The way you speak in public can determine how others view you as a professional and most opinions of you are based on your ability to perform a public speaking assignment. Here you will find some basic public speaking tips you can implement easily. First, master the 3 "knows". Know your material. If your material is new to you, your nervousness will show through. Practice your presentation or speech many times before presenting it. Know your audience. Before you start your presentation, greet some of the audience members as they come in, get to know them on a friendly level. Isn't it easier when you speak in front of friends than strangers? And finally, know the room. Arrive a bit early and get used to your surroundings.

Using visual aids can not only take some of the tension off of you as a public speaker, but can cause the audience to think that you know more about what you are talking about AND will ease their potential boredom as your speech goes on. People like to look at things. This can be anything from a handout to a PowerPoint presentation. Keep your visual aids simple though. A complicated visual aid can distract an audience more than help them. Take note that if you give out handouts, don't put too much on them for your audience to read. You don't want your audience reading the entire time you are speaking.

Body language is vital to public speaking. Most audience members will prefer to see you use hand gestures, walk around, or even to see you standing rather than sitting. Along with body language you have to let the tone of your voice to force your audience to believe that you know what you are talking about. Do not mumble. Speak loudly and confident. If you make an error, just correct yourself and move on. Don't apologize or make excuses for a simple error you make. And finally, while very simple it is very important that you do not read from your notes if at all possible for any extended period of time. Glancing at notes is fine, as long as it is infrequent.