How To Become A Public Speaker: 5-Step Process

Imagine having an audience that listens to every word you say with fascinated attention. Doesn’t this sound like a dream? This is the power of public speaking. It’s more than just a skill; with practice, it’s a way to grow as a person and open up many doors to professional and personal success.

You don’t just give a speech as a public speaker; you inspire, persuade, and lead. The list of benefits goes on. It helps you talk to people beyond the stage, like at meetings, speeches, and even social events. This blog is the golden ticket in understanding how to become a public speaker.

So buckle up because we’re about to discover how to become a compelling public speaker. It’s not just a skill for the charismatic or the extroverted. Anyone can learn it, and this blog is your first step. We have broken it down into 5 simple steps: 

Let’s start with the first step and identify your strengths and how you can utilise them. 

Step 1: Identify Your Niche

Choosing a niche is like selecting a stage to stand on. 

It’s where you can shine bright, connect with your target audience, and make the most significant difference. Finding your niche in public speaking means finding a topic you’re interested in and know a lot about, like leadership, digital marketing, health and wellness, technology, or social issues etc.

Let’s see different ways to identify your niche:

• Reflect on your interests and expertise: Start by writing down your hobbies, passions, and areas of expertise. Think about the topics or subjects that interest you the most. 

• Evaluate competition: Learn about the competition in each area you’re thinking about. Find other competitors or thought leaders who discuss the same things. Identify what their skills are and what they say. 

• Test your niche: Before fully committing to an area, try it out by giving speeches or talks about it. Get feedback from the crowd and the people running the event to determine how well your presentations went. 

Finding a niche is not a one-time choice; it’s a process that goes on over time. As you learn more and get more experience, you may find that your niche changes or grows. 

Now, before we move on to the key points for building your brand, it is important to address that speaking in public can give butterflies to even seasoned pros but if you follow the 10-step strategy for public speaking tips you’ll do great and overcome this fear as well.

Step 2: Build A Personal Brand

When you start speaking in public, remember that you’re not just a speaker but a brand. Building a brand puts you in touch with other speakers, with event organizers and managers, possible clients, and even mentors who can help you and give you chances.

Here Are Few Tips To Build A Personal Brand:

• Define your unique identity: Know what makes you different from the other speakers. What is your unique selling proposition? This could be a personal story, a unique point of view, or a unique way of speaking. 

• Identify your audience: Know who you’re talking to. What are they interested in? What are their goals and challenges? Once you know this, you’ll be able to make sure your message connects with them.

• Build a strong online presence: Use tools like social media, blogs, podcasts, and videos to share your message and interact with your audience. With a strong online profile, you can reach more people and become known as an expert in your niche. Follow other speakers, speak with them, join relevant groups, and participate in discussions. This makes you more known and keeps you updated on what’s going on in your field.

• Build your network: Talk to other speakers, event managers, and influential people in your field. Getting to know people can lead to new chances and partnerships. Conferences, speaking events, and public speaking courses are great places to meet people who share your interests. You can learn, share, and make new links that could lead to working together or giving talks.

Remember that it takes time to build a name. Be patient, stay steady, and most of all, stay true to yourself and your message. However, it is also important to understand that no matter how big you build your brand, you must start small in the beginning. Let’s learn the “why” in the next step. 

Step 3: Start Small And Grow

Every journey starts with a single step, as does your journey to becoming a better public speaker. Starting small with a few words to friends, family members, local events, workshops, or community gatherings can be a valuable and doable first step.

Here Are A Few Reasons To Start Small:

• Gain experience: Smaller speaking gigs allow you to practise and improve public speaking skills for the next opportunity. Be it engaging the audience or tackling interruptions, every event is a chance to learn something that can help you get better.

• Collect testimonials: As you give more speeches, people in the crowd will provide you with feedback and testimonials. These can be great ways to show off your skills and get invited to talk at more significant events.

