How to Speak with Confidence.

Welcome to Public Speaking with Peter George. Do you want to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then stay tuned as we discuss public speaking tips, techniques, and tactics that help you increase your impact, influence, and income.

When it comes to delivering presentations — whether in person or virtually — confidence is key. Your audience, consciously or more than likely unconsciously, is assessing your level of confidence. Their evaluation will help them decide how much stock to put into the information you're sharing. And here's the sobering part: their brains are making that judgment in a matter of only a few seconds.

Posture, Facial Expressions, and Eye Contact

What do they assess in that brief time? A number of things — your posture, your facial expressions, and your eye contact, or lack of it. Let's start with posture. When it comes to this, your mother was right: stand and sit up straight. When standing, place your feet about hip-width apart and imagine a string attached to the top of your head pulling gently upward. Your head will be directly above your shoulders, your shoulders above your hips, your hips above your ankles.

You might feel more comfortable crossing your legs or shifting your weight to one hip — but that's mental comfort, not physical comfort. Notice what you do 30 seconds into one of those stances: you uncross your legs or switch hips, because it isn't actually comfortable. More importantly, your audience reads those positions as discomfort — and discomfort reads as low confidence. If you're seated, move to the front half of your chair. This helps you sit up straight and allows you to gesture more naturally, which is a significant advantage.

Next: facial expressions. Unless the occasion calls for something different, smile. It doesn't have to be a big toothy grin — we actually read a person's smile in their eyes and cheeks, so a modest smile is just as engaging. And speaking of eyes, eye contact is crucial to conveying confidence. Not making eye contact may give the impression that you're not confident or not telling the truth, even when you are. Looking your audience members in the eye also allows you to get real-time feedback — are they attentive? Have you lost them? Are they nodding in agreement? Do they look confused? You need to know this so you can adjust course during the presentation or evaluate and improve afterward.

One more thing: if you're presenting virtually, eye contact means looking at the camera — not the people on your screen. It takes getting used to, and it does make visual feedback harder to read. Several companies, Apple among them, are working to make this easier. The sooner that becomes reality, the better.

Openings and Closings

People will have greater recall for your opening and closing than for anything else in your presentation. It's called the primacy recency effect. Because of this, your opening and your conclusion deserve more time and effort than you may be giving them.

Your first words have to grab your audience's attention. Think of it like this: everyone will be looking at their phones, and you want to be so engaging right out of the box that they put those phones down and listen. Two things not to do: don't open with an excuse ("I had handouts but I left them at the printer"), and don't share your anxiety with the room ("I'm not very good at this" or "I really didn't have much time to prepare"). Those statements might put your mind at ease, but they won't serve your audience in any positive way.

As for your conclusion — it's the most important part of your presentation. It's the last thing people hear, and it's when you deliver your call to action, challenge your audience, or ask them what they're going to do with their newly learned information.

Here's a common mistake: when people make an error while rehearsing, they start over from the beginning. The result? They rehearse the opening many times and the conclusion — the most important part — only a few. Fix that. Also: your opening and your conclusion are the only parts of your presentation you want to memorize and deliver verbatim. Why? Because knowing your opening will grab your audience's attention reduces anxiety and lets you focus on delivery. And knowing exactly how you want to conclude allows you to deliver your ending in a powerful, memorable way.

Make It a Conversation

Have you noticed that presentations are now often called "talks"? That's intentional — "presentation" carries the connotation of speaking at your audience, while "talk" feels more interactive. Design your presentation as if you're having a conversation with someone. In conversation, you instinctively give the other person time to respond and process. In presentations, you might not. But even if your audience isn't answering out loud, they're answering in their heads — and they need space to do that. True engagement only happens when people have time to process what you said.

Another way to make it more conversational: talk to one person. Not literally — don't ignore everyone else — but use the language you'd use if only one person were there. Instead of "Who has jumped out of a plane?" ask, "Have you jumped out of a plane?" Instead of "Who has a competitive advantage?" ask, "Do you have a competitive advantage?" The shift is subtle, but powerful: every person in the room will feel like you're talking directly to them.

Now let's talk about timing. Just like a comedian knows when to speed up, when to slow down, when to raise her voice and when to lower it, you should learn to pace your presentations with the same intentionality. Two ideas from comedy worth borrowing: first, let moments play out. Whether it's laughter, applause, or a beat of thought — let it happen. Cutting those moments short signals that you don't want the engagement, and your audience will stop giving it to you. Second, avoid telling jokes. Comedians are experts at it; you and I aren't. If a joke doesn't land, your confidence may be shaken and it will show. Spontaneous humor that arises from something everyone just witnessed, however? That's incredibly powerful — especially when it ties back to your message.

The Most Overlooked Part of Public Speaking

We've arrived at the most overlooked element of speaking with confidence — and I know you may not want to hear it. It's rehearsing. Rehearsing starts a favorable cycle: the more familiar you are with your presentation, the less nervous you'll be when delivering it. Being less nervous allows you to focus on engagement. Greater engagement gives you the best opportunity to serve your audience, which is why you're there in the first place. Those who don't rehearse don't know what they're missing — but their audiences do.

Keep in mind that rehearsing once or twice won't make a significant difference. And simply reading your presentation won't help either, because your brain doesn't associate reading with delivering a talk. Here's what I suggest to my clients: rehearse until you're comfortable with your message, your voice, and your body language. Then video yourself on your phone.

First, play it back with the screen face down so you can only hear it. How does it sound — relaxed, confident, too fast, too slow? Did you pause when you should? Did you use fillers like "um," "uh," or "you know"? Take notes. Then play it back again with the volume all the way down and watch your nonverbal communication. Did your stance convey confidence? Were you gesturing naturally, or were your hands clasped, your arms at your sides? Did you pace, sway, or repeat any distracting movements? Take notes on that, too. Finally, play it back a third time — watching and listening simultaneously — and note what you want to change and what you liked. Then start the process over. It takes time in the beginning, but your distracting habits will be eradicated, and you'll be making fewer changes with each presentation.

Thank you for listening to this episode of Public Speaking with Peter George. Are you ready to be calm, confident, and credible every time you speak in public? Then visit petergeorgepublicspeaking.com and let's make it happen. I'll see you next time.