How do I speak more slowly in public?

Pause at every full stop, as if the audience were taking notes. Aim for roughly 130 to 150 words per minute. Film yourself: if the pace feels slightly too slow on the recording, it is often right for the audience.

Where should I look when I speak to a group?

At one person at a time, for the length of an idea or a sentence, then at another person in another part of the room. Eyes that sweep across without resting look like they are fleeing.

How do I handle eye contact on video?

Look at the camera lens on the important sentences, not at the faces on screen. Place the meeting window just below the camera so the gap is minimal.

Won't a pause make me lose my footing?

A two-second pause feels very long to you, but the audience perceives it as confidence. It is the filler word that gives away stress, not the silence.

My voice is too weak. Can it be worked on?

Yes. A weak voice most often comes from short, high breathing. It is worked on through low breathing, grounding the feet and exercises in addressing someone at a distance, as in the theatre.

Voice, eye contact, pauses: what the theatre teaches those who speak in public

By Léo BarcetPublished October 1, 20262 min read

When an executive tells me they are "not at ease speaking", they often think of the text. Yet from the first seconds, the audience perceives your voice, your eyes and your relationship to silence, before it has weighed your arguments. These are the tools an actor works on for years. Here is the essence.

The voice: ground the breath, slow the pace

Under stress, breathing rises into the chest, the pace speeds up and the voice goes higher. The audience hears urgency, not the idea.

Breathe low: before speaking, one long exhale, then let the air come back by itself into the belly.
Slow down: aim for roughly 130 to 150 words per minute, a common guide for calm speech. A 3-minute pitch then fits in 400 to 450 words.
Finish your sentences downward: a sentence that ends on a rising note sounds like a question, and weakens a statement.

Eye contact: one person, one idea

In the theatre, you learn to "address": to speak to someone, not to the room. In practice:

Choose one person and say a whole sentence, or an idea, to them.
Move to another, in another part of the room, for the next idea.
Come back to the decision-makers on the key sentences: the figure, the ask.

On video, the camera lens stands in for the audience's eyes. Look at it on the important sentences, not at your own image.

Silence: the most underrated tool

Silence does three things no word does:

Before an important sentence, it creates expectation: the audience leans in.
After a figure or an ask, it gives time to hear it.
In place of a filler word, it makes you look as if you are thinking rather than searching.

Exercise: take your text and mark with a bar the three places where you will stay silent for two seconds. Rehearse it respecting those bars, even if it feels artificial. After a few run-throughs, they become natural.

How it is learned

As in the theatre: standing, out loud, filmed, and repeated. You do not correct everything at once. You pick one tool per rehearsal: first the pace, then eye contact, then pauses. After a few sessions, the difference is already visible on the recording.

This is the core of the public speaking training for executives: your real talks, worked on with an actor's tools. To choose someone to coach you, see how to choose a public speaking coach.

Voice, eye contact, pauses: what the theatre teaches those who speak in public

The voice: ground the breath, slow the pace

Eye contact: one person, one idea

Silence: the most underrated tool

How it is learned

12-point investor pitch checklist

Questions I often get.

Where to go from here.

The curtain rises in 20 minutes.