How to Become a Better Speaker: Practical Tips That Transformed My Skills

 I have participated in many speaking (elocution, speech, debate, oratory) competitions and had the opportunity to do anchoring on several occasions since my pre-primary classes and kept doing so till my primary grades and bagged prizes. Being a shy kid, people used to get amazed at how a shy kid like me could perform in such a fantastic way in front of a large audience. I loved to speak on stage. I remember memorising those speeches given by class teachers and presenting them on occasions/celebrations at school.

As I grew older and moved to secondary class, I never hesitated to speak on stage, but I started to observe that I was getting behind in this game. I was just winning at surface levels (inter-school) competitions by memorization and just speaking that next day, but it never helped me go beyond this. I have now started to take a step back from these things. Years passed, and after the lockdown period ended, school started again, and a new activity of student-led classes and seminars was introduced. I performed well in this, and I realised my long-forgotten ability.

I started to practise my skill to speak, refining it by constant improvements, and I got better at it. I started to participate again in more activities, and this time I was winning, and this led to more opportunities.

Here is what I did to improve myself. I started to follow and mimic top leaders and TED speeches exactly from their words to style. When it came to other competitions other than elocution or speech, like debate, again those mimicking and copying didn’t help me a lot, and to take a leap, the inner feeling of improvement led me to rethink my speaking skills.

I learnt that how you perform, your gestures, movements, intonations, and vocabulary are essential but are secondary; what is more important is to speak with understanding. Understanding and having clarity about what we are speaking about helps us connect with the audience, and this should come from the heart.

“Say what you mean and mean what you say”

Let your practice show itself through results; otherwise remain silent.Showing off without substance is not good.

Cultivate your abilities through sincere practice, avoid speaking without understanding.

“अभ्यासे प्रकटावे, न तऱ्ही उगी राहावे, प्रकटोनी नसावे, हे बरे नव्हे.”

- Sant Samarth Ramdas

Honesty and integrity are needed. Deep honesty is honesty to oneself. We must not keep making an ass of ourselves, memorising the entire speech, just so people think that we are shooting our mouth off.

I used to see speakers writing on their hands, wrists, keeping a piece of paper which acted like a mental cushion to rest on, but made us feel like actually using it, some staring at the ceiling, others watching the ground.

Great musicians/artists practise their skill for hours daily. In the same way, oratory, being a learnable skill, can be mastered by anyone. Devotion towards anything you wish to achieve will give you mastery over that particular thing.

Secondary but essential

Talking about secondary but essential aspects like gestures, vocabulary, intonations, pauses, and structure, all help you to effectively convey your message and can be improved with practise. But among all of them, the most critical point to remember is to maintain eye contact (most fear doing this).

Follow the 3-sec Gaze-shift-gaze-switch rule:

Focus on a small part of a large audience, then shift to another part. Keep doing this. After that, slowly try to switch attention from one person to another; you will have no fear then, and all will feel included and connected.

Fear can be easily reduced by keeping a very simple thing in mind: I have to explain to them, I have to add value to their life, I have to teach them, and you will change your focus from your gestures, voice, and other bothersome things to something that is important, and you will not stumble and will lose your fear.

Sweat more in practise,bleed less in war

-Robin Sharma

We must know the flow of our speech while presenting. To do that, I used to outline keywords for my speech. Another thing I do is sometimes doodle or paint a rough picture of the speech and visualise it when delivering the speech.

You can be as creative as you can, but after trial and error, find the best and continue using it.

Understanding what the game demands

If you are to participate in any competition (elocution, oratory, debate, extemporaneous speech), understand what they demand; you cannot speak about a story for long in a debate and keep fighting in a speech.

Some are bounded by time, some need to test your understanding, and some check your confidence.

Let’s see what they need in a very easy way:

Social Event: Understanding the interest of the people, the group of audience present, understanding the flow and the right time to stop. The best time to end is when you get a hint that people are loving your speech and are demanding to continue.

Elocution: This tests your delivery and expression. It demands clear pronunciation, voice modulation, appropriate gestures, and emotional expression. You’re usually given a prepared piece (poem, passage, or speech) and judged on how you present it—your vocal variety, body language, and ability to bring the text to life. Content is often provided; performance is what’s being evaluated.

Extempore: This tests your spontaneity and quick thinking. You’re given a topic on the spot with minimal preparation time (often just 1-3 minutes). It demands the ability to organize thoughts rapidly, speak coherently without a script, maintain composure under pressure, and structure your ideas logically despite the time constraint. Confidence and presence of mind matter more than perfect arguments.

Group Discussion: This checks your teamwork, listening skills, and ability to contribute constructively. It demands that you balance speaking and listening, build on others’ points rather than just pushing your own, show respect for different viewpoints, and help move the discussion forward. Dominating or staying silent both hurt you it’s about collaborative thinking.

Oratory: This tests your persuasive power and speaking skills on a topic you’ve prepared. It demands a well-structured speech with a clear message, strong arguments backed by evidence or examples, emotional appeal, and polished delivery. Unlike elocution (which focuses on performance), oratory emphasises the power of your ideas and your ability to inspire or convince.

Debate: This tests logical argumentation and rebuttal skills. It demands that you build a case for your side (whether you agree personally or not), anticipate and counter opposing arguments, think on your feet during rebuttals, use evidence effectively, and stay within strict time limits and format rules. Winning arguments matter more than flowery language.

Keep reading, observing, and writing to improve your ability to think, and you will keep getting better.

Thank you for reading this article.