Public Speaking
Oratory skills are necessary for any person speaking in front of an audience. Especially necessary for managers, sales managers, novice teachers, students...
You will learn how to speak in front of any audience in this course. "Oratory"! It is based on the best developments in world and domestic public speaking practice.
The course alternates between practical skills and theoretical lessons. A combination of mini-lectures, brainstorming sessions, role playing games, facilitation and business cases allows you to achieve excellent results. You will learn to speak in public calmly and confidently, get rid of fear, and be able to speak on almost any topic, holding the attention of the public!
During the lesson you will learn:
- how to attract the attention of the audience and keep it;
- how to work with voice and timbre;
- what means help make the performance bright;
- how to turn disadvantages into advantages (psychological techniques);
- know-it-alls, talkers and “no” people: what to do with “difficult” participants;
- how to answer awkward questions.
You will make your speech bright, interesting, lively and fiery!
The ability to speak in public has been a useful skill at all times. People who have excellent public speaking skills will always be in demand by society and will be able to find work. It's no secret that there are few such people; they always stand out among others. They turn out to be successful leaders, politicians, businessmen, journalists, writers, teachers, since knowledge of rhetoric plays a role in many professions vital role. The purpose of this public speaking course is to provide everyone with the opportunity to learn free online materials, lessons, exercises, techniques and rules for mastering the basics of rhetoric.
What is rhetoric?
This is a word that has ancient Greek origin ( Greek rhetorike), and literally means “ oratory" What is “oratory”? And how to develop your abilities for it?
Each of us has had the opportunity to speak in public at least several times in our lives. And, for sure, no one doubts that to, you need to know and be able to do a lot. It can be said that the ability to speak in public reflects our intellectual development and our social skills.
Martin Luther King's famous speech
According to the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, “ oratory speech"is a type of monologue speech used in a situation where the speaker addresses a large audience with the aim of persuasion or suggestion. Oratory is often identified with eloquence, so a good speaker must be well-read, have competent speech, and be able to clearly express his thoughts. But the speaker also needs to master his diction and have a well-trained voice. In addition, it is important to master speech improvisation, be able to answer questions, maintain contact with the audience, pronounce the text with the necessary intonation, and much, much more.
Most of the skills described, which together form public speaking, can be learned. To do this, it is important to work on yourself, to realize, analyze and correct the unsuccessful moments of your own and others’ public speaking, and most importantly, to train your skills in practice. Our training will help you work on all these complex steps on the way to developing excellent public speaking skills.
Want to test your knowledge?
If you want to test your theoretical knowledge on the topic of the course and understand how suitable it is for you, you can take our test. For each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question.
Online Rhetoric Lessons
The public speaking training posted on this website is an integration of many techniques described by public speaking experts. Each of the lessons involves the development of a specific skill that contributes to the development of your public speaking abilities. Naturally, each person can master these skills differently, so try to pay attention to those lessons that seem most useful to you.
Video
In this section of the training on public speaking skills, you can watch videos of famous speeches by outstanding speakers: Martin Luther King, Steve Jobs, Vladimir Lenin and others. Also here you can find videos from various competitions, presentations and speeches of people to investors. In addition, the section contains video lessons from leading experts in the field of public speaking.
4 rules of rhetoric
- First rule. Start any speech with a strong desire to achieve your goal.
- Second rule. Try to always prepare for your performance.
- Third rule. Show confidence even if you don't feel confident.
- Fourth rule. Practice more (this is true for any other skill).
These four rules of public speaking are essentially the foundation of any good speech. If you do not set yourself the goal of achieving great success in rhetoric, but are only trying to prepare for a specific speech, then they may be useful to you.
If you are planning to take a more detailed approach to studying the art of oratory, then we will be happy to provide you with useful and interesting information in the lessons on our website.
We wish you success in mastering the art of public speaking!
People assume that every person can speak. Maybe. But speaking on any topic, making your story fascinating, holding the attention of listeners for at least an hour - not everyone can master such oratory skills!
So, you decided to learn how to speak beautifully. Yes, not just to speak beautifully in the circle of your friends and loved ones, but so that from the stage, in front of an unfamiliar audience, but so that the public is interested, and the listeners catch every word. Then you should take acting and public speaking courses.
You may ask, what does it take to learn how to perform beautifully? Just perform! A lot of! So many! Regularly!
