Skip to tips: eye contact, filler words, breathing, body language, practice, nerves

Public speaking tips for every situation

Know your audience, structure the presentation, slow down, pause instead of filler words, make eye contact and breathe out longer than in when nerves hit. Each card below fits these to one situation.

  • Know your audience
  • Practice out loud
  • Slow down
  • Eliminate filler words

Last reviewed · 7 situation cards · 14 sources

Pick your situation

All 7 cards stay below. Your pick moves to the front.

Your speaking situation

  • First speech

    • Start strong
    • Use purposeful movement
    Before
    Write down the topic, your purpose, the central idea and your main points. Then practice out loud, standing up.
    During
    Grab attention in the first 30 seconds with a story, a startling statistic or a short quote. Speak from a brief outline, not a script, so your eyes stay on the audience.
    If it goes wrong
    Pause and breathe. A pause feels far longer to you than to the room. Move to another spot to reset, then say "As I was saying" and repeat your last point.

    Practise it: record one run on your phone and fix just one thing.From Harvard DCE and Toastmasters

  • Class presentation

    • Vary your tone
    • Accept minor mistakes
    Before
    Visit the classroom outside class hours and stand where you will speak.
    During
    Most classmates listen for at least the first 20 seconds, so open with a fact or a story. Vary your volume and pace. Swap "um" and "basically" for a silent beat.
    If it goes wrong
    Don't apologize. Your classmates probably didn't notice. Correct a wrong figure, then move on.

    Practise it: raise your hand first in class this week, every time you can.From Verywell Mind

  • Work meeting

    • Limit main points
    Before
    Decide on the one point you want to make. List up to five questions people may ask and have your answers ready.
    During
    Use What? So what? Now what?: your claim, why it matters, the next step. Replace hedges like "I think" or "kind of" with firmer words.
    If it goes wrong
    A hard question? Paraphrase it back first: "So what you're asking is..." It checks you heard it right.

    Practise it: say your one point out loud in under 30 seconds.From Stanford GSB and Mayo Clinic

  • Wedding toast

    • Use keyword notes
    Before
    Aim for 2 to 3 minutes and one main idea. Put bullet points on notecards and rehearse out loud.
    During
    Say who you are and how you know the couple, tell one short story, then raise your glass: "To Sam and Alex!"
    If it goes wrong
    Lost your place? Skip ahead to the closing line and raise your glass. A toast doesn't need to be flawless. Leave out inside jokes.

    Practise it: time yourself twice; cut anything past three minutes.From Toastmasters

  • Job interview

    • Open your gestures
    Before
    Prepare answers as What? So what? Now what?: "I'm qualified because of my experience. It lets me contribute from day one. So when can I start?"
    During
    Take a breath before each answer. Keep eye contact, use your hands on purpose and drop nervous gestures. Stop when you've made your point.
    If it goes wrong
    Blanked? Step back to what you just said and build from there. If interviews keep going badly, a mock interview with a public speaking coach shows you where.

    Practise it: answer "Tell me about yourself" out loud, three times.From Stanford GSB

  • Video call

    • Make eye contact
    • Project your energy
    Before
    Rehearse with the same app and setup you will use. Stand up if you can: you project better, even on video.
    During
    Look at the camera, not the screen. That is what eye contact looks like on a call.
    If it goes wrong
    Frozen screen or blank mind: pause, then recap your last point in one sentence before you go on.

    Practise it: record a one-minute run in your meeting app and watch it back.From Stanford GSB and Winning Presentations

  • Five minutes before you go on

    • Breathe deeply
    • Reframe adrenaline
    Before
    Breathe in for 4 counts, hold for 4, breathe out for 6 to 8. Longer exhales calm the body. Walk or shake out your hands to burn off adrenaline.
    During
    Know your opening and closing lines by heart. Tell yourself "I am ready", or talk to yourself in the third person.
    If it goes wrong
    Nerves are normal and the adrenaline also makes you alert. Most people won't notice or remember a slip.

    Practise it: run the breathing pattern once today, so it's familiar later.From Toastmasters and Harvard DCE

Frameworks people ask about

A public speaking framework is a memory aid: a short list you can recall under pressure. Each is commonly taught, not a scientific rule. To turn them into weekly drills, structured public speaking training works through them with feedback.