• Build your confidence: Doing well when you speak at smaller events can help you in speaking confidently and be ready for bigger stages and crowds. It is important to know the different ways to become a confident public speaker.

• Develop your own style: Every time you give a speech, you’ll learn more about what works for you and your audience. This will help you develop your own unique style.

Remember that even the best speakers had to start somewhere. Every small gig is a step toward playing on bigger stages. Now, let’s talk about a way to improve yourself with every public speaking event. 

Step 4: Seek Feedback 

Progress is a process, and as a public speaker, the best thing you can do to help this process along is to ask for feedback. It allows you to look at your work differently and see where you did well and where you could improve. Here’s why feedback is crucial:

• Uncover strengths and weaknesses: You should be made aware of some ways you talk. Feedback can help you figure out what these are, so you can use your skills to their fullest and work on your weaknesses.

• Grow personality: The key point in becoming a great public speaker is to keep getting better. By taking feedback and acting on it, you show that you want to improve and be the best you can be.

• Connect better with the audience: The more you know your audience’s thoughts about your speeches, the better you can make your presentations hit home with them.

Tips To Effectively Seek And Use Feedback:

• Listen actively: When you get feedback, listen carefully, don’t talk over it, and don’t get angry. Separate the “feedback” from the “feeder” and pay attention to what you’re learning.

• Analyse and reflect: Take the time to look at the feedback objectively and think about how it fits with your goals and where you could improve.

• Create an action plan: Based on the feedback you got, make a plan to improve specific areas and set goals that can be reached

• Implement changes: Use the feedback to improve your work or behaviour by making the changes recommended.

• Follow-up: Get back in touch with the people who gave you feedback to update them on your progress and show that you value what they said.

Remember that even the best speakers are always trying to get better. Adopt a growth mindset and see feedback as a chance to learn and grow. 

Step 5: Learn From Greats

One way to become a good speaker is to learn from talented public speakers. You can learn powerful presentation techniques and strategies to help you give great speeches by watching and analysing great speakers.

Tips To Learn From The Best:

• Look for expert speakers: Seek out workshops, seminars, and webinars led by experienced public speakers who have extensive experience in the field. These experts can give you useful advice based on their years of experience, which can help you learn much faster.

• Learn techniques and strategies: Don’t just attend these events, but get involved in them as well. Engage with the information and learn as much as you can from it. Learn how to keep an audience’s attention, improve your style, and effectively handle a variety of speaking scenarios, from presentations to group discussions

• Study successful speakers: Watch great public speakers’ TED Talks and presentations to learn how they do what they do. Observe their delivery style, body language, storytelling techniques, and how they use their voice and pauses to enhance the impact of their message

• Join a public speaking course: Public speaking classes give people an opportunity to practise and improve good public speaking skills in a structured and supportive way. Here, you will have the chance to give speeches and get feedback from trainers that is both specific and helpful.

• Participate in impromptu speaking: These spontaneous speaking scenarios can help you think on your feet, gain confidence, and improve your extemporaneous speaking skills.

Lastly, as you become a better speaker, start your own website, YouTube channel, or social media page where you can share your speeches, get feedback, and build your name.

Power Of Professional Public Speaker

It’s exciting to stand on stage with a microphone while a crowd of people waits to hear what you have to say. But being a professional speaker has so much power beyond the spotlight:

Share Knowledge

Many speakers are experts, professors fellow students, or professionals who share their knowledge. For example, a marketing executive with a lot of experience might deliver speeches on new ways to market to help other businesses grow.

Inspire Others

Some speakers try to get their listeners excited and motivated about different topics. A good public speaker could discuss their story, including the challenges, failures, and triumphs.

Advocate For A Cause

Giving a particular speech in public is a great way to spread the word about a cause you care about. A speaker could use public events to bring these problems to people’s attention, make them more aware of them, and get them to work together towards a common goal.

