You Don’t Have to Be a Great Speaker to Be a Great Presenter
Last Updated: 9/3/2026
I’ve done enough presentations, meetings, videos, and conference calls over the years to know that most of us are not natural public speakers. And that’s fine. You don’t need a perfect voice, a huge personality, or the ability to walk around a stage like you’re giving a TED Talk to be a good presenter.
In fact, I think people sometimes make presenting harder than it needs to be. We concentrate so much on what we are going to say that we forget how much and how we say it matters. Your pace, tone, pauses, eye contact, and even the way you finish a sentence can change how people hear your message.
The good news is that these are skills, and skills can be learned. You don’t need to completely change the way you communicate. A few small adjustments can make a pretty big difference.
Get Comfortable With the Pause
One of the first things most of us need to work on is getting comfortable with silence. When we’re speaking and our brain needs a second to catch up, our natural reaction is to fill the empty space with something. That’s where all the “ums,” “uhs,” “likes,” and “you knows” come from.
The solution sounds almost too simple. Instead of filling that space, stop talking for a second.
At first, that silence can feel incredibly long. A two-second pause in front of a room may feel like you have been standing there silently for 20 seconds. The audience doesn’t experience it that way. In fact, a well-placed pause can make you sound more confident because you’re not rushing to fill every second with noise.
Pauses can also be used on purpose. Phrases such as, “The one thing I want you to remember is…” or “Here’s where most people get this wrong…” naturally set up a pause. Stop for a second before giving the answer. You have just told everyone in the room that what comes next is important.
The same thing works after an important statement. Make your point and give people a second to process it. We have a tendency to make a strong statement and immediately bury it under three more sentences. Sometimes the best thing you can do after making your point is shut up for a second and let it land.
Your Voice Is Part of the Presentation
We spend a lot of time thinking about the words we’re going to use, but our voice communicates plenty on its own. Tone, volume, speed, and pitch all tell the audience something about what we’re saying.
Think about someone who speaks at exactly the same speed, volume, and pitch for 45 minutes. Even if the information is good, eventually your brain starts looking for something else to do. That’s usually about the time you start thinking about lunch.
Your voice needs some variety. When something is exciting, let a little energy come through. When something is important, slow down. When you really want people to pay attention, getting a little quieter can sometimes work better than getting louder. The change itself tells people that something important is happening.
One easy way to practice this is to take a paragraph from your presentation and underline three or four words that matter most. When you practice, put a little more emphasis on those words. You’re no longer just reading a collection of sentences. You’re helping the audience understand which ideas matter.
Finish Your Sentences With Confidence
Here’s another habit that can completely change how someone sounds. Pay attention to what your voice does at the end of a sentence.
Some people naturally raise their pitch at the end of almost every statement. The problem is that it can make a statement sound like a question.
Imagine someone saying, “I think this is the direction we should go?” If you’re leading the meeting, I’m now wondering whether you’re telling me that’s the direction we’re going or asking me if you picked the right direction.
Instead, practice bringing your pitch down slightly as you finish an important statement. You don’t need to suddenly sound like Darth Vader. Just finish the sentence with certainty.
The words haven’t changed, but the way the audience hears them has. If you’re making a point that you believe in, your voice should sound like you believe it too.
Slow Down More Than You Think You Need To
Nerves make most people talk faster. The problem is that you already know what you’re about to say and the audience doesn’t. Your brain might be three sentences ahead while they’re still trying to process sentence number one.
One of the easiest tricks I’ve found is to mentally put a period at the end of each thought. Finish the idea, pause briefly, and then start the next one. This is especially important when you’re giving people numbers, dates, instructions, names, or anything else you really want them to remember.
Slowing down doesn’t mean losing your energy. You can still be animated and conversational. You’re simply giving your audience enough time to stay with you. Remember, you’re not racing anybody. Getting through the presentation faster isn’t the goal. Getting the audience to understand it is.
Know Your Message, Don’t Memorize Your Words
This sounds backwards, especially for beginners, but memorizing every word of a presentation can actually make you sound less natural. Instead of talking to the people in front of you, you’re concentrating on remembering sentence number 47.
Then you forget one word and panic.
The audience has no idea you forgot it. They don’t have your script.
I think it’s much more useful to know the structure of what you want to say. Know how you’re going to start, know the three or four main points you need to cover, and know how you want to finish. Think of those as your road map.
Once you know the message, talk about it. You may say something a little different each time, and that’s okay. That’s how conversations work. The goal isn’t to give the exact same performance every time. The goal is to communicate the idea clearly.
Talk to People, Not the Room
Eye contact is another thing people tend to overthink. When we’re nervous, we often scan the room while we’re speaking. Our eyes are everywhere, but we’re not really looking at anyone.
Instead, try talking to one person for a thought. Make the point, then naturally move your attention to someone else. You’re not staring anybody down. This isn’t a Rocky movie. You’re simply turning a presentation into a series of short conversations with people in the room.
