Public Speaking

Establishing Credibility 

 

This step should happen within the introduction of your speech. Establishing credibility helps hook the audience on your topic because they are able to tell you as a speaker know what you're talking about. Most public speaking engagements are planned allowing the speaker plenty of time to prepare. In order to give a well-organized speech, you must research your topic well and use reliable sources. Without the use of reliable sources your audience may have a hard time believing any statistics or factual information you give. This will quickly lose their interest and turn them off from wanting to hear anything else you say. Also, when you establish credibility and research well, you enable yourself to give a knowledgeable speech. By knowing what you're saying this helps decrease speech anxiety.