--- title: How to Focus Your Thoughts for Great Public Speaking description: Do your presentation skills create maximum impact and influence? Here's how to focus your thoughts for great public speaking! image: https://www.genardmethod.com/hubfs/FREE%20PHOTOS/pexels-photo-3965671.jpeg --- [![Genard Method Public Speaking Training](https://www.genardmethod.com/hubfs/images/bg-brand.png)](https://www.genardmethod.com/) Search... Search ## Gary Genard's # Speak for Success! > "Be a voice not an echo." **- Albert Einstein** # How to Focus Your Thoughts for Great Public Speaking May 17, 2020 by [Gary Genard](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/author/gary-genard) ![How to Focus Your Thoughts for a Great Presentation](https://www.genardmethod.com/hs-fs/hubfs/FREE%20PHOTOS/pexels-photo-3965671.jpeg?width=2250&name=pexels-photo-3965671.jpeg) Do your presentation skills create maximum impact and influence? Here's how to focus your thoughts for great public speaking! When you [give a speech](https://www.genardmethod.com/how-to-give-a-speech-2#.XsAHLhNKiu5), do you focus on a single compelling idea? Or do you reinvent the wheel, giving your audience more information than they want or need? [Public Speaking](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/bid/180224/want-stage-presence-as-a-speaker-use-these-actors-secrets) is always specific in terms of both space and* *time. Whether it's in-person speaking or via [video conferencing](https://genardmethod.tradepub.com/free/w_thab67/), the window through which you reach people closes fast. So the more you set a precise goal and speak on *only what's necessary to achieve it*, the more successful a speaker you'll be. > We're in a world of constant virtual meetings now! Are you coming across at your best? Download my **Free Guide**, ["Essential Speaking Tips for Video Conferences." ](https://genardmethod.tradepub.com/free/w_thab67/prgm.cgi?__hssc=110813786.8.1589483808025&__hstc=110813786.43b0645038eadbeb7c8b6be81b578d1a.1580144983825.1589472317004.1589483808025.258&__hsfp=81600919&hsCtaTracking=07a2418b-8c90-4c26-b627-785a1ba851ce%7C5a5126f7-37e2-4b6e-940c-dd3f0e00e236) Which brings us back again to your ability to *focus*.  ### Use Your Focus to Start a Fire Under Audiences In other words, audiences need not only *light *from you, but some *heat *if they're going to warm up to a topic. To understand what I mean by this, think about the lesson you probably learned as a kid: the innocent magnifying glass turned into a deadly heat-ray. Let's extend our metaphor a little bit, to include public speaking. The sun (the energy source in this equation) provides all the light anyone, including audiences, would need. It is more *illuminating *than anything else we know. But its rays are diffuse and, in the absence of too long or intense an exposure, harmless and even healthy.  But position an ordinary magnifying glass properly and give it a little time, and the sun's rays become intensely hot. Concentrated enough, they can literally start a fire. So it is with your speech or presentation. Include everything under the sun and we'll doze off—but *make your core message concentrated and keep it in focus*, and we'll warm up to it fast. (And speaking of focusing in the right direction, here are [25 words or phrases to avoid in presentations!](https://genardmethod.tradepub.com/free/w_thab44/)) A brief window of opportunity. A highly-focused message to achieve a specific purpose. Those are ingredients for [lighting a fire under your audience](https://genardmethod.tradepub.com/free/w_thab54/). Can you think of how you might pare down your next presentation to achieve the right mixture of light *and *heat? ![How to think to persuade listeners in public speaking.](https://www.genardmethod.com/hs-fs/hubfs/FREE%20PHOTOS/pexels-photo-212286.jpeg?width=1880&name=pexels-photo-212286.jpeg) ### Here's How You Should Prepare to Think Once you know [how to stay fully focused when speaking](https://genardmethod.tradepub.com/free/w_thab45/), and you understand your true purpose, it's time to *think through your talk. *This is the stage where you start to frame your big idea so that it excites the audience AND makes your message easy to grasp. Don't stint on your efforts here. Whether you write out your ideas in a full-blown narrative, or use a meticulous outline, the task at hand is to think through what you're saying. So full sentences that reflect your thinking process are needed. This is *not *the place to just jot down some notes as reminders (we'll come to that in a minute).  Bear in mind: this step is ONLY a preparation step. The notes you take, while reflective of your thinking, can't be the ones you speak from. Why? Writing and speaking are two wholly different activities. And now you're ready for the speaking phase. ![How to give a speech for an effective presentation.](https://www.genardmethod.com/hs-fs/hubfs/FREE%20PHOTOS/photo-1457131760772-7017c6180f05%20--%20Unsplash.jpeg?width=736&name=photo-1457131760772-7017c6180f05%20--%20Unsplash.jpeg) ### And This is How You Should Prepare to *Perform * Now is the time to get some real uplift in your upcoming performance: by boiling down your presentation notes or outline into a *speaking outline. *That means key words or phrases—basically something to jog your memory about the next sub-topic. When you're delivering your speech, you'll glance at this reminder, then look up at your audience. (Of course, the more you have written out, the more you're likely to stick your nose in your pages, so don't do that!) And when it comes to performance, here's my free [Presenter's Guide to Effective Public Speaking](https://genardmethod.tradepub.com/free/w_thab37/). This is also where I recommend you use my speech preparation method: which is not THINK-WRITE-SPEAK (the way most presenters prepare and practice), but THINK-SPEAK-WRITE. Here's how it works: Once you think you know what you want to say, try it out loud immediately. If it sounds the way you want it to for listeners, only then write down the key word or phrase that will light up the audience. You'll save yourself a lot of grief versus if you put your speech together by only writing things out silently. That's when you might realize when you're actually giving your speech that the language *doesn't quite work. *  **You should follow me on Twitter [here](https://twitter.com/GaryGenard).