One of the most cited recommendations from public speaking experts—whether they appear in books, blogs, or websites—is the importance of practice. Practice is essential to effective delivery. The more you practice, the greater your comfort level will be when you actually deliver the speech. More than anything, it is uncertainty that breeds anxiety. By practicing your speech using a fully developed speaking outline (see Chapter 13), you will know what to expect when you actually stand in front of the audience.

Focus on the Message

The primary purpose of any speech is to get a message across, not to display extraordinary delivery skills. Keep this goal foremost in your mind. Psychologically, too, focusing on your message is likely to make your delivery more natural and more confident.

Record the Speech

Once you’ve practiced your speech several times, talk it out into an audio recorder. At a later stage in the practice process, you can place the recorder across the room from you and practice projecting your voice to the back row of the audience. To accurately gauge how you sound, use a good-quality recording device.

Videorecording two practice sessions can provide valuable feedback. As you watch your initial recording, make notes of the things you’d like to change. Before rerecording, practice several more times until you are comfortable with the changes you’ve incorporated. Note that no one is ever entirely thrilled with his or her image on video, so try to avoid unnecessary self-criticism. Videorecord your speech a second time, paying close attention to the areas of speech delivery that you want to improve.

Be Prepared to Revise Your Speaking Notes

As you practice, be prepared to revise your speech as needed. If your introduction or conclusion isn’t as effective as you would like, rework it. Make other adjustments as necessary to improve your speech and make the outline easier to follow.

Practice under Realistic Conditions

Try to simulate the actual speech setting as you practice. Keep the seating arrangement in mind as you speak, picturing the audience as you go along. Turn various objects in the room into imaginary audience members, and project your voice in their direction. Practice scanning for eye contact. Practice with a podium of some kind (unless you know that you won’t be using one). Stack some boxes to form a makeshift podium if you have to. Practice working with your speaking notes until you are confident that you can refer to them without overly relying on them. Practice placing your notes on a podium and moving around the podium for effective delivery.

At some point, practice your speech in front of at least one other person. Ask your volunteer(s) to identify the purpose and key points of your speech. Question them about what they did or did not understand. Seek detailed feedback about the quality of your delivery.

Time Your Speech

As you practice, time each part of the speech (introduction, body, and conclusion) so that if you exceed your time limit you can adjust these sections accordingly. Recall that, as a general rule, the introduction or the conclusion should make up no more than 10 or 15 percent of your entire speech (see Chapters 14 and 15). If the speech is too long, look for extraneous material that can be cut. Consider your rate of speech. If it is too slow, practice speaking more concisely. If the speech is too short, review your evidence and make certain that you adequately support your main points. If your rate of speech is too fast, practice slowing your tempo.

Plan Ahead and Practice Often

If possible, begin practicing your speech at least several days before you are scheduled to deliver it. Many expert speakers recommend practicing your speech about five times in its final form. Since few speeches are longer than twenty minutes, and most are shorter, this represents a maximum of two hours of practice time—two hours well spent.