How to Become a Great Public Speaker

Overview

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You're ready to ditch the fear of public speaking and become a successful, memorable speaker. This course, taught by public speaking coach Michelle Barry Franco, will provide you with advanced public speaking techniques to help you achieve your goal. You'll learn speaking methods that invite crowds to grow and learn with your message. You'll recognize that building trust and connection with every person in the audience makes your presentation stand out. Michelle will teach you how to structure a presentation to achieve maximum audience engagement, and how to avoid obscure points. You'll learn you the best way to practice your speaking engagements, and how to ask for and apply feedback. Upon completing this course you’ll have a solid supply of confidence and the tools needed to thrive in all areas of public speaking.

Syllabus

Decide to Be Great

Most speakers settle for "pretty good" because they've never made a deliberate decision to be great. In this module, you'll commit to the growth mindset that transforms how you approach every presentation, and build the personal "why" that will keep you moving forward when the work gets hard.

Focus on Them

The most common mistake speakers make isn't a delivery problem — it's a perspective problem. In this module, you'll shift your focus entirely to your audience, build the deep knowledge of their lives and struggles that makes content resonate, and commit to a preparation process that puts service at the center of every talk you give.

Clarity Over Cleverness

Clever metaphors and sharp humor are wonderful — but only when they serve a crystal-clear point. In this module, you'll craft a precise core message that anchors everything you say, and build the structural framework that ensures your audience always knows where you're taking them.

Plan to Captivate

Captivating speakers aren't born that way — they've studied what engages human brains, discovered their own authentic voice, and learned to use stories with strategic precision. In this module, you'll build a personal toolkit of best practices grounded in brain science, unlock the authentic style that makes you compelling, and craft stories that bring your points to life and move your audience to action.

Speak Often

No amount of preparation fully replaces the experience of actually delivering to a live audience — and no amount of applause replaces the insight of genuine, specific feedback. In this module, you'll build a sustainable practice of delivering often across diverse contexts, and develop the feedback habits that turn every speaking experience into a real opportunity to grow.

Release Fear

Speaking anxiety is not a character flaw — it's a hardwired human response that every speaker experiences. In this module, you'll reframe fear as a manageable, temporary sensation, discover why preparation and audience focus are your most powerful antidotes to anxiety, and practice the art of surrendered speaking — the ultimate shift from self-consciousness to authentic, full-presence connection.

Conclusion

You've covered every essential principle that separates memorable speakers from the rest. In this module, you'll consolidate what you've learned into a personal commitment to ongoing growth, bringing together mindset, preparation, and presence as an integrated, lifelong approach to great speaking.