** [![Dr. Gary Genard's free e-guide on virtual presence, Essential Speaking Tips for Video Conferences.](https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/124879/87551437-7721-4fbd-af75-1232a76aad77.png)](https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/124879/87551437-7721-4fbd-af75-1232a76aad77) Gary Genard is an actor, author, and expert in theater-based public speaking training. His company, Boston-based [The Genard Method](https://www.genardmethod.com/) offers in-person and online training to help executives and teams become extraordinary communicators. In 2020 for the seventh consecutive year, Gary has been ranked by Global Gurus as one of The World's Top 30 Communication Professionals. He is the author of [*How to Give a Speech*](https://www.genardmethod.com/how-to-give-a-speech-2#.WeYfyRNSz_Q). His second book, [*Fearless Speaking*](https://www.genardmethod.com/fearlessspeakingbook)*, *was recently named as "One of the 100 Best Confidence Books of All Time." [Contact Gary here](https://www.genardmethod.com/contact).     Tags: [public speaking training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/public-speaking-training),[presentation skills](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/presentation-skills),[public speaking](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/public-speaking),[public speaking tips](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/public-speaking-tips),[how to engage an audience](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/how-to-engage-an-audience),[presentation skills training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/presentation-skills-training),[how to prepare a presentation](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/how-to-prepare-a-presentation),[video conferencing](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/video-conferencing),[sales training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/sales-training),[leadership](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/leadership),[online meetings](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-meetings),[how to prepare a speech](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/how-to-prepare-a-speech),[great public speaking](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/great-public-speaking),[leadership training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/leadership-training),[audiences](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/audiences),[video conference](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/video-conference),[virtual presence](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/virtual-presence),[virtual meeting](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/virtual-meeting),[audience](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/audience),[virtual training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/virtual-training),[sales](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/sales),[online public speaking training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-public-speaking-training),[video coaching](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/video-coaching),[video training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/video-training),[online coaching](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-coaching),[Zoom](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/zoom),[online courses](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-courses),[online classes](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-classes),[online learning](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-learning),[online training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-training),[sales coaching](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/sales-coaching),[video meetings](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/video-meetings),[online presentation training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-presentation-training),[online sales training](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/online-sales-training),[speaking tips](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/speaking-tips),[zoom meetings](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/zoom-meetings),[virtual meetings](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/virtual-meetings),[virtual learning](https://www.genardmethod.com/blog/topic/virtual-learning) ### Subscribe to Email Updates ### Subscribe to the blog #### Follow Gary Genard [![](https://www.genardmethod.com/hs-fs/hubfs/GENARD_METHOD_IMAGES/CTAs/GENARD%20BOOKS.png?width=265&height=313&name=GENARD%20BOOKS.png "GENARD BOOKS.png")](https://www.genardmethod.com/public-speaking-books#!/Books/c/14420103/offset=0&sort=normal) - 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