Throughout my career, people have asked me how they can improve their public speaking skills.

I’ve spent a lot of time working on becoming a stronger public speaker. Practice and preparation are some of the most important things you can do to ensure your success for speaking in public.

I’ve gathered my top 10 easy tips for becoming better at public speaking for this blog series, How To Be a Great Speaker. With each tip, I’ll explore in detail how to become a confident, effective and powerful speaker.

Let’s get you comfortable in front of the camera so you can see what your audience sees!

Tip 9: Film It. Then Fix It.

Video is your friend. I have been speaking at events, conferences, charities, and luncheons for years, but I had never seen a video of myself. I think that I was just too nervous to see what I actually sounded like because I assumed I would hate it. This was an epic fail!

I was asked to put together a reel of myself for someone to view. Unfortunately, because I had waited so long between engagements, hardly anyone that I begged for clips had them any longer, or they simply couldn’t find what I needed. 

Fortunately for me, one person did have a clip of me speaking, and I almost hid under the table when it launched. But surprisingly…it was good! We’re always our own toughest critics, aren’t we? What I learned was invaluable: I was not good at reading the video monitor, but I was great when I spoke freely.

I learned something that changed the way I approach my public speaking. My new goal is to capture video on each speaking opportunity so I can build a great reel and learn from each occasion.  Imagine how well you will know yourself if you have yourself recorded for your own viewing.  Why not see what others are seeing, and why not practice while the video rolls, as well?  I promise you, it will not be as painful as you thought it would be. You may even be proud of the great speaker you already are!