Triple Take #39: How to Prepare Before Public Speaking - On the Day

Voice Confident's Triple Take - your fortnightly trio of tips!

Key Takeaways on How to Prepare Before Public Speaking

Warm Up Your Voice Before Speaking

Simple vocal warm-ups help your voice sound clearer, steadier and more resonant during presentations and meetings.

Use Posture and Breathing to Stay Grounded

Open posture and slower breathing help regulate the nervous system and improve vocal presence.

Build Confidence Through Physical Cues

Smiling, relaxed shoulders and natural gestures all help you appear and feel more confident when speaking.

Introduction

Preparing for public speaking doesn’t only happen in the days before a talk. What you do on the day itself can change how your voice sounds, how calm you feel and how connected you appear to your audience.

Many speakers focus entirely on their content and forget to prepare the instrument delivering it: the body, breath and voice. A few simple warm-ups can help you speak with more clarity, presence and confidence before you step into the room.

This issue explores practical same-day public speaking techniques to help you feel more grounded and ready before a presentation, meeting or keynote.

Voice: Warm Up Your Voice Before Speaking

Your voice works best when it’s warm, free and responsive. Even a few minutes of vocal preparation on the day can make a noticeable difference to clarity, resonance and ease during a presentation.

Start with gentle humming to wake up the vocal folds without strain. Then release the tongue; one effective stretch is to extend the tongue over a pencil to lengthen and relax the muscles. After that, try “nya nya nya” with a relaxed jaw, to focus the sound forwards into the face and encourage brighter resonance.

These exercises help reduce tension and make articulation clearer. This is something my coaching clients often love because the effects are immediate; they feel vocally awake and less effortful when they begin speaking.

👉 Try this: before your next presentation, spend two minutes humming, stretching the tongue and saying “nya nya nya” slowly and clearly. Notice how much more focused and resonant your voice feels afterwards.

Presence: Use Posture and Breathing to Feel Grounded

How you move and breathe before public speaking shapes the energy you bring into the room. If your posture collapses or your breathing becomes shallow, your body can interpret that as stress.

Roll your shoulders back and gently lengthen through the back of the neck as though the crown of your head is being lifted upwards. Then walk around “heart-led”; open through the chest rather than curling inwards protectively. Pair this with slow breathing that slightly emphasises the outbreath, helping your nervous system settle into a calmer state.

I was working on this with a client recently before a keynote; simply changing how she walked into the room altered how grounded and confident she appeared before she’d even spoken.

👉 Try this: before entering the room, take three slow breaths with a longer exhale, roll your shoulders back and walk slowly with an open chest and relaxed jaw -

Confidence: Use Smiling and Natural Gestures

One of the quickest ways to change the emotional atmosphere in a room is to smile. A genuine smile relaxes other people and also sends reassuring signals back to your own brain and nervous system.

Confidence doesn’t always begin with thoughts; often it begins with the body. Relaxing the shoulders and hands reduces visible tension, while allowing yourself to gesture naturally helps your delivery feel more conversational and connected. Many people try to keep their hands still when nervous, but expressive movement often makes them appear more confident, not less.

This is a technique my clients find surprisingly freeing; once they stop trying to “contain” themselves physically, they usually sound and feel far more natural when presenting.

👉 Try this: before you begin speaking, soften your shoulders, let your hands hang naturally and smile at one person in the room. Then allow your gestures to support your words rather than suppressing them.

FAQs About Preparing to Speak on the Day

Do vocal warm-ups really help before public speaking?

Yes. Vocal warm-ups help release tension, improve resonance and make articulation clearer, especially before longer presentations or meetings.

Why does posture affect confidence when presenting?

Posture influences breathing and nervous system regulation. An open, upright posture helps the body feel safer and more grounded during public speaking.

Should I consciously use hand gestures during presentations?

Natural gestures help communication feel more expressive and connected. Trying to keep your hands completely still often increases tension rather than reducing it.

Would you like to be a more confident speaker?

Go from struggling to be heard to leading the conversation! Check out the REAL Speaker Programme.