Essential Public Speaking

The easiest way to become a great public speaker. Learn with online classes, practice in interactive exercises.

Online

AI feedback

8 interactive practice exercises

CPD Accredited

Digital certificate

5 hours of learning and practice

Course Outcomes

  • Overcome a fear of public speaking and feel comfortable speaking in front of audiences of various sizes.
  • Know key theories and techniques to deliver effective and memorable speeches.
  • Easily design your presentation to engage and persuade your audience.
  • Manage nerves and become a confident public speaker with practice in interactive exercises.
  • Engage and connect with your audience through storytelling.
  • Enhance your message with body language, eye contact, and gestures.

Accelerate learning with realistic practice

Over 70% of HR professionals say that public speaking is essential for a successful career. Feeling confident in your ability to articulate yourself and inspire your audience can transform your professional and personal life, and help you to reach your full potential.

This course gives you the tools and techniques to successfully deliver a presentation, pitch, or speech whenever you want. A unique feature of this course is that you can practice everything you've learned, either online or in VR:

  • Unlock access to interactive exercises, which you can access from your web browser or a VR headset.
  • Mock conference rooms, meeting rooms, Zoom presentations, and more.
  • Practice your skills with various audience sizes.
  • Receive AI-powered feedback on your performance.

Online learning, done differently

We combine online learning with practice for a unique learning approach. At certain points throughout this public speaking course, you'll practice what you've learned.

Course Content

1. Welcome and overview
Overview of the online course, including how to access the practice exercises, and how they can improve your public speaking. We end this section with a brief history of public speaking.
2. Understanding speech
Rhetoric is an important part of public speaking and persuasion. This section covers the key aspects of rhetoric, as we explain what makes speeches easy to listen to and how to add these to your speech.
3. Connecting with the audience
It's vital that you understand and connect with your audience during your speech. This section covers the different types of audience members, how to maintain their attention and cope with distractions.
4. Planning your speech
Planning is a vital part of public speaking. Learn how to pick a topic and what to ask yourself before writing your speech. We also show an example product demo, to help you plan for this scenario.
5. Impromptu speeches
Impromptu speeches are amongst the hardest you will do. Learn how you can prepare for these situations and then practice your impromptu speaking.
6. Writing and structuring your speech
In this section, we provide frameworks and examples for how to write and structure a speech, with a particular focus on the introduction.
7. Literary techniques
Literary techniques are a powerful way to engage your audience. We examine the techniques used by Obama, Churchill, and King in some of the world's most famous speeches.
8. Coping with nerves and anxiety
Nerves are an inevitable part of public speaking. Practice your speech in our large virtual conference, before learning how to manage anxiety from an expert.
9. Delivering your speech
From warming up your voice, to actually delivering your speech, this section covers all the fundamental topics required when delivering a speech.
10. Summary
The final section of this course gives you simple communication tips and a checklist to go through before your next speech.

Example videos

Throughout this course, you'll watch real-life video examples of the skills being taught, including how to start a presentation, use your voice effectively, and answer audience questions.

Learn from these videos and transfer the skills to your own public speaking.

Your Instructor

Dom Barnard

Dom is Curriculum Lead for the Public Speaking course. He's an entrepreneur and engineer with a passion for finding new ways to improve speaking skills using technology. Previously, Dom worked at Jaguar Land Rover before leaving to start VirtualSpeech and now speaks at events around the world.

Practice exercises

Practice your public speaking with interactive and engaging exercises. At key points during the course, you'll be prompted to practice what you've learned in one of the following exercises.

Features in the practice exercises

Improve faster and practice what you learn with these features.

AI-powered questions

AI will scan the transcript of what you say and ask relevant questions for you to practice answering.

Upload slides and notes

Practice with your own presentation slides and notes with you.

Speech analysis

Receive feedback on your eye contact, speaking pace, filler words, and more.

Audience distractions

Learn to deal with audience noises, mobile phones, and stage lighting.

Listenability score

Get feedback after you present on how easy your speech was to listen to.

Track progress

See how you are improving over time and areas that you need to focus on.

Ish Laos

"As someone who suffers from public speaking phobia, this threw me right into the lions den... I encountered flaws in my approach that I would not have discovered until the actual event."

Jordan Brook

"Insanely useful for someone who wants to learn to speak in front of people... I'm now the 'pitch man' for our company, and my pitches opened the door to our (now completed) seed round of funding."

Kit Eaton

"VirtualSpeech helps conquer stage fright and get someone accustomed to what it feels like to be presenting to a crowd, and thus prepare for the same situation."

Frequently Asked Questions

1How do I access the online classes and practice exercises?

You can access the classes through the VirtualSpeech website, on any standard web browser such as Chrome, Firefox, or Safari.

The practice exercises can be completed online or in virtual reality (if you have a VR headset).

2When do I get access to the training?

When you enroll in the course, you'll get 24/7 access to the course (including tutorial videos, case studies, practice exercises, VR, and more) through the VirtualSpeech website and in VR.

3What equipment do I need for the practice exercises?

Both the online classes and exercises run in your browser, no additional software or download is required.

If you have a VR headset, you can also access the practice exercises in VR. Here's a list of our recommended VR headsets.

The online exercises have been tested across multiple browsers and run smoothly on Google Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Internet Explorer, and Edge.

4How can I pay?

We accept payment via Credit Card, Debit Card or PayPal directly through the VirtualSpeech site. If you'd like to pay with an Invoice or using another payment method, please contact us.

5Can I buy this course for multiple people / my team?

Yes you can. After pressing the 'Buy Now' button on this page, select the number of users (maximum is 25).

After the payment, you'll be made course admin and can add users to the course from the admin dashboard.

6Can I get a certificate when I complete this course?

Yes, when you've completed this course, we'll send you a Certificate of Achievement, which you can share in the Certifications section of your LinkedIn profile, on printed resumes, CVs, or other documents.

7What is the refund policy?

If the course does not meet your expectations, you can get a full refund within 7 days of purchasing the course.