December 13, 2023
There is tons of advice on public speaking. Do power poses, rehearse in front of a mirror, use expansive body language. I’ve got to admit. It’s a bit overwhelming.
After coaching thousands of people on public speaking, I’ve identified the 3 exercises that have helped my clients the most. In this article, you’ll learn the top 3 public speaking exercises to help you evolve into a magnetic public speaker.
Let’s go!
The public speaking exercise is to give impromptu speeches. An impromptu speech is a talk that you give on the spot with no preparation.
Here’s how you can train yourself to give great impromptu speeches:
First, pick a topic that you’d like to give a speech on. These can be the typical debate topics such as “Should school uniforms be mandatory?” or “Should cars be banned from cities?” It doesn’t have to be the perfect topic you’re super familiar with. In fact, you’ll learn even more if you give a speech on a topic that you don’t know well. It trains your mind to be more creative under pressure.
Here’s a mix of 15 fun and serious topics to get you started:
Fun topics:
Serious topics:
Once you’ve picked a topic, spend a few seconds to structure your main speech. You should, ideally, spend less than 60 seconds on that.
One simple structure that I use to give impromptu speeches is PREP (Point, Reason, Example, Point):
1. Point
Start by clearly stating your main point or message. This is the central idea you want to convey to your audience. Keep it simple and concise, ensuring that it captures the essence of what you want to communicate.
Example: “Regular exercise is essential for maintaining good health.”
2. Reason
After stating your point, provide a brief reason or explanation to support your point. This helps your audience understand the rationale behind your statement and adds credibility to your impromptu speech.
Example: “Exercise reduces the risk of being injured.”
3. Example
Follow up your reason with a relevant example that illustrates or reinforces your point. That can be a personal anecdote or a statistic that backs up your point. This makes your speech more relatable and engaging for your audience.
Example: “For instance, 1 year back, my partner went on a bicycle trip through the Netherlands. To prepare for the trip, she had spent hours in the gym. Little did she know that this may save her life. On day 3 of the trip, she lost control over the bike while going 15 miles per hour. At full speed, she flipped over and landed on the rough surface of the street. When she realized what happened, she immediately checked her body. Sure, she was bleeding everywhere. But miraculously none of her bones were broken. The exercises she had done prior to the trip had saved her from more severe injuries.”
4. Point (Reiterated)
Conclude your impromptu speech by reiterating your main point. This reinforces your message and leaves a lasting impression on your audience.
Example: “Therefore, I’m convinced that regular exercise is an effective way to prevent injuries.”
That’s a simple structure you can use. You can also give longer speeches by adding sections with R (Reason) and E (Example) to PREP. Your speech could look like this:
PREREREP (Point, Reason 1, Example 1, Reason 2, Example 2, Reason 3, Example 3, Point).
c. Deliver your speech
Once you’ve roughly outlined your speech, it’s time to share your speech.
You can do that by yourself, speaking out loud for three to five minutes.
In case you want to also understand how to refine your delivery (e.g. body language, pausing, tonality, etc.), you can also record your speech on camera, or share it in front of a group of friends. Both options will give you more detailed feedback on what you can improve going forward.
Practicing impromptu speeches is a wonderful exercise to feel good about speaking in public. After some practice, you’ll have no problems giving inspiring speeches on the spot without much preparation. Soon it will feel very natural and effortless.
There is one public speaking exercise that I’ve found most helpful in becoming a more captivating speaker: Constructive Embarrassment.
Constructive embarrassment is a practice where you purposefully put yourself in an embarrassing situation.
That can be anything that makes you cringe, such as asking a stranger for a hug, lying down in a shop, or hugging a tree. The options are infinite.
Most of us get nervous before or during a speech because we give too many f*cks.
We care too much about other people’s opinions. We worry like crazy about how other people perceive us.
“Do they think that I’m smart enough?”
“Am I qualified for this role?”
“Do I look tired?”
Suddenly, we go down the rabbit hole, thinking about the million things that could go wrong. And before we even realize, our brains and bodies go into survival mode, trying to escape the public humiliation that is about to come.
But don’t worry. Through constructive embarrassment you can break that pattern. By putting yourself into uncomfortable situations, you become less sensitive to the fear of public embarrassment associated with public speaking.
You’ll be like, “I just sang a freaking subway and I was fine. I’m pretty sure I can handle this presentation in front of my colleagues.”
Everytime you do an embarrassing challenge, you build confidence. You successfully faced your fear and overcame it. Once you do this over and over again, you start to trust yourself and your abilities to handle any tough situation. Maybe now you don’t feel it, but trust me: Once you’ve done an embarrassing challenge, you’ll feel like a superstar.
You can do anything that is embarrassing to you AND that doesn’t cause harm to other people. If other people get a bit confused, that’s ok. We just don’t intend to purposefully upset someone.
You can come up with your own list, asking yourself, “What would I find awkward when interacting with strangers?” or use the following list as an inspiration.
Here are 10 ideas to get you started.
Maybe you went through the list and thought some of these ideas were easy, while others seemed completely nuts. Don’t worry. That’s normal.
Every person has different perceptions of what they consider embarrassing. For instance, I have one friend who has no problem singing in public. For me as someone who doesn’t hit a single note, this is very tough. I suggest picking something that is embarrassing to you.
Pick something challenging, but still manageable. Choose something that makes your heart race — but that doesn’t give you a full heart attack. We don’t want you to throw in the towel because it seems too daunting. Once you’ve done a few exercises and gotten more comfortable being uncomfortable, you can try the more embarrassing challenges.
Wanna learn more about constructive embarrassment? Check out the following article, How to Build Confidence Through Constructive Embarrassment.
The last public speaking exercise is to record yourself on camera while speaking. Often we’re not aware of what we’re doing wrong. Recording yourself on camera helps you identify the areas that you need to work on the most.
Here’s how to get the most out of it:
Pick any topic that you want to talk about for 3-5 minutes.
That can be something from work, a topic you want to debate, or just something exciting that happened this week. Don’t overthink. Just pick any random topic.
Just hit the record button on your phone, look directly into the camera, and speak for a few minutes. Alternatively, you can use this awesome tool to record yourself and your screen.
Press play, put the volume of the recording up, but then instead of watching the recording, put the phone face down on. Listen to your speech. What do you hear? How is your pace, tonality, level of excitement, or filler words? Is there anything that stands out that you want to change?
Press play and turn down the volume of the recording until it’s fully mute. Instead of listening to your words, just watch yourself. What do you see? How is your eye contact, body language, and movement in the room? Is there any major area that you could improve on?
After you’ve reviewed your delivery, pick one thing that you want to work on. We often try to change ten things at a time, but then shortly after stop because it’s too overwhelming. Therefore, I suggest to pick one area (e.g. hand gestures) that you want to work on and take daily action to improve within that area.
You don’t have to do that for every speech. But reviewing your delivery in such a structured fashion once in a while, gives you invaluable feedback. This approach has helped me massively spot the areas that I needed to work on.
Consistently practicing these exercises will turn you into a magnetic speaker. As your comfort with public speaking grows, you also want to weave more captivating stories into your speeches. Curious on how to become better at storytelling? Check out my article on How I’d Learn Storytelling If I Could Start Over.
Are you ready to transform your storytelling skills?
Discover how your storytelling skills score and uncover useful insights to help you become a charismatic storyteller:
