Do you want to be a good speaker? Find a place to be bad. The best advice the old-time comedians gave me when I started doing standup comedy was “you need a place to be bad.” What they referring to when they said, “a place to be bad” was a safe environment to get “stage time.” George Burns and Gracie Allen, when booked in the Palace in New York, would take two weeks in the Catskills just to work on one or two routines, sometimes one or two jokes before they opened at the Palace. The only way to get comfortable speaking or comfortable with your material is to perform it in front of an audience. I can’t tell you how many times those old comedians would tell me, you have to tell a joke a hundred times before you make it yours. I think what they meant by saying tell the joke a hundred times before you made it yours, is that there are so many ways to tell the joke with vocal variety, pauses, inflections and so many different audiences that with each opportunity to tell the joke in front of the audience you learn different ways to tell the joke so that you know it will get the laugh every time.
In order to present effectively you must learn to be comfortable in front of the audience. You have to be able to control your nerves. The only real way to control your nervousness is to constantly get up in front of the audience you need to get that “stage time.”
If you are doing stand-up comedy the place to be bad is “Open Mike” nite, in speaking a place to be bad is “Toastmaster’s International.” to improve is comes down to practise, practise, practise.
I recommend practicing in front of a mirror but that is only to get you to learn your material so well you don’t have to think about what you are saying on the podium but how you are saying it. To really know if your material and delivery are good you need that audience interaction.
A place to be bad is a place to be good so that when you speak in front of that important audience where you need to make a good impression, you will be ready to give your best presentation because you put in the effort with your “stage time.”
George Gilbert's Motivational Humor 