Many visitors to this website are interested in public speaking.
After all, human communication tends to be more oral than written.
And this made me wonder: What are three recommendations that I would make to anyone who wants to improve his or her speaking skills?
The answer? 1. Learn more! 2. Talk to yourself! 3. Talk to others!
1. Learn more!
“Learn more to earn more.” is a popular expression in America today. Given that your speaking skills often affect your earning ability, I recommend that you learn more in these three ways.
I recommend that you get public-speaking instruction to learn the basics.
I recommend that you improve your voice quality to make you a speaker who is more comfortable with his or her own voice and to be understood by a wider audience.
And I recommend that you learn a new word every day to make you a speaker with greater comfort with words and therefore a more relaxed speaker.
2. Talk to yourself!
Most people believe that those who talk to themselves are crazy, but talking to yourself can improve your speaking skills.
I recommend making videos of yourself speaking into a camera.
I recommend that you monitor your speech for “uhs” and “ums”.
And I recommend that you talk to yourself while learning a foreign language.
3. Talk to others!
Ultimately, talking is useless without listeners.
I recommend that you first pursue public speaking in a volunteer organization.
I recommend that you next pursue public speaking through a speaking club.
Finally, I recommend that you seek a job that requires you to speak regularly.