Three Ways to Coach Public Speaking Skills
Today's public speaker needs to be many things.
They need to be confident, well-spoken, but also relaxed and authentic. They need to be charismatic, but also approachable. They need to tell engaging stories, while also being relatable.
It’s a level of performance you can’t achieve just through power poses and affirmations.
McEwen Media’s coaching progams follow the same approach I learned from preparing guests to appear on The Marilyn Denis Show, a live daily talk show that ran for 13 vibrant and entertaining seasons.
Here are three key steps to preparing experts that also build more confident speakers.
#1. Start with what you know.
Not ChatGPT, not a celebrity thought leader. Just you.
If you borrow your insight from other sources, the bulk of your energy is spent memorising lines. You'll never internalize the message as deeply, which can weigh down your performance. Our Impact Media Strategy has multiple exercises to deepen your expertise so you can uncover more of what you know.
#2. Keep the message simple.
Language is energy. When words are written on a page, the reader has the luxury of controlling the pace of information. They can speed up or slow down. They can re-read sentences. And they have punctuation to help guide the information and ideas.
The spoken word is ingested in real time. The audience is taking in the ideas and information as they hear it. Simplify the message and slow down the delivery. It will be easier for you to remember what you want to say - and it will be easier for your audience to follow along.
#3. Give your words a goal.
There's a reason we call it a "train of thought." Ideas are like cars on a train, they follow each other at the same pace and direction.
If your first thoughts before speaking are "I hope I don't mess up", you'll direct your words to be fearful and nervous.
Give your words direction and they’ll flow more naturally.
Before every interview, I always ask the host, "what would make this conversation a success?" and I use their response to guide my words. When I produced on The Marilyn Denis Show, I would prep guests with the key focus and three supporting points to hit - one final bit of programming so they could relax knowing how to direct their answers.
Public speaking coaching isn't just about learning technique. It's about controlling that inner voice that creates the performance. We've built this into the Impact Media Strategy, where alumni get exclusive access to workshops and coaching programs to hone this craft.