Why Public Speaking Matters
Public speaking can feel daunting. But whether you’re preparing for a LAMDA Speaking in Public exam or delivering a wedding toast, the skills you build when you practise speaking out loud, clearly, and confidently will serve you for life. I’ve taught hundreds of students how to prepare and deliver great speeches, and the LAMDA Communications Syllabus offers a great framework for developing these skills.
But the exam is just the beginning. At its core public speaking is about connection. And that starts not with your head, but with your heart.
1. Speak From the Heart
One of the biggest mistakes students make is sitting down and writing their speech like it’s an essay. Then they memorise it. Then they deliver it. And it sounds… like an essay.
Spoken English and written English are very different. Written English tends to use longer, more complex sentences and sophisticated vocabulary. That’s fine in writing – you can always reread. But in a speech, your audience only gets one chance to take in your words.
When you speak, you want to:
* Use clear, simple language
* Pause to let ideas sink in
* Modulate your voice: change pace, pitch, power, tone, and inflection to keep things engaging
The golden rule? Don’t start by writing. Start by talking.
2. Choose a Topic That You Feel Passionate About
Your first job is to choose a topic. Ideally, it should be something you feel strongly about, and ideally something you already know a bit about (or you’re keen to explore further). It’s easier to speak from the heart when the subject actually means something to you. Think about these questions: What do you do when you when you get home from school? What do you talk about with your friends? What do you look forward to? What makes you angry? What do you wish you could change about the world? What do you think is interesting about you or your family? What videos do you watch on YouTube? What news events have you been drawn to recently? The answers to these questions will hopefully give you some ideas for a speech topic!
3. Know Your Audience
Once you have your topic, the very next thing to think about is your audience. Who are you speaking to? In LAMDA exams, you get to choose your imagined audience. That means you need to tailor your content, vocabulary and tone to suit them. For example:
Talking about the health benefits of pet ownership? Your audience could be…
…Potential pet owners at London Pet Show Live!
…Visitors at a rescue centre
…Psychologists researching animal-assisted therapy
Each audience needs a different tone, style and vocabulary. If you start writing your speech before establishing your audience you’re going to have to do a lot of re-writes!
4. Clarify Your Purpose
Every good speech has a purpose. Are you trying to persuade your audience or inform them? Are you trying to educate them or entertain them? Once you know what you want your speech to do, you’ll find it easier to plan your content and structure.
5. Use Bullet Points, Not Paragraphs
I know it can be tempting, but try and resist the urge to write the whole thing out! Instead use bullet points to outline your main ideas, and then practise out loud from these notes. Refine your ideas based on how they sound, rather than how they look on the page. When I ask my students if they’ve practised their speech since I last saw them, they often reply that they’ve “looked over their speech”, or “read through it”. When I ask whether they have stood up, and recited their speech out loud, as if they were delivering it to an audience, the answer is often “no”. This is like saying you’ve practised the violin but actually you left the intstrument in its case and IMAGINED playing it. You wouldn’t ever do this, so why prepare a speech entirely in your head? Practice means saying it – again and again – out loud, until the structure feels natural and the ideas flow.
In Part 2… we’ll explore how to structure your speech, research it properly, and deliver it with confidence and flair. Stay tuned!