TJ Walker argues that the fastest way to improve public speaking is to record yourself on video daily and perform disciplined self-review. He recommends listing what you did well first, then identify one specific, measurable thing to change, re-record, and repeat—claiming noticeable improvement within about two weeks.
Chapters
If you want to get better as a speaker quickly, and I mean quickly, best thing you can do is speak every day on video. Now, why do I say video? Because if you don't video record yourself and watch yourself, you can't figure out what are you doing well, so you do more of it. What are you not doing well, so you do less of it. If you want to be a great writer, it's not enough to simply write each day. You have to read what you've written. You have to edit your writing to figure out how to get better and better. It's like that in any skill. It's exactly the same thing with speaking. Unfortunately, for most of human history, there were no video cameras. And then for decades, when video was first created, it was expensive to be video recorded. You had to call a video production crew or own your own TV station. Well, these days, we all have our own video production studio in our pocket. It's called a cell phone. You don't have to worry about fancy lighting or backdrops or sets or anything like that. All you have to do is to speak, watch yourself on video. And then here's what's key. You've got to critically but fairly watch yourself on video. What do I mean by that? Most people, when they practice a speech, video record themselves and then look are harsh critics, but they're not fair. They only point out what they don't like. Oh, gosh, I said once, this is awful. I should never speak again. That's not helpful. Or, gosh, I touched my nose once in that speech. That makes me look nervous. And people will interpret that as I'm a liar. That's not particularly helpful. When you're watching yourself give a speech, a presentation, a short talking head video, you have to analyze yourself in a very, very specific way. You need to first go through and make a list of everything you like. Was your voice solid? Did you have good speaking speed? Did you pause? Did your hands move in a way that make you not look nervous or scared? Everyone, and I mean everyone, does something right when they're speaking. Then and only then, you need to go through and really criticize yourself. Look for the things you don't like. Were you boring? Did you turn your back on the audience to stare at a screen that no one else can even see? Go through and list everything you don't like. Can I ask you a personal favor? I'm trying to help more people just like you all around the globe improve their personal communication skills. And to be more successful, if you hit the subscribe button. Not only will I be able to help you, but that'll send a message to others around the world that this is a place for them. So please, as a small favor, hit subscribe now. Here's the part where I lose people. It's not enough to just do that once. You need to then record another video. Try to do more of what you liked, and try to do just one thing less of what you didn't like. Focus on a specific solution and it needs to be highly specific. Don't just say to yourself, well, I didn't like that speech I gave because I didn't seem confident. I need to be more confident. What does that really mean? You've got to have a specific thing you can do. You can't simply be more confident now. What you can do is if you seem like you weren't confident because your voice was too soft, you can very consciously try to speak a little bit louder this time. Be specific, Measure what you're doing. Nobody became a world class writer writing one time or reading their own work and editing at one time. It is a process that takes, in the case of writing, decades. Quite often in the case of speaking, you can do it much faster if you're willing to suffer the pain. And I say pain, no one's really going to come hit you or attack you or embarrass you in front of the world. The pain is simply getting over that discomfort of watching yourself and not liking what you see and then having the discipline to do it again. Do a little bit more of the good stuff. Try to remove one thing you don't want and then doing it again. I guarantee you, if you do this every single day, not for decades, not for years, not for six months, if you do that for even two weeks, you're going to see a radical transformation in your speaking abilities.
