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How to Dramatically Improve your Public Speaking Skills
What Giving a TED Talk Taught Me About Becoming a Better Speaker
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The ability to communicate a message, sell an idea, or paint a vision is a critical skill for anyone who wants to have an impact on the world. And even in the age of emojis, animated GIFs, and Snapchat filters, public speaking is still the most effective way to move, persuade, and inspire.
It’s why people pay a premium to attend conferences and see experts and leaders speak live, and why Americans took 460 million business trips in 2017 to communicate in person.
My journey as a speaker
As a child, no one would have said that I was destined to become a public speaker.
I didn’t do theater, debate, or mock trial. In one class activity, we took turns “reporting the news” in front of a video camera — every time I started talking, I would just burst into hysterical laughter. Eventually I’d regain my composure and try again, but the cycle would repeat itself.
Even as an adult, I used like as a filler word so often that the CEO of a company I interned for called me out for sounding like an airhead.
