• Menu
  • Skip to left header navigation
  • Skip to right header navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

ispeak-logo-orange-i-white-text

iSpeak helping others achieve more through better communication

  • Home
  • Training Solutions
    • iSpeak University
    • Coaching Services
    • 2-Hour Master Classes
    • Presenting Data Analytics
    • Corporate Ovations
    • Message Builder
    • Leader Presence
    • Spontaneous Presentations
    • Visual Storytelling
    • Corporate Storytelling
    • Virtual Presentations
    • Tools for Influencing
    • Facilitation Skills
  • Our Approach
    • Training Success
    • Showcase
    • Your Team
  • Resources
    • FREE Webinars
    • FREE Storytelling Guide
    • Certified Partners
  • Blog
  • Login
  • Contact Us
  • Home
  • Training Solutions
    • iSpeak University
    • Coaching Services
    • 2-Hour Master Classes
    • Presenting Data Analytics
    • Corporate Ovations
    • Message Builder
    • Leader Presence
    • Spontaneous Presentations
    • Visual Storytelling
    • Corporate Storytelling
    • Virtual Presentations
    • Tools for Influencing
    • Facilitation Skills
  • Our Approach
    • Training Success
    • Showcase
    • Your Team
  • Resources
    • FREE Webinars
    • FREE Storytelling Guide
    • Certified Partners
  • Blog
  • Login
  • Contact Us

5 Pro Tips for Speaking on the Big Stage

September 19, 2022 //  by Russ Peterson Jr//  Leave a Comment

Have you ever been on that big stage? If your answer is "YES," then you know it can be both intimidating and confusing. Where should I stand? Can I walk over here? What should I do with my hands? If your answer is "NO," then get ready... because your day is coming!

After working in public speaking for almost three decades now, I've seen many stage movements that work well and many that fail. Here are 5 tips you can use to engage your audience like a pro!

Get Big!

When you're on a stage in front of 2,000 people, you look small from the back row seats. Every gesture you make with your hands and arms is barely noticeable. Therefore, your gestures need to "get big." A simple hand gesture to your left needs to "get big" and become a much larger stretch to your left.

While I don't want you to look awkward and uncomfortable, please know that stretching your gestures out makes you look more confident in this large space.

Align your Stop-and-Go

Plan your speaking spots on the floor. These hula-hoop-size spots, or "marks," are where you stop to deliver part of your message. These marks work great when you have a money line to deliver. Money lines are pithy or memorable statements like "Talk is cheap but actions pay the bills." Most pros use pieces of tape on the floor to mark the location for delivering their money lines.

Then, plan when you will step away from your mark and move across the stage to another mark. If there is constant pacing from the speaker, the audience tends to interpret it negatively. They may think, "Her mind must be wandering." or "His constant walking has nothing to do with his message... I think he must be nervous."

I recently had the privilege of working with a Senior VP who was addressing an audience of 2,500. He did an outstanding job reliving a story in which he had received a question that made him pause and think. He delivered the pondering question to the audience on his mark. Then, as he began to contemplate his answer, he began to walk on the stage. It was perfect alignment between the movement in his mind and movement on the stage. It was stellar!

Watch your Step!

The blinding lights of the stage can also blind you to the edges of the stage. Professional stage crews often mark the edge of the stage with white reflective tape (assuming the stage is a dark color) so it's easier to see. Always walk your stage during rehearsal. Take mental note of the edges. Then, plan your marks so you don't step too close.

Take it from a speaker who stepped off the back of a stage while speaking... knowing your edges and your marks pays dividends for both you and your audience. I'll save that story for a future blog post.

Use Your Stance

Once you're grounded on your mark, how exactly should you stand? This depends on the message you want to send to the audience. There are many options. For today, I'll focus on three tips for choosing which stance to adopt:

Formal stance has equal weight on both legs. This appears confident and somewhat formal.

Casual stance has unequal weight on each leg. This causes the hips to be at an angle, which looks more approachable and less formal.

Avoid the crossover stance. You've seen this before. When a person crosses their legs while standing. Every parent in the room thinks, "He needs to go to the restroom." Others may just think, "He looks nervous."  Please avoid using this stance ever!

Beware the Infinity Hole

If your event has a professional production team, they may be using imag (stands for "Image Magnification") technology to project a close-up, live-stream image of you speaking on the jumbo screens behind you. If so, please walk the stage during rehearsal to avoid stepping in front of your own video image.

If you do, the imag may turn into the mirror-in-mirror infinite copy of yourself. That is an audience distraction!

Bonus Tip...

I'm sure you've heard the expression from theater, "break a leg." The origins align with the superstition that wishing a performer "good luck" would actually jinx the performance. So instead, people did the opposite hoping it would result in a great performance.

I'm not a fan of superstitions so I'll give you the encouragement I offer all my speakers before they take the stage... "Have fun!"

Until next time... go have some fun!

Russ Peterson Jr.

Russ Peterson Jr. is the co-founder and President of iSpeak, Inc. – An award-winning professional development training company. Russ is a speaker, international trainer, and published author on Professional Sales Communication and Business Communication. He delivers workshops, keynotes, and personal communication coaching services to business professionals in the US and around the world. iSpeak helps people build stronger relationships and achieve more through better communication. You can connect with Russ directly through LinkedIn.

 

Picture credit: Alari Tammsalu, pexels.com

 

 

Category: Communication, iSpeak, Messaging, PresentationsTag: audience engagement, communication, speaking, stage

Previous Post: « 2 Options to Influence Your Audience

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

everyday improvement podcast

Sign Up for Blog Updates!

Recent Posts

  • 5 Pro Tips for Speaking on the Big Stage
  • 2 Options to Influence Your Audience
  • 3 Steps to Build Trust Through Conversation
  • 3 Ingredients to Communicate Change
  • 5 Tips to Untangle Your Data Presentation

Recent Comments

  • rpeterson32 on Appreciation for Communication… the Human Dilemma
  • Keeley Branton on Appreciation for Communication… the Human Dilemma
  • John S on Fear Factor
  • stan worthington on Fear Factor
  • Stephanie Silverman on Blank Slide Syndrome

Categories

Archives

Footer

  • Training Solutions
  • Our Approach
  • Resources
  • Blog
  • Login
  • Privacy Policy
Contact Us
ispeak-logo-orange-i-white-text

2851 Joe DiMaggio Blvd, #28
Round Rock, TX 78665

Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

Copyright © 2025 · Mai Lifestyle Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

This website uses cookies to improve your experience. By continuing to use this website, we'll assume you're ok with this. To find out more, please read our Privacy Policy. CLOSE AND ACCEPT
Privacy & Cookies Policy

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these cookies, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may have an effect on your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled
Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. This category only includes cookies that ensures basic functionalities and security features of the website. These cookies do not store any personal information.
Non-necessary
Any cookies that may not be particularly necessary for the website to function and is used specifically to collect user personal data via analytics, ads, other embedded contents are termed as non-necessary cookies. It is mandatory to procure user consent prior to running these cookies on your website.
SAVE & ACCEPT