Former competitive speaker Josh Leskar shares five of his favorite speech exercises and principles, to help you improve before your next big presentation.

I still remember my first day as a freshman in Speech and Debate class. I strode into class with the confidence of an athlete, knowing this was going to be a cinch: get up there, chat a bit, and sit down to roaring applause for my ability speak extemporaneously without stuttering, mumbling, or pausing of any kind.

And then we broke out into small groups with upperclassmen listening to our first attempts at speeches.

“Just talk about anything you want for two minutes.” Lindsey said.

“Anything I want?” I replied. “Anything at all?”

“Yep! Ready… Start.”

As the timer ticked, I got two sentences out about the NFL. That was the first 20 seconds. I spent the rest of my two minutes staring blankly at her. It felt like eternity.

This was going to be much harder than I anticipated.

But throughout the next few weeks, practicing, failing, getting a little better each time, there was a shift slowly happening.

After months and years of practice, you change. Eventually, speaking in front of 6,000 people becomes the same as speaking in front of six. It just doesn’t matter. You’re comfortable enough in your own skin, with your own abilities, so your body takes over and you can get out of your own head.

To this day, I still use some of the first exercises and tips I ever learned. (To see examples of all of these exercises– and modeling of the mistakes and fixes mentioned here– check out Udemy’s public speaking crash course.)

These are a few of my all-time favorites.

Embrace silence

Use it to your advantage. Silence can be one of the most powerful tools in public speaking– it gives your audience time to comprehend, allows your brain to catch up with your mouth, and helps draw the audience in to really focus on the next words you say. This can be used right before an important point to emphasize it, or to denote a change in tone or subject, or it can be used just to adjust the pace of the speech when you need to slow down. What feels like an eternity to you is in fact just a normal pause to everyone else. After your sentence, take one deep breath. Then continue.

Warm up properly

Whatever speech issue plagues you, from monotony to speaking too quietly, a warmup is a great way to feel more comfortable with you body and what it can do. Often, the way you think you’re speaking (or how you think you look) doesn’t translate to reality. So, my favorite exercise is called, “Big Face, Little Face.” It gives your body and your voice a chance to stretch by reaching the extremes.

Here’s how it goes: You make your face, arms, and body as big as possible, stretching high and wide, and say, “BIG FACE” loudly! Then, shrink down as small as you can: scrunch your brow, squint your eyes, pucker your lips, and crouch low while whispering, “Little face.”

Does this seem silly? Absolutely. Is it helpful? You bet. This exercise gets your body and voice moving in the extremes, so that the necessary variations of your pitch and gestures seem within normal bounds. When you test the extremes, you have a feeling of freedom in what you can do on the stage.

Practice controlled passion

It’s difficult to keep your emotions in check when giving a speech. You’re often nervous, excited, and scared, all at the same time. The best remedy is simply to practice. Nothing can take the place of preparation. Speak to family members, friends, and even to walls and mirrors. It will get you prepared to hear your own voice out loud, help you maintain control over how you display your emotions, and give you a benchmark to recall when you stand before an audience.

Don’t simply read your speech over and over again. It gives you a false sense of preparation.

Know your topic

Of course you can never know every single detail about any subject, but it’s essential to be as prepared as possible on the topic, as well as the format, of your speech. The more comprehensive your knowledge, the more confidant you will feel, and the less you’ll fear forgetting your lines.

The only three things you should memorize are your introduction, transitions, and conclusion. The introduction is your first impression. The conclusion is the last memory you give to the audience. And your transitions will keep your speech going, so even if you forget a specific point you want to make, you can always move on to the next.

Enunciate

To ensure you enunciate when you speak, here’s an easy exercise. Take a pen and place it in your mouth (horizontally) and bite down. Then, try your hardest to clearly communicate your speech. Or, if you’re just looking to improve your speaking abilities in general, try a tongue twister! You’ll have to work hard to fight through the pen. Then, remove the pen, say the same thing, and listen to how much you improve.

These may seem like arbitrary exercises, but sometimes it’s the odd things that help you get out of your own head and overcome some of the fears, frustrations, and road blocks you may have. Let me know what works for you in the comments!

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About the author: Josh Leskar is a Marketing Specialist at Udemy — a global marketplace for teaching and learning that gives people everywhere the opportunity to advance their careers, change professions, develop a personal passion, or simply learn something new. He is passionate about changing the world of education as we know it, hoping to make it more affordable and accessible around the world. In his spare time, he is an avid baker, runner, positive peer-pressurer and former competitive public speaker.