You are here because you want to be a good public speaker and don’t know where to begin. Everyone would like to better their skills in this area, but sadly they don’t even know where to begin. Public speaking is scary when you don’t have great tips to help you along, and thankfully the article below has many tips to help improve this skill, so keep reading!

It is important that everything you say during your speech is related to the topic. Even if you are going to tell jokes, they should be related in some way. This will help keep the audience focused on the subject at hand and prevent things from going too far off course.

An excellent way to calm nerves before public speaking is by breathing deeply. First, take a deep breath and hold it for about three seconds. Then exhale very slowly. Do this a few times, and you’ll see that it does help. Breathe through your nose and count to four, then exhale counting to five. Do this about 6 times to calm yourself down.

It is normal to feel nervous when giving a public speech. However, no matter how nervous you feel, you cannot let others notice. If you find yourself nervous, try to imagine yourself giving the speech to someone you know. It will calm you down and allow you to successfully give your speech.

Visit your hairdresser on the day of your speech. Nothing gives you more confidence than looking and feeling great. Purchase a new suit which makes you feel good to bolster your confidence levels. Audience members will take note of you when you are dressed for success and exude a sense of confidence.

Stay away from alcoholic beverages before making your speech. While it might help to loosen you up and boost your confidence level, it’s still not a good idea. You don’t want to risk forgetting what you want to say just because you decided to have a drink or two prior to your speech.

Know your topic well. Take the necessary time to research your topic and learn all you can. When delivering your speech, try to be flexible. Allow participants to ask questions. If you do not know the answer, tell them that you do not know, but you will find the information out and make it available to the group at a later time.

Avoid drinking alcoholic beverages prior to making your speech even if they are available at the event at which you are speaking. While alcohol may relax you, you do not want to appear inebriated when you make your speech. You may forget what you want to say, slur your speech, inadvertently insult someone or even become sick in the midst of speaking if you drink too much. Save the liquor for your post-speech celebration.

As you can see from the above article, public speaking should not terrify you any longer now that you have great tips to follow. The best piece of advice is to practice these skills, and make sure you use the tips from above. Study them again, and get out in public to hone your new speaking skills!