Find rhetoric courses that suit you in Moscow and go study with teachers from GITIS and Shchuka in just 8 lessons! Already in the first lesson:
- you will have to introduce yourself to your colleagues and teacher
- The teacher will point out your strengths and weaknesses
Don't be afraid that your classmates will laugh at you. After all, the same people have signed up for lessons and training in public speaking in Moscow with teachers from GITIS and Shchuka, call! Agree, no one would think of laughing at the same people with fractures in line to see a traumatologist.
Psychological training for fear of public speaking involves an analysis of the rules of conduct on stage. Starting from appearance (image, gestures, poses) and acting skills (the ability to gather oneself and overcome fear on stage, an actor's pause, the ability to work with the public), ending with the content of the speech itself and answers to the most provocative questions.
Public speaking is an unpredictable process, and if your speaking technique, the content of the text, appearance were at your best, then you may fail answering questions when faced with aggression from the audience. That's what acting and the art of improvisation are for.
Public Speaking for Leaders
At the acting school, you may be interested in the special training “Oratory for Leaders.” Public speeches by leaders have their own peculiarity. The speaker’s charisma and self-confidence are very important in them; the audience should be fascinated by him, not doubt his words, and follow him. A leader must be able to create distance. This is not a performance in front of a crowd of fans, where you need to please, create the illusion that “we are on the same wavelength.”
The leader’s speech is usually lengthy and it’s easy to get confused in it. How to plan a speech? What points in the plan will help you remember the structure of your speech? How to keep the audience's attention for such a long time?
- The structure of speech is its main supporting theses.
- Numbers, dates, quotes
One of the secrets of mastery is the presence in the speaker’s arsenal of a special “magic wand” in the form of a supply of appropriate jokes, stories that defuse the atmosphere, remove the emphasis from an uncomfortable topic, and create a pleasant image of the speaker. Such “lifesavers” come to the rescue when the speaker loses concentration. A teacher of stage speech, public speaking and acting will help you choose stories that are appropriate for any situation.
Some people have difficulty expressing their thoughts clearly. This is usually characteristic of representatives of mental work. They are fixated on complex terms, numbers, and abbreviations. Talking about their work in an accessible form, in “live” language, is an impossible task for them. Very often they seem like “nerds” to others, and it is very difficult for them to attract a sponsor to their project due to the inability to “hook” them, to infect them with interest, to make them believe in the project or idea. Practical training in rhetoric and voice control can help cope with this problem.
The art of oratory is multifaceted and includes many components. You have to try hard to gain the public's leniency. To do this you need:
- attract and hold the attention of listeners
- interact and “play” with the audience, like in a theater
- evoke certain emotions and induce certain actions
The best public speaking trainings in Moscow from teachers from GITIS and Shchuka offer you to immediately plunge into the world of public speaking and try to speak in front of your colleagues in a master class. Will be offered various conditions: Colleagues will distract you, laugh, yawn, interrupt, and you will need to cope with all the difficulties and bring the situation back into your own hands. All this is an invaluable school of humor, rhetoric and oratory, as well as the art of speech.
Trainings and the best public speaking courses in Moscow are also needed in just 8 lessons to study all genres of public speaking, the features of which they will definitely give explanations.
Courses for children and teenagers
The ability to speak beautifully and to present yourself confidently in front of an audience and for children is also important. Some schoolchildren are embarrassed to answer at the blackboard because they are afraid of being ridiculed by their classmates, while others have serious problems communicating with peers due to their inability to maintain a conversation. Inexpensive courses in rhetoric and public speaking for children and teenagers can help correct these situations. Lessons from experienced teachers and young talents who are planning to seriously engage in acting or simply want to try themselves in a theater group will help out.
There is a thesis with which I completely agree:
A successful person is a speaker.
- Because speech is an important tool of a MODERN SUCCESSFUL person.
- Each of you, I am sure, acquires mobile phone With maximum number useful functions: so he could not just call, but also take photographs, shoot videos. So? And this no longer seems excessive.
- This is how any employer wants to hire employees. with the maximum number of useful functions . Skill protrude, do presentations, reports – useful feature employee, do you agree?
Is it easy to learn public speaking?
Various people enroll in my Public Speaking courses. Both confident people and insecure people. But after a while they are already good speakers.
