Practice-Practice-Practice

There is no way around it. Whatever your trade, craft, or profession if you want to become one of the best you need to practice. The artist practices mixing and blending colours until he is able to capture a realistic scene on the canvas. The sculptor does the same learning how to a block of stone into a life-like replica of a person or other subject. The writer works at honing the skill to create or re-create emotion stirring word pictures of events and characters. And a speaker or presenter must practice turning what is written on paper into an educational, entertaining and stirring performance.

 

There is no other way around it. The only way to develop the mechanical skills of making an effective presentation : proper breath control,; articulation; enunciation; a variety in pace, pitch, and power; as well as the skill to use pausing effectively takes endless practice.

Of course the time it takes to gain the mastery of all of these parts of effective presentation will vary from person to person but even a person who might have a natural ability as a speaker should not neglect voice practice in order to keep his or her voice fine-tuned, just as a professional figure skater continues to practice even after they have gained recognition as the best or one of the best performers.

In the case of a public speaker or presenter one of the easiest ways to do this is make time to practice reading daily. One teacher I know makes a habit of practising at least five to fifteen minutes a day either at home in the early morning or evening going to bed – or even sometimes while sitting in his vehicle in a traffic jam – holding his cell phone up to his mouth to make it looks like he is recording something and doesn't look like an idiot. (He says that most other drivers don't even give him a second glance.)