How Long Does It Take To Master Public Speaking?

I get asked all the time: How long does it take to Master public speaking?

If I don’t have time to explain I say: It takes a very long time and lots of practice.

If I have time to explain, then I say: It takes about 10,000 hours of deliberate practice.

However, to advance your career, your income, or your business, you don’t need to be a master of public speaking – all you need to be is good at it, and that takes far fewer hours than the 10,000. From my experience, 100 hours of practice time will get you a very great place with your speaking ability. And it will take far fewer hours of practice to get above average.

Since this article is about mastery, let’s get back to the big number: 10,000 hours.

I did not pull the 10,000 hours number out of thin air. And I did not get it from Gladwell’s book “Outliers” which popularized the concept – I got that number from a book I read in college long before Gladwell’s book, the book is called Genius Explained (Canto) where the author, Michael Howe, demonstrates through the example of the Beatles, Einstein, and Mozart that Genius is earned. The author of the book demonstrates through biographical evidence that all these geniuses worked for about 10,000 hours on their craft before they produced their masterful pieces.

Einstein worked on his Physics in private for years before he produced the theory of Relativity he is most famous for. Einstein once said: “Only those who devote themselves to a cause with their whole strength and soul can be true masters. For this reason, mastery demands all of a person.” Even if genius is partially genetic, getting masterful at anything is still a lot of work.

In 1960, the Beatles got a job in Germany working the night bar music scene. They played 8 hours a night and seven days a week. They constantly worked on getting better during that time. They got their first international break in 1964 – by that time they have performed as a group in 1,200 concerts. Most bands don’t perform that many concerts in a lifetime. For years before their international break and after they focused on getting better and better through practice.

You know that public speaking is important to you, to your business, and to your career – That’s why you are here. Ask yourself, how much energy and time are you willing to invest to get better at public speaking this year?

I have been doing public speaking for more than ten years, and I still work on my craft daily. I constantly find things to improve and work on and to this day I almost never say NO to a speaking opportunity because it is an opportunity to get better.

This year I am going to be focused on my sense of humor. People tell me that I am funny and that I make people laugh. I took lots of standup comedy and improv courses, and it paid off. I know that I can be better 🙂 That’s why this year for me is going to be dedicated to working on, practicing, and developing my sense of humor even further.

Whether you want to master public speaking, or you just want to get good at it, you must practice. Here are some ideas for practice opportunities (they are all things I’ve done).

1. Toastmasters: Find a club in your area and join them, and try to speak every single week

2. Presentations at your company: Volunteer to speak at the next company meeting or your company version of Ted Talks

3. Tedx: Find a local Tedx forum and apply to speak there

4. Volunteer to teach kids in an after school program (Age does not matter, you will learn a lot)

5. Host your own Meetup (I’ve been hosting my Meetups for years)

6. Attend our full-day trainings (We have three of them, and you will speak at least 4 times in each one)

7. Attend our weekly classes if you are in the Bay Area: We have three classes every single week – you get to attend the first one for free

8. Run a class at your company: Teach something to your fellow coworkers

9. Comment and share your opinions on social media: you will be surprised by how much that develops your communication skills, this forces to be concise and to the point with your thoughts

10. Record a video of you speaking to the camera and put it on Youtube

11. Create a podcast: this will force you to speak on a regular basis

This is just a short list of things you can do to practice your speaking skills. Being able to speak with confidence in front of groups will open many career doors for you, it will allow you to be more influential in your organization, and it will position you as the leader among your peers. It’s worth the effort and investment of time and energy.

Don’t let the number of hours intimidate you. Start with only 50 hours (that’s only speaking for less than an hour per week in front of a group). You will be amazed at your progress by year-end.