Generate Revenue

Lastly, there is a good chance of making money as a paid speaker. In more than one way, show the world how brilliant you are: write compelling books, run in-depth workshops, train through online courses, and give personalised coaching. Your speaking and communication skills will open up a ‘wealth’ of possibilities.

Now that you know the power let’s see the different areas where you can start your public speaking career. 

Different Opportunities For Public Speaking

It’s time to find out how you can turn your love of public speaking into a lucrative career. Let’s look at the different ways to make money from public speaking classes and figure out how to make your voice your best tool:

Keynote Speakers

• Large events, like conferences or business events, often hire keynote speakers to set the tone and sum up the core message. 

• They are usually experts in a certain area or people with significant accomplishments. Speaking fees can make up a big part of a keynote speaker’s income. 

• For example, Simon Sinek, a motivational speaker and author best known for his book “Start With Why,” charges a lot of money for his keynote speeches at events all over the world.

TED Talkers

• TED, which stands for “Technology, Entertainment, and Design,” is a non-profit group that shares ideas through short, powerful talks. The people who speak at TED events are called “TED Talkers,” and they come from many different fields. 

• Even though TED doesn’t pay its speakers, giving a TED talk can raise a speaker’s status and lead to paid speaking engagements, book deals, and other things. 

• For example, Brene Brown’s talk on the power of vulnerability made her a household name and gave her multiple avenues to make money.

Motivational Speakers 

• Motivational speakers are hired to inspire and motivate the audience members. 

• They are often asked to speak at schools, community events, and business conferences. 

• Tony Robbins is a well-known motivational speaker who makes money from his talks, classes on personal growth, and best-selling books.

Corporate Trainers 

• These professionals are people that companies hire to help their employees get better at their jobs and be more productive.

• A lot of the time, they focus on one thing, like sales, leadership, building teams, or communication. 

• For example, Dale Carnegie Training, a world-famous performance-based training company, has services for corporations that bring in a lot of money.

Academic Lecturers 

• Most of the time, these speakers are professors or experts in a certain area of study. 

• They can make money by giving talks at academic conferences, teaching as a guest at colleges, or consulting. 

• The famous linguist and philosopher Noam Chomsky is an example of an expert who is often asked to give talks all over the world.

Workshop Leaders

• These speakers lead workshops, which are more interactive and in-depth than standard speeches. 

• Workshops can be about anything, from painting and creative writing to digital business and personal growth. 

• Bob Proctor, a well-known personal development coach, offers paid classes to help people change their minds and achieve success.

Webinar Hosts

• As digital platforms have become more popular, experts have found that holding webinars is a popular way to share their knowledge and make money. 

• Webinar hosts can make money by charging people to attend, selling products or services during the webinar, or giving paid follow-up sessions.

• For example, Amy Porterfield is an expert in digital marketing. She runs webinars and sells online courses on topics like email marketing and course creation

Now that we’ve talked about the different opportunities of public speaking, let’s talk about how to book your first public speaking gig.

How to Book Your First Public Speaking Gig

Booking your first public speaking engagement can seem like immense work, but don’t worry: with the right strategies, you can take that important first step onto the stage.

• Start locally: Look for events, gatherings, or small workshops in your area that could use a speaker. Community groups, schools, universities, business groups, and even libraries often put on events that need speakers. Contact them and offer to speak to them.

• Leverage your network: Use the direct connections you already have. Tell your friends, coworkers, and other people you know about your goals. You’d be shocked how often a casual conversation can lead to a chance to do something.

• Create a speaker’s profile: Write a compelling speaker’s profile that describes your expertise, experience and the topics you can speak about. Include a professional headshot and, if you can, a short movie that shows off your speaking skills.

• Offer to speak for free: In the beginning, you may need to offer to speak for free. It’s a common way for new speakers to get experience, build their credibility, and get recommendations from word of mouth

• Contact event organisers: Find event planners in your business or field of interest and offer to speak at their events. Be clear about what you can offer their group that no one else can.

Don’t forget that your first time speaking in public could be the start of a long and great speaking career.