Foundations of Public Speaking

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Course Overview

Public speaking is an essential skill for most professionals, yet often people dread speaking in front of others. In this course, you will discover the mindset, tools, and tactics to make you effective as a public speaker in any context for any purpose. You will explore your fears about public speaking and learn strategies for turning that fear into energy to positively impact your message and delivery. Interactive exercises and rich discussion bring concepts to life.

This course has been approved for 7 PDUs | 7 CDUs

Who Should Attend

This course is intended for anyone who finds themselves needing to speak to groups of people for any reason. The content applies to formal, informal, online, or in-person speaking. Throughout the course, you will develop your own blueprint to set you up for success in your public speaking engagements after class.

Course Objectives

    • Embrace a healthy speaker mindset to enhance delivery
    • Effectively prepare for a public speaking engagement
    • Explore the real fear of public speaking and practice ways to mitigate it
    • Utilize proven tactics to engage the audience and present successfully
    • Understand top public speaking challenges and how to address them

Course Outline

The Public Speaking Mindset

  • Embracing a healthy presentation mindset
  • Setting expectations for the speaker and audience
  • Fostering engagement in a safe environment

Preparing for Public Speaking

  • Outlining topics and ideas
  • Considering the opening and closing
  • Using presentation staging and visual backdrops effectively
  • Creating high-quality slides to guide the presentation

Mitigating the Stress of Public Speaking

  • Understanding and overcoming the fear of public speaking
  • Using humor effectively
  • Leveraging the techniques and tips to mitigate stress

Speaking Effectively with Confidence

  • Delivering a solid opening to connect with the audience
  • Reading the audience
  • Using tactics to encourage audience engagement
  • Making good use of space and optics
  • Managing stress in the moment
  • Responding effectively to the top public speaking challenges
  • Concluding the presentation successfully

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Class Dates & Times

Class times are listed Eastern time

This is a 1-day class

Register for Class

Register When Time Where How
Register 06/18/2025 9:00AM - 5:00PM Online VILT
Register 10/29/2025 9:00AM - 5:00PM Online VILT
Register 12/17/2025 9:00AM - 5:00PM Online VILT

The classes listed are available to all United Training customers and does not reflect, in any way,
the availability or support of technology within the University of Maine System.