How to thrive at public speaking?

Here are our video tips and our 10-step preparation method to use for your presentations, alone on stage, without notes, in less than 18 minutes...

HOW TO MAKE A SUCCESS OF YOUR SPEECH?

10 steps to prepare a successful intervention, both face-to-face and at a distance.

Let's face it, speaking in public, especially through a screen, does not seem like a simple matter at first glance. However, if orality is not an innate thing, it can be worked on and it is often easier than it seems, provided you know how to do it. So to make a success of all your speaking engagements, whether they be video or face-to-face, in a simple meeting or in a seminar, follow our 10-step preparation guide!

Stage 1

DEFINE YOUR MESSAGE

The first step in preparing an intervention is to define the intention of the talk: Why do I want to speak? For whom am I doing it? What do I want to convey?

Answering these questions will allow you, in addition to defining your subject, to determine the tone of your speech, its angle, and above all the message you wish to leave your audience.

These elements, including the message, are crucial as they will serve as a guideline throughout your preparation.

Step 2

WRITE YOUR STORY

Once you have written your message, you can then tackle the content of your talk. To do this, write down everything you can think of that is remotely related to your message. Examples, memories, anecdotes, figures... Write in a loose, untidy way, it doesn't matter! And don't try to write the perfect talk straight away, it could block you!

On the other hand, allowing time to pass between writing sessions is a good way to step back, remember new things or come up with new ideas.

Step 3

STRUCTURE YOUR SPEECH

Create a story with a beginning, middle and end. Structure your raw material and make the ideas flow logically so that it is easy for you to remember and easy for your audience to follow. Remove unnecessary duplication, figures, anecdotes or examples and keep only the most significant.

Again, allowing time between writing sessions is a good way to step back from the structure to improve it and find new logical links.

Step 4

FIND THE RIGHT INTRO

Anecdote, key figure, fun fact, quote or video... Grab attention right away by getting to the heart of the matter and don't waste time introducing yourself, thanking the organisers or your parents without whom nothing would have been possible!

Choose your tagline according to the target audience to determine the degree of seriousness or humour that will set the tone of your speech. Often the right idea for an introduction is found in what you have already written.

The intro is an extremely important part of a talk, so there is no room for improvisation. So write it down very precisely and learn it by heart.

Step 5

CHISEL OUT THE CONCLUSION

The last stage in structuring your speech, the conclusion is the opportunity to explicitly reveal your message. The revelation of your message comes at the end of the logical path on which you have led your audience, as a confirmation of what they have begun to guess, thanks to the many clues and suggestions (examples, figures, anecdotes, etc.) that are found throughout your speech.

The conclusion can also be an opportunity, after the message has been revealed, to make an opening with an image, a quote or a call to action for example.

Again, the conclusion is also a key moment in the speech, so there is no room for improvisation. Write it down very precisely and learn it by heart.

Step 6

THINK EXPERIENCE

By reading your talk aloud, you will quickly realise what works well and what does not work so well, and therefore what you may need to rework: is the rhythm good, are there any lengths, repetitions or, on the contrary, passages that are too fast and difficult to understand? You can also do this exercise in front of someone who does not know the subject.

This is also the time to consider illustrations. Although they are not compulsory, they can be useful to save time in describing a place or an object or explaining a complex mechanism by showing an object, a photo or a diagram.

However, if you use slides, they should be as simple and uncluttered as possible so that they can be read and, above all, understood in the blink of an eye, so as not to distract the audience.

In video, the size of the slide screen is often smaller than in real life, or the slides are displayed on a large screen. Special care must therefore be taken to ensure that they are legible.

Thanks to the "Speaker's notes" function in your presentation, you can avoid having to learn your speech by heart. You can read your text as if on a teleprompter. Be careful, however, about the pace of reading. Make an effort to slow down. People always speak more slowly than they read. Finally, try to place the camera as close as possible to the reading area. Finally, don't hesitate to step outside the text to create an impression of improvisation.

