Google and find a club near you. It is an international public speaking organization that will help you develop your communication, leadership, and listening skills.

Jonathan,

Toastmasters is pretty cool, if you want to take the normal route. I went to a total of 1 toastmasters meeting and realized it wasn't for me. It's great if you want to learn how to not say AND and UM when you talk, and get attuned to speaking in front of.. about 10-20 people.

I've taken a different route and that is to speak at as many events as possible and force myself to get better. I didn't want to wait until I was good at speaking to go ship, and put myself out there.

Practice in your living room

Study effective speakers

Use the internet as a tool to watch people give presentations and keynotes (Youtube and related sites)

Develop a style

Feel good about how you deliver

Refine.

I just got invited to judge a speaking contest for an international organization, yesterday. It's not because I went to toastmasters, it's because I aggressively went out there and spoke, people heard me and like what I had to say and how I said it. Then I got invited to judge other speakers.

Be unorthodox.

If you want to learn persuasion then you just need to keep it simple and read : HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE - TWICE + BASIC NLP - TWICE

Here are some tips to help you:

Tips for Public Speaking
Tips for Public Speaking and Presenting

Tips for Powerful Presentations
Tips to Powerful PowerPoint Presentations

More Presentation Tips
PowerPoint Tips

Don't forget that public speaking is more than just speaking. It involves your total presentation, and you cant learn that from books. Video yourself speaking and watch critically how your are standing if you are nodding your head a lot it is disttracting for your listener's. Also tape your voice, you can do that for free wiht audacity, do you speak clearly, enunciate your words. If you have room set up a stage in your home and practise.

P. Sharma has it right - Dale Carnegie. I can't remember the name of his book on public speaking right now, but that is the one that the Ivy League schools use.

I used to teach public speaking and suggest him first. First you learn all the rules -- then you learn how to effectively break them. When you get to a point you can break any rule of speaking and wow the audience, that's when you become a great speaker.

20daypersuasion from michael lee. great nlp techniques

I'm a public speaker, and I read a lot. But, nothing beats practice.

I have a few tips, first, I'll recommend, Million Dollar Speaking by Allan Weiss.

The tips: Be completely focused on the needs of the audience. My first experience of PS was at age 14, ages ago, and I learnt that lesson. I was a Jehovah's Witness.

It's vital. Forget yourself. Your fears and insecurities. Craft and deliver your presentations with confidence, and with the goal of blessing your audience, not to impress. Most of the lessons in COPYWRITING apply to PS, too.

The second, use refreshing and simple metaphors. You'll hold their attentions better.

Simple tips, right?

I wish you the best in your PS engagements.

I recommended Adam Khoo's Patterns Of Excellence

The movie "The Secret" the movie "Pay it foward"

Neuromarketing really helped me gain a new perspective on how to deliver presentations that stick. How to "push the buy buttons", if you will.

Diagnose the Pain - Demonstrate the Gain - Differentiate the Claim - Cater to the "Old Brain" (the "old brain" being the emotional element; "new brain" being the rational).

I loved the story about faking a frozen computer during an actual presentation, only to claim that's what could happen with a lower-quality technology.