The 5 C's
Clear, concise, confident, credible and compelling. Clear means your audience knows what you're saying and why it matters.
As taught by Saskatchewan Polytechnic
The 3-2-1 rule
Three steps, two types, one thing. When you're put on the spot, pick one of the three and build your answer around it, so you don't ramble.
As taught by communication teacher Vinh Giang
The 7 P's
Pronunciation, pace, pause, punch, power, passion and posture: a delivery checklist for your voice and body language.
As taught by Archbishop Beck Catholic College
The golden rule
Know your audience. The three golden rules add two more: structure your presentation and manage your anxiety.
As taught by Savvas Learning Company

What public speaking is

Public speaking (oratory) is the delivery of a speech to a live audience. It means informing, teaching or influencing a group, often with slides, images or short videos. The method of delivery of a speech decides how much you lean on notes, and there are four.

Extemporaneous
A planned, rehearsed speech delivered in a conversational way from brief notes. It is the style used in the great majority of public speaking situations.
Impromptu
A short message with no advance preparation, like being asked to "say a few words". One way to train it is the free 30-second test, which hands you two random words to talk about.
Manuscript
Reading a written speech word for word. Useful when the exact wording matters, but hard to keep eye contact.
Memorized
Reciting a written speech from memory. Exact, but a single memory gap can stop you cold.

Common mistakes

If these habits keep coming back after practice, a short public speaking course gives you a structure to fix them one at a time.

  • Reading from a script or slides. It breaks the connection with your audience.
  • Opening with "Today I'm going to talk about..." Start with a story, statistic or quote instead.
  • Memorizing every word. Memorizing invites blanking out.
  • Practising only in your head. Stand up and say it out loud.
  • Apologizing for small slips. Most people never noticed them.
  • Hedges, tag questions and up-talk. "Kind of", "isn't it?" and rising endings make you sound unsure.
  • Too many slides. Use audiovisual aids sparingly, to clarify.

Reader questions

What are the 5 C's of public speaking?

The version you'll see most is clear, concise, confident, credible and compelling. Saskatchewan Polytechnic teaches it that way. Other coaches swap in their own C words, so don't stress about the exact set.

What is the 3:2:1 rule in speaking?

It's an on-the-spot trick from communication teacher Vinh Giang: three steps, two types, one thing. Someone throws you a topic, you grab one of the three and build your answer around it.

What is the golden rule of speaking?

Know your audience. Savvas calls it the number one rule, and Harvard's list says the same thing another way: your speech is about them, not you. Ask yourself what they need to hear from you, and cut the rest.

What are the 7 powerful speaking tips?

Usually people mean the 7 P's: pronunciation, pace, pause, punch, power, passion and posture. Pace, pauses and filler words are the easiest to hear on a recording. To have that measured, the free Confidently test counts your filler words and names the one thing to fix first.

Who is the father of public speaking?

Nobody holds that title officially. The names you'll hear are Greek and Roman: Aristotle wrote Rhetoric, the classic book on persuasion; Demosthenes is often called the greatest Greek orator; Cicero set out the five canons of rhetoric.

Sources

  1. Harvard DCE: 10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skillsprofessional.dce.harvard.edu
  2. Toastmasters International: Public Speaking Tipstoastmasters.org
  3. Toastmasters International: How to Give a Toasttoastmasters.org
  4. Toastmasters International: How to Overcome Your Fear of Public Speakingtoastmasters.org
  5. Stanford GSB: Matt Abrahams, Tips and Techniques for More Confident and Compelling Presentationsgsb.stanford.edu
  6. Wikipedia: Public speakingen.wikipedia.org
  7. Verywell Mind: Public Speaking Tips for Studentsverywellmind.com
  8. Mayo Clinic: Fear of public speaking, how can I overcome it?mayoclinic.org
  9. Stand Up, Speak Out: Four Methods of Delivery (open textbook)saylordotorg.github.io
  10. Saskatchewan Polytechnic: 5 Cs of Professional Communicationsaskoer.ca
  11. Savvas Learning Company: Essential Tips for Public Speakingsavvas.com
  12. Archbishop Beck Catholic College: Public Speaking Success (the 7 P's)archbishopbeck.com
  13. Vinh Giang: The 3-2-1 Speaking Trick (video)youtube.com
  14. Winning Presentations: Public Speaking Tipswinningpresentations.com

Last reviewed . Framework lists are attributed to the source that teaches them.