If you’re an aspiring speaker, you’ve probably wondered how to improve your public speaking skills so you can more effectively share your message and increase your impact. One method that can help with that goal is taking public speaking classes.
But maybe you’re wondering if a public speaking class is worth it and why you should take one. Maybe you’re wondering if public speaking classes can lead to more paid gigs or if you can get paid gigs without much experience. In this article, we’ll cover 3 important reasons you should consider taking public speaking classes.
1. Hone Your Public Speaking Skills and Become a More Confident Public Speaker
To start with the obvious, public speaking classes help you improve your public speaking skills. Delivering a talk is more than just saying words in front of people. As you probably know, public speaking is a skill that needs to be practiced.
Practice makes perfect, and public speaking is no exception! If you want to get better at speaking, it’s important to actually practice speaking and learn from your experiences. Many public speaking classes give you a chance to do just that while receiving practical tips and feedback.
You can learn different styles of public speaking like persuasive speeches or informative speeches. Classes will also often cover various styles of presentation, like keynote addresses, workshops and seminars. Understanding the difference between these can help you understand your target niche for your speaking business.
Public speaking classes also give you an opportunity to learn about what makes a speaker connect with an audience and helps you pay attention to things you wouldn’t otherwise notice, like body language and eye contact. This not only enhances your public speaking skills, but applies to your communication skills across the board.
Because of your improved presentation skills and your ability to communicate effectively, you’ll be a much more confident speaker. Confidence almost always translates to a more engaged audience – listeners can tell instinctively whether you’re confident in what you’re saying and if you aren’t, they’ll often check out.
By learning and practicing in a course, you’ll not only gain the skill, but also the confidence in that skill to help you be a better speaker. Overall, public speaking classes are a great way to improve your communication skills, hone your public speaking skills and become a more confident public speaker so you can deliver the most compelling speeches.
Check out this article for more practical tips on how to improve your public speaking skills!
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2. Develop Your Talk
One of the biggest challenges in being a public speaker is knowing what material will connect with audiences. It’s hard to test material and refine your talk when you aren’t actually speaking to an audience at a paid gig. But public speaking classes offer you an opportunity to do just that and become a more effective public speaker in the process.
You can test one-liners, see how stories or jokes work and slowly refine your speech so only the best material remains. Classes can explain how to identify the best material and how to know what content you should stay away from.
Another valuable aspect of public speaking classes is the continuous feedback you receive from instructors and other speakers. After each presentation, you get specific, constructive critiques that highlight what worked well and what needs improvement. This feedback loop allows you to make iterative adjustments to your content and delivery. Over time, these small, targeted improvements help you refine your talk into a polished presentation that resonates and leaves an impact with your audience.
Pacing is also a big part of successful speech structure. If you go too fast and don’t let your message sit with audience members, the pacing can make your message fail to leave an impact. On the other hand, if you move too slowly through your presentation, especially while talking about complex ideas, you can cause your audience to lose interest and tune you out.
3. Meet Other Aspiring Speakers
A huge but often overlooked benefit of public speaking classes is the ability to connect with other aspiring public speakers. The insights you can gain from these connections can prove to be invaluable over the course of your public speaking career.
Oftentimes, different speakers have different strengths and weaknesses, and you can get feedback from them to improve your public speaking. Besides, it’s always easier to notice things in someone else’s presentation than it is to notice something in your own speech. Not only can you help other speakers on their journey, but they can help you become a more effective speaker.
These relationships can also easily bloom into long-term professional relationships that you can use for referrals, and networking other connections in the future. But remember, relationships shouldn’t just be about what you can get from them. You should focus on forming a genuine connection with others in the industry. Speaking is sometimes a lonely industry to be in and relationships with other speakers can be an invaluable source of friendships and mentorships that will help you throughout the course of your public speaking career.
To learn more about networking, you can check out our full article about it here!
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Frequently Asked Questions About Public Speaking Classes
Maybe you want to take a public speaking classes but you have questions! Let’s answer three of the most frequently asked questions about public speaking classes.
What are Some Examples of Public Speaking Classes?
There are a variety of public speaking classes depending on course focus and skill level. One of the most well-known is Toastmasters International. Toastmasters is one example of an interactive, group-based environment to help you learn speaking. Another example of public speaking classes is taking classes at a local college or university (in many cases enrollment is not required).
There’s also online options. For example, online options such as edX and Coursera offer a class from Harvard on the art of rhetoric and the University of Washington’s Intro to Public Speaking course for free. With video on-demand (VOD) online courses, you eliminate the group and social aspect, but they can still be valuable for improving your speaking skill and learning more effective communication.
How Much Do Public Speaking Classes Cost?
Public speaking classes often vary in price, but there are many low-cost and free options available. If you opt for Toastmasters, you will need to pay their member fee of $45 every 6 months in addition to a new member fee. Online classes also vary in price, but as mentioned above, there are free options. If you opt for a local option like a university class, you can often find classes that are low or no cost, but it varies from college to college.
After I’ve Learned to Speak, Where Do I Go From Here?
Once you’ve learned to speak, you probably want to turn your skills into revenue. But there’s a lot more to being a public speaker than just speaking; building your speaking business is the key to turning a speaking ability into a way to make money.
You may be wondering how to find the right audience, or topic to speak about. Maybe you need help finding paid speaking gigs. Or maybe you need to learn how to balance public speaking as a side-hustle with your full-time job (and everything else in life).
If this is where you are in your journey, or you have other questions about speaking, finding gigs, charging more, how to get started, how to find leads, or anything else in your speaking business, The Speaker Lab is offering a FREE Live Training that has helped thousands of students earn money consistently as a public speaker without being a celebrity.
This training is based on the same 5-step method that Grant Baldwin used to grow his speaking career to a $2,000,000 business. The training is absolutely free, and there’s even an opportunity for a Q&A where you can ask any of your speaking business questions (also known as free consulting).