The same idea applies to video. If you’re recording something, the camera lens is the person. It’s tempting to look at yourself on the screen, especially when you want to make sure everything looks right, but the person watching the video will feel much more connected to you when you’re looking into the lens.
Imagine you’re talking to one person on the other side of that camera. You’ll usually sound more natural because that’s how you talk in real life.
Stop Worrying So Much About Your Hands
I hear this question all the time: “What am I supposed to do with my hands?”
Use them.
If you normally talk with your hands, there is no reason to suddenly become a statue because you’re standing in front of a room. Natural gestures can add energy and help emphasize a point. What you don’t want to do is choreograph every movement or spend half your mental energy wondering where your hands are supposed to be.
Your body language should support what you’re saying without becoming the thing everyone is watching. If you’re thinking, “Okay, now I point, then I take three steps to the left,” you’re probably thinking about the wrong thing.
Give People a Reason to Listen From the Beginning
We’ve all heard the same presentation opening hundreds of times: “Good morning everyone. My name is Bob. I’m really excited to be here today, and I’m going to spend the next 30 minutes talking to you about…”
You haven’t technically done anything wrong. You also haven’t given me much reason to pay attention.
Try starting with something that creates a little curiosity. “There’s one mistake I see businesses make over and over again.” Now I want to know what the mistake is. “I learned this lesson the hard way about ten years ago.” Okay, what happened? Or simply tell the audience, “The one thing I want you to leave here knowing today is this…”
Your first job isn’t to introduce your PowerPoint. Your first job is to make people want to hear your second sentence.
Maybe that is not a problem to solve. Maybe it is an advantage to lead.
Your PowerPoint Isn’t the Presentation
Speaking of PowerPoint, if you’re reading every word off the screen, I have some bad news. We can read too.
Slides should support what you’re saying, not replace you. A picture, a number, a short statement, or a simple graph can help reinforce your message. Then you provide the context and tell the story.
I like a pretty simple test. If I can email someone your PowerPoint and they get exactly the same experience they would have gotten from hearing you present it, why did you need to be in the room?
You should be adding something the slides can’t provide. Your experience, your stories, your opinion, your energy, and your ability to explain why something matters are the presentation.
Practice the Presentation Before You Ever Give It
Before I give a presentation, I usually rehearse it in my head long before I ever stand up in front of an audience.
And I don’t mean casually thinking about the topic while I’m doing something else. I mean actually picturing myself giving the presentation.
I think about how I’m going to open. I imagine where I’ll pause. I hear myself making the important points. I think about which stories I’ll use and how I want to finish. If there’s a section I’m not comfortable with, I’ll run through it a few more times until it feels natural.
I’ve found that when I’ve already “seen” myself give the presentation a dozen times in my head, the real thing feels a lot less intimidating.
Here’s something else that helps. Don’t just imagine everything going perfectly. Picture the actual room. Imagine someone checking their phone. Think about losing your place for a second and calmly finding it again. Picture someone asking a question you weren’t expecting.
You’re not trying to make yourself nervous. You’re making the situation feel familiar before it actually happens.
By the time I walk into the room, it no longer feels like a completely new experience. I’ve already practiced the opening. I’ve already thought through the transitions. I’ve already heard myself making the key points.
When presentation day arrives, it feels less like a performance and more like a conversation I’ve already had a few times before.
Record Yourself, Even Though You’re Going to Hate It
If you really want to improve, this may be the most uncomfortable advice in the entire article. Record yourself presenting for three or four minutes and then watch it.
Most people hate this at first. Your voice sounds weird. You notice that you say “right?” after every other sentence. Maybe you rock back and forth. Maybe you discover that you said “um” 37 times in three minutes.
That’s actually good news because now you know what to work on.
Don’t try to fix everything at once. Pick one thing. Maybe this week you concentrate on replacing filler words with pauses. Next time, work on slowing down. After that, listen to how you’re ending your sentences. Small improvements start adding up surprisingly fast.
You Don’t Need to Become a Professional Speaker
Most of us aren’t trying to become keynote speakers. We’re trying to lead a meeting, explain an idea, make a sales presentation, record a video, speak to employees, or stand in front of 50 people without looking like we’d rather be anywhere else.
You can get better at all of those things.
Start by slowing down and getting comfortable with silence. Lose some of the filler words. Use pauses on purpose. Change your tone and pace when you want to emphasize something. Finish important statements with confidence. Look at the person you’re talking to instead of looking around the room. Most importantly, know what you want to communicate instead of trying to memorize exactly how you’re going to say it.
Then practice.
The goal isn’t to turn yourself into someone else when you stand up in front of a room. In fact, I’d argue that’s exactly what you shouldn’t do.
The goal is to become a slightly better version of the person people already enjoy talking to.
Bob Brzyski
Vice President of Marketing