Public Speaking

Notes from Brent Gleeson Special Forces

● The more you public speak, the easier it gets

● Know your strong and weak points
○ Emphasize strong points
● Put what you have to say in logical sequence
● Captivate your audience so that they know it’s worth their time and attention
● How you are being perceived is very important
○ Dress appropriately
○ Be confident and proud, but not arrogant
○ Be solemn if your topic is serious or sad
○ Remain calm and appear relaxed, even if your nervous
● Speak to the farthest person in the room, to ensure your volume is loud enough
● Vary the tone of your voice
● Body language is IMPORTANT
● Walking, standing and/or moving is preferred to sitting or being still
● Believe what your saying, and say it with conviction
● Don’t read from your notes
○ Glace at them from time to time
● Know your speech!
● If you make an error, correct it and continue
○ No need to apologize or make excuses
● Use 3 second method for eye contact
○ Make eye contact with members of your audience for 3 seconds at a time
○ Make eye contact with a number of people in the audience, not only a few
○ Ever so often make eye contact with the general audience
● Adjust and Adapt
○ Respond to the audiences reactions
■ Change your strategies if you need to
● Expect the unexpected
● Pause from time to time and give your audience an opportunity to reflect and
think about what you have said
● Add humor when appropriate
○ Time flies during a good presentation
● Make sure any visual aids and audio are set up and working before the
presentation
● Know when to stop talking
● Leave your audience feeling complete
● Prepare for your speech running over time and running short
 ○ Have places you're comfortable cutting out and adding more
● Thank your audience