Step 7

MEMORISE YOUR INTERVENTION

While some of us prefer to learn our entire speech by heart, others are more comfortable with the idea of following a mental road marked out by "waypoints". In this case, it is a matter of identifying the salient words in your speech that have a particular meaning and that will take you, logically, from one idea to another.

These words, the order of which you have to learn by heart, are in a way the skeleton of your talk, a backbone that allows you to tell your story, in 1 minute or in 12, depending on the amount of flesh you add to it (your figures, anecdotes, examples, etc.). There are no hard and fast rules, but you should count about one word per paragraph, or one word per minute of talk.

Step 8

REPEAT YOUR TALK

Whichever method you use, you will need to rehearse, rehearse and rehearse again. The idea here is to divide the rehearsal into two phases: solo and public.

In order to put yourself at ease, in confidence and to put the text in your mouth, start your rehearsals alone, in a quiet, closed room where you will not be disturbed. This will allow you to get to grips with the text, but also to test different rhythm effects, find places to pause, modulate your voice, etc.

You can then rehearse with a fake audience (friends, colleagues...) to practice eye contact, concentration, etc. Take encouragement but beware of criticism, at least of the content. It's your content, you've worked on it, now is not the time to change it. The rehearsal in public is only there to train you!

In video, there can be many disturbances, at least as many as in person: a drop in bandwidth, image jumps, disturbing noises from someone who has forgotten to turn off their microphone, not to mention possible intrusion into the room where you are. It is therefore important to be prepared for all these eventualities by rehearsing in public, i.e. by asking friends and colleagues to connect to listen to you.

Step 9

WORK ON INTERPRETATION

In order to fully embody your talk on the big day and to be fully concentrated, rehearsal is therefore a must. So don't be afraid to rehearse more than once! The more you know your lines, the more comfortable you will be and the more naturally they will come to you on the day, allowing you to concentrate on the performance.

Get started! Stand with your legs slightly apart, keep your feet flat on the floor and don't move them (you can, however, bring your upper body to life and support your words with appropriate gestures). Take a deep breath and start slowly. Slowing down your natural speech rate has many advantages: it will give you more time to visualise or formulate your next sentence in your head, it will allow you to articulate better, and it will limit speech tics while giving your audience more time to hear, understand and assimilate what you say.

Finally, remember to scan your audience with your eyes so that everyone feels involved in what you are saying, included and valued.

Unfortunately, the sound of the video is still often degraded, so it is all the more important to slow down your rate of speech so that everyone can continue to follow you despite everything. On the other hand, when you are behind a screen, you tend to sit a lot more, as if it were a norm. But when you're standing, your whole body is mobilised, you're more concentrated, more convincing. The energy is very different when you are sitting because it is a more passive posture. We therefore recommend that you stand up and frame yourself at shoulder level. Your audience may not notice the difference but they will feel a different energy... and so will you!

Step 10

TREAT YOURSELF!

The big day has finally arrived, so here's one last piece of advice: treat yourself!

You have worked on your text, your posture, you have rehearsed... You have a solid content with a strong message to deliver! You have all the keys in hand to transform the fear of speaking in public into stage fright, then into adrenaline. You are prepared and have the desire to convey... So go for it!

In video, your stage space is at home or in the office! So take particular care in setting up your set. Place yourself in front of a fairly neutral background with a fairly shallow depth of field.

Place your webcam at eye level to avoid unfortunate dive/counter dive effects and at a distance of about one metre. This will place you symbolically at the same level as your interlocutors and will allow you to avoid having either a disadvantageous close-up effect or, on the contrary, to "float" in a framing that is too wide.

Choose warm, artificial lighting over natural light, which is often colder and more changeable. In any case, always place the light in front of you and not behind you, to avoid backlighting.

GO FURTHER

Our latest tips for a successful intervention

Do you need to prepare for a public speaking engagement but don't know how to go about it?

THE VOICE

How to use your voice correctly to deliver your message.

The supports

How to use your presentation to reinforce your point.