Most people feel nervous about public speaking, and it’s a difficult thing to do in any language. Greta, one of our listeners, suggested this idea for an episode and we went with it! Harp and Maura talk about their own experiences with public speaking and also share some advice on how to do it well. Does imagining the audience naked really work?

 

　　Maura: So, you can say that you’re going to give a talk. That’s one way of talking about public speaking. Another verb that you could use, another expression, is to make a speech.

　　Harp: Yes. To make a speech. To give a speech and to make a speech—it’s the exact same thing; it means that you’re gonna go in front of people and you’re going to do some public speaking.

　　Maura:Yeah. To make a speech is really when you’re speaking. If you’re preparing for the speech that would be you’re writing the speech or you’re practicing the speech. But if you make a speech, you’re actually speaking in front of people.

　　Harp: So you could say to make a speech or to give a speech. And this is much more formal. When you talk about a speech, I imagine someone standing in front of an audience, maybe behind a podium, very formal and they have very specific things they want to say.