And one hundred percent.
Therefore, I know that learning public speaking is easy. Any person with any data.
Don’t believe those people who tell you that learning rhetoric is difficult.
- It is as difficult and at the same time easy as learning to ride a bike, swim or cook in the kitchen.
- For a long time I believed my friends that only a select few can learn to play the guitar. Until I was 18 I believed. And then I bought a guitar and within a month I was playing quite well. After another half a year, I was one of the best (albeit not the best) in my dorm.
I also heard that a speaker needs some innate data and abilities. For example, charisma or self confidence…
Yes, they won't hurt.
It's all good. But most often people come to me without these qualities. But... they do their homework, do exercises (on their own or with a trainer)... And get excellent results in public speaking.
By purchasing along the way and charisma and confidence…
Need data. But others. At least a slight sense of pride and a little self-discipline.
It’s also useful to remember that this is not the most important thing in life.
Is it possible to learn public speaking from a self-instruction manual?
The famous proverb says that “you can lead a donkey to water, but no devil can make him drink.” 
No matter who teaches us, no matter how he teaches us, we learn ourselves. And depending on how much knowledge we need, we learn.
There are two main elements in any training: theory And practice
Without theories It is possible to learn, but it is difficult. Theory helps to master knowledge faster and more meaningfully practice.
Without practices(without lessons and exercises) learning is even more difficult. Knowledge without practices- Just gossip, which are gradually are forgotten. Alternately receiving knowledge and securing them on practice, we learn any skill.
Later, when the skill is learned, we do not remember the knowledge and do not control our actions - we just do it.
Public speaking is not a simple skill.
Mastering rhetoric requires practical exercises involving speaking in front of other people.
- You can do exercises by yourself, in front of the mirror.
- You can - exercises before video camera.
But in this case, it is useful to periodically find speaking practice on your own: at work, at meetings, at parties.
One way to organize a practice is to gather a group of friends yourself. Perhaps they will also be interested in mastering the art of public speaking completely free of charge.
This happens often. Friends or colleagues are interviewed who want to learn public speaking lessons for free. There are always people who want to learn rhetoric. And after the first meeting, rumors about useful leisure bring even strangers. And all the lessons and exercises from this book can be done together.
Can be trained alone with a friend.
Do practical exercises together.
And, alternately, be a demanding teacher and a talented student.
Collecting is very welcome family evenings, and do exercises with your family.
This is an interesting and useful family leisure activity. You will find that everyone in your family will enjoy these public speaking lessons.
But if you still use rhetoric study on your own- it is also good. After all, many practical exercises can be done independently.
So where should you start?
1. Theory.
2. Practice.
Lesson #1.
Let's start with a simple exercise. Read any of these parables:
Stand in front of the mirror and tell any of them in your own words.
If you are already doing well in front of the mirror, turn on the video camera.
A webcam, for example, or a video camera on a smartphone.
When this turns out well, tell this parable to one of your friends.
Next time you can do the same with any story(news) from the Internet.
Here's an example.
- The most ordinary story told by the most ordinary person:
I think it’s useful to learn public speaking once, so that you can use it for the rest of your life.
However, the preface has gone on for a long time - it’s time to move on to the next chapters.
Rhetoric is the science of speech, correct and beautiful methods of communication that can convince anyone that the speaker is right and create the ground for further convictions. This art is studied in modern educational institutions, because the word is powerful tool, if used correctly. The main goal of rhetoric is to teach how to communicate in order to feel confident in any situation.
The emergence of rhetoric is considered to be the 5th century BC. e. Ancient Greece was the first in modern Europe to form the foundations of science. At that time in Ancient Greece Stylistics and grammar were studied. The Greeks were the first to systematize knowledge of rhetoric and created a large number of treatises on this topic, and some of them are studied even in our time.
Cicero - one of the most famous orators of Ancient Rome
The Romans became interested in the art of rhetoric after the conquest of Greece, when the traditions of these countries began to mix, and the empire actively borrowed the knowledge of its provinces. Art began to flourish in the Senate, courts, and public meetings.
There were some differences between the styles of rhetoric, since the Romans were less educated than the Greeks. The conquerors' speech was littered with digressions, stories, and stylistic nuances. Despite this, eloquence was still a powerful tool for orators. There were cases when Ancient Rome high government positions were occupied by people who were skilled in speech, and this was their main advantage in the political struggle, as we can learn from historical references.
