One of the most common pieces of advice you'll hear for public speaking is: just practice, practice, practice. You'll get better!This advice is spread so much because it kind of works. Yes, by simply going out and speaking in public, you can get better at public speaking.But there are several problems with that.You can actually develop bad habits—practice makes … [Read more...]
Guide to improving your public speaking with deliberate practice
"Practice makes perfect", goes the old saying, quite unhelpfully.The truth is, not all types of practice are made equal. So blindly practicing will not make you perfect, and you're likely to hit a plateau if you practice the way most people do.I want you to understand the critical difference between regular practice, and deliberate practice.Deliberate practice is … [Read more...]
Types of public speaking anxiety and how to deal with them
Many people experience public speaking anxiety, but most people are not aware that there are actually multiple different types of public speaking anxiety.The types of public speaking anxiety can be sorted into contexts and causes. There are two anxiety contexts Some people get nervous before the speech, while others get nervous during the speech.If you're someone who … [Read more...]
Interview with Nathan Swan of Magnetic Speaking
I interviewed Nathan Swan, a public speaking coach for Magnetic Speaking (based in San Francisco). In this interview, we discuss the most important things you can do to become a better speaker. In addition, we talk about how to become more comfortable with public speaking in the United States when English is not your first language.Listen to it below:While a full … [Read more...]
13 practical ways to reduce public speaking anxiety
You've no doubt heard it before: people rate fear of public speaking as their number one fear. Despite some validity issues with that statistic, it's clear that public speaking anxiety is strong for a lot of people.There are plenty of articles on how to overcome this fear, but very few of them are worth your time. In reality, you will likely never completely eliminate the … [Read more...]