Practice Relentlessly

As a kid, I remember playing a game where parts of the floor are “lava” that you can't touch.

During a speech, I try to play a similar game. I think of my pockets and torso as “lava”—I can't touch them.

This simple framing forces you to get your arms away from your body, gesture broad...

• Public speaking is scary. So scary that a number of surveys and studies have found that people rank public speaking ahead of death on a list of their greatest fears.
• It’s a critical skill sets for your career and life. Confident, powerful public speaking—whether in...

When you're feeling nervous or uncertain, there's a tendency to self-sabotage.

We tell the audience we're nervous, we make fun of ourselves, we make ourselves small physically by crossing our arms and creating a barrier between us and them.

Don't do this. It's okay to be vulnerable, b...

When we’re nervous for a speech, toast, presentation, or talk, our bias is to memorize the content word-for-word.

We memorize in a valiant effort to avoid screwing up.

Ironically, memorization often has the opposite effect.

When you memorize material, one tiny slip-up ca...

Identify 3-5 speakers you admire.

Go on YouTube and find videos of each one delivering a speech.

Slow down the playback speed and take notes.

Study the following:

• Structure: How are they structuring their talk?
• Cadence: What is the p...

• Focus on a few key moments. Perfect the opening line, transitions, and closing. When you nail these, you create momentum—with the audience and yourself. It instills a confidence you can build on. Manufacture these small "wins" that compound.
• Create “lego blocks” that you can piece to...

Executing power poses can actually create feelings of confidence and power. (The science behind this is now heavily-contested.)

Before your next talk or presentation, find a quiet place, take a few deep breaths, and raise your arms high and wide, triumphantly over your head. Speak a few pos...

We have a tendency to hype up our fears.

Always remember: the worst case scenario really isn't that bad. No matter how it goes, you’ll be just fine. Life will move on.

Plus, the audience is generally rooting for you! They place themselves in your shoes, so they want you to do well. Th...

There are always a few people in the audience who are prone to smiling, nodding, and engaging positively. Their positive engagement kills your anxiety.

At the beginning of your speech, scan the front of the crowd as you hit your opening lines. Identify the few people who smile, make warm ey...

There is so much pent up energy in a room—it often manifests as tension.

You can feel it as a speaker when the audience is stagnant. There’s all this potential energy that needs to be released.

You can dramatically reduce the tension in a room by creating action and movement—by conver...

When we get nervous, our natural tendency is to speed up—to get to the end faster.

To fight it, think about trying to speak on 0.75x speed. It should feel almost uncomfortably slow.

Pause and breathe frequently. The best speakers take long, dramatic pauses (you’ll notice this from you...

Pacing around the room or stage like you're on the phone with your middle school crush isn't helpful.

Take slow, methodical, purposeful steps.

There are people who move to move—and then there are people who move with intention, who are going places.

Be the latter.