Appearance in Russia
In ancient times this art was modified and supplemented useful techniques. Church leaders also began to use rhetoric, who actively attracted new flocks to their faith and presented irrefutable verbal evidence against heretics. The concept of rhetoric came to Russia from European countries in the 18th century.
Mikhail Vasilievich Lomonosov
The emergence of oratory coincided with the spread of Christianity. It was most often called “the gift of eloquence.” A little later, Lomonosov created the “Russian Grammar”, which included the “Rules of Eloquence”. Such political figures as Stolypin and Trotsky were considered good speakers. A little less, but still Lenin succeeded in understanding this science.
Oratory skills can be developed independently. Speech development requires training, accompanied by constant self-reflection, corrections and additions to skills. You need to notice all the mistakes that are made in order to try to correct them during the next conversation.
- use the right tempo. Important Feature, requiring assimilation. It is imperative to monitor the speed of conversation, since speech that is too fast does not have time to be absorbed by the listener, slow speech puts you to sleep and makes you become inattentive to phrases. Try to highlight important points intonation, change the pitch of the voice. This attracts attention and prevents the interlocutor from getting bored;
- communicate with people. To improve communication skills, talking about things at home is not enough. It takes practice to communicate live. To relieve accumulated tension during a long story, you need to use jokes that can be prepared in advance;
- use retreats. Sayings, humor, quotes from great people make speech less dry and allow speech to be more demonstrative;
- put up a vote. Pronunciation must be clear and correct. You should pronounce consonants and pronounce any sounds clearly;
- Talk about topics that interest others. You can start with one true statement, and then smoothly lead to another, necessary to achieve the goal;
- maintain neutrality. The speaker should strive to reach agreement with everyone. Even if the interlocutor or several people are wrong, you should say “Yes, that’s right, but...”, after which you can prove your point of view.
Improving speech
To develop public speaking skills, you should practice. Otherwise, you won't be able to master them. To improve there is a set of exercises:
- Relieving muscle tension. The point is to make the conversation process easier. To do this you should:
- knead your shoulders and neck with rotational movements. The head should move as if under its own weight;
- warm up your forearms and hands as often as possible, rotate your shoulder joints;
- use circular movements of the arms at the elbows;
- Articulatory. They develop and train the lips, cheeks, tongue, hard and soft palate, and lower jaw. The flexibility of the speech apparatus is developed, the muscles necessary for better pronunciation of sounds are strengthened. Tension is relieved from the muscles and they relax. You need to do the following:
- Use your tongue to clean the gums in both directions. Make “injections” in the cheeks, pull it out as far as possible, change its shape. Make sounds similar to a horse galloping;
- Rotate your lips in different directions, stretch them out. Capture the air with outstretched lips, tense and relax. There will be ease and clarity when speaking;
- puff out your cheeks, roll the air in your mouth from one cheek to the other. It is necessary to warm them up, otherwise the voice will be flabby;
- silently, without opening your mouth, pronounce various words and sounds. The pharynx is trained, as a result of which the sound becomes loud and deep;
- Using your hands, smoothly open your jaw. Muscle efforts and excess tension are relieved.
- Improving pronunciation, increasing lexicon. List of exercises:
- reading aloud. Counts the best way improve public speaking skills. Diction improves, vocabulary, brightness of speech, and emotional coloring increase. You should read slowly, pronouncing each word. The text is pronounced not in a reader's tone, but in a conversational one;
- speaking tongue twisters. Diction is effectively trained by pronouncing words and sounds at maximum speed. Correct articulation is developed, and slips of the tongue occur less frequently.
When reading, each sound is pronounced clearly, the speed increases gradually. The main thing is to follow correct pronunciation, only then speed up your speech. For convenience, you need to create a picture of what is happening in your head and try to understand the words you read. You should not stop working on one phrase until the errors completely disappear.
If possible, keep a voice recorder of both the material read from the book and the tongue twisters. In this way, speech deficiencies found after listening can be eliminated.
There are many exercises that develop pronunciation and improve speaking skills. The above options are quite sufficient for beginner speakers. With their help you can achieve considerable success. The main thing in public speaking is to not stop developing, constantly improving your skills, and speaking as much as possible.
