Education for Public Speaking

After the regular course, many trainees decide to enroll at the advanced level i.e. additional individual work, which involves general rehearsals of their actual public speakings in public – conducting meetings, holding lectures, presenting business reports in a company, presenting a project, being a guest in the media, etc. The general rehearsal is being video-recorded and then analyzed in detail. A trainee thus gets the necessary dose of self-confidence, because when the time comes to talk at a social event in a real-time situation they will feel safe since many things are familiar to them, because the preparation for public speaking was properly done.

Of course, it is best when oratorical talent and permanent development of that talent are united. However, it is very important to know – public speaking can be practiced, and presentational skills can be significantly improved through practice! That should be encouraging information for everyone. There are numerous examples around us confirming that an average speaker can become exceptional through practice and good training, leave a strong impression, make an effect on others and appear convincing when in front of an audience. Let’s remember the famous Demosthenes who worked on his improvement permanently. It’s known that he practiced by shouting louder than the sea waves, in order to improve his volume and the intensity of his speech. Practice and hard work contributed to him being considered even to this very day, after almost 2,500 thousand years, as one of the most important orators in human civilization!

The answer is not that simple. It takes a lot of work and effort – learn all that belongs to public speaking techniques, all that contributes to an oratorical expression having dictional variety and convincingness; learn how to control your body during public speaking; how to align your posture and gestures with the topic; find a good reason to speak in public, which will strengthen your self-confidence and lessen the fear of public speaking, read on the subject (Amy Cady, Brian Little, Irwin Yallome, Victor Frankle and others). Facing nervousness can significantly be helped by exercises for proper ortho-abdominal breathing, visualization and self-encouragement. A wholesome approach is needed. Precisely for this reason, for all its trainees Main Point conducts regular group sessions with Dr. Milica Ristic, psychiatrist and psychotherapist that has several decades of experience in communication training.

In the previous eight years there have been many people who successfully completed our courses via online platforms (in Nis, Kragujevac, Subotica, Banjaluka, Brussels, Frankfurt, Prague, Canada, America, etc.). As anywhere else, online communication has its pros and cons. It enables easy access to anyone and participation from their own space, which guarantees comfort. On the other hand, the level of interaction is lower, which cannot be compensated in various creative ways.

We conduct group trainings according to the requirements of a specific company/organisation. Before the start, we run detailed consultations to determine all the specifics, sections of the program, trainees’ level of knowledge, topics they discuss in front of an audience. One company – one group. The idea is to keep groups small, so that we could address everyone with a personalised approach. If a company is interested in a larger number of employees, we usually suggest that everyone be together during initial classes, after which we split into smaller groups for more effective practicing of presentational skills.

We conduct open group trainings in collaboration with Skillup education, they are online trainings in groups of up to six attendees.

So far, practice has shown it’s very effective to have a larger number of employees in a company or an organisation attend a webinar (90 minutes) on a chosen subject (presentational skills, public skills, diction, speaking in the media, storytelling). After that, a number of employees, that usually go out in public, attend detailed trainings with practical exercises.

An important segment of the presentational course are the specifics of online presenting. It’s a fact that the level of interaction is lower in the online space, and it’s necessary to compensate for that with different creative techniques and mechanisms. 

First, it’s necessary to position your computer screen and acquire all the required equipment and a stable connection. During presenting, it’s recommended to attain a proactive approach toward the audience, if the context so allows, and advised to encourage communication (quizzes, surveys, quick questionnaires, chat). It’s not advisable to have the slide over the screen all the time and the speaker in the lower right-hand corner. Ask all participants and listeners to turn on their cameras, to establish a better connection.