The Obamas- Michelle and Barack, recently gave some excellent speeches at the 2016 Democratic National Convention. The speeches stood out among the many they have given for being emotional, powerful, meaningful and simply very memorable. Many of us think that speaking like this in public is incredibly difficult and takes years of practice, but we can assure you that it does not.

There are a few essential things to keep in mind, and yes, practice helps, but our years of experience at Dale Carnegie Training, teaching people from all walks of life how to enhance their presentation and public speaking skills, has helped us narrow this art down to a few essential "P"s.

Plan

What is the goal of your presentation or speech? If your audience can answer this at the end of your session, then you have done a good job. Planning includes understanding your audience so that you can tailor your message more effectively, envisioning the types of queries that might arise and the appropriate responses. Center your content around one central idea or theme so that you can leave the audience with one major take-away (so much better than several disparate ideas). Condense your central idea into one simple sentence, and repeat that sentence throughout your presentation. Telling one story will increase your message’s stickiness factor and is more likely to get your audience to heed your call to action.

Preparation

Professionals need to be confident when presenting to a buying team, executive decision makers, cross-functional teams, peers and subordinates. Confidence comes from knowing your facts inside-out and feeling like you could handle almost any question that could arise. This is because you have already envisioned the worst case scenarios and prepared for them. The chances of someone catching you off-guard are reduced. This also gives you the opportunity to include relevant examples, supporting facts and memorable stories in your narrative- remember: Evidence Defeats Doubt. But often, even when we prepare way in advance, we can still feel quite nervous before a big presentation. This is where the next point comes in handy.

Practice

Good speakers seem to exude magnetic charisma that makes us hang on to their every word. This is because they have practiced their speech so much, and know the subject matter so well, that they can give their talk anywhere, at the drop of a hat. This also allows them to free-up their thinking to focus on their delivery- the small nuances that take a speech from good to great. Practice helps boost confidence (or the appearance of it) considerably. It helps reduce your nervousness and fear. You'll be surprised at how rehearsing can actually be a radical game-changer in your public speaking abilities, enabling you to connect with the audience on a much deeper level.

These tips are not really secrets, but they are so often ignored or skipped over that it can seem like few people know about them. Putting them into practice will help you master the three attributes of an outstandingly persuasive presenter: earning the right to present on the topic, being excited about our topic, and being eager to share the importance of your message with your listeners.

We are conducting a complimentary Dale Carnegie workshop on Storytelling this month in Pune. If you’d like to learn How to Win Business and Engage Your Audience, you can register for free here.