take my personal stories and especially the lessons I showed along with you.

 

Remember to:

1. Know Your Audience

2. Know the Venue Before Giving Your Presentation

3. Use Your Body Language and Your Voice to Bring Your Presentation Alive

4. Split Your Speech Into Three Major Sections But Still, Have Only ONE Clear Purpose to Your Presentation

5. Using Stories is the Key to Connecting With Your Audience on an Emotional Level

6. Know What You Want Your Audience to Take Home

 

Call to Action

Now it’s your turn to reach public speaking success. You actually don’t even have to wait until your next presentation to use the skills I showed you today.

 

What I want you to do is treat each one of your interactions with other people in the future as if it were a performance while still connecting on an emotional level with them. Click To Tweet, of course. Connection through storytelling is the key to reaching public speaking success.

 

Treat each of your future conversations as if you were giving a presentation. Not like the ones where you’re just listing off facts, but like the one I showed you today where you’re interacting like a speaker guiding your audience on an adventure.

 

Think about how you can clearly articulate your purpose to the people you’re talking with.

 

Most importantly, believe in your own ability because anyone is capable of doing anything with the right mindset and perseverance to do so. Click To Tweet

 

I’ll leave you with a profound quote from my favorite author of ‘The Kingkiller Chronicle’, Patrick Rothfuss:

 

It's like everyone tells a story about themselves inside their own head. Always. All the time. That story makes you what you are. We build ourselves out of that story. Click To Tweet

 

Feel free to leave a comment and share this ultimate guide to public speaking success with any and every single one of your friends, family, and colleges.

 

Check out the portfolio for my event which took place at Petra Christian University here.

 

Other posts related to Public Speaking Success:

Branding Yourself as a Public Speaker

Marketing Yourself as a Public Speaker

Why Word of Mouth Increases Your Public Speaking Credibility

 

You'll be on your way to success once you enter your email. Get free insights on how to become a more well rounded and motivated individual.

First Name Email Address Free Insights