By Bob Bly

 In ... " Give a Great Talk, Part 1," I revealed the number one secret for becoming a great public speaker: When speaking to a group, you look into the audience as you begin talking. Find one person who is looking back at you, and make eye contact. Then, talk JUST TO THAT ONE PERSON ... as if the two of you were having a private, one-on-one conversation.

I've been giving talks for more than a quarter of a century, and I've found only a handful of additional secrets. Let me share them with you now ...

1. Know what you are talking about.

In Robert B. Parker's novel Cold service, Spenser says this to Susan about his sidekick Hawk: "He's nearly always right. Not because he knows everything. But because he never talks about things he doesn't know."

This is a good tip for public speakers, bloggers, writers, and anyone else who communicates. Stick to what you know and you'll be more effective, more persuasive, and more credible.

And by "knowing" a thing, I don't mean just researching and reading about it. I mean knowing from actual experience. That's the only way to ensure total credibility as a speaker. If you haven't actually done whatever it is you're talking about and an audience member challenges you, you are completely vulnerable ... because you don't totally know what you are talking about.

2. Narrow the topic.

One of the biggest mistakes speakers make is to try to cover too much material in too short a time. The result is a rushed presentation that is either superficial, because no single point can be covered in any meaningful way ... or boring, because the "information density" is too high.

The solution is to narrow your topic. For instance, "safety" is too big and broad a topic to cover in a one-hour workshop. But "10 Tips for Safe Handling of Compressed Cylinder Gases in the Plant" is manageable within that timeframe.

3. Organize your material.

One way to do this is to choose a title that dictates an organizational scheme to follow. If your title is "Safe Handling of Compressed Cylinder Gases in the Plant," you are then faced with deciding how to organize your content. On the other hand, the title "10 Tips for Safe Handling of Compressed Cylinder Gases in the Plant" dictates that the content will be organized as a series of 10 guidelines or suggestions.

The "10 Tips" in the title has the added bonus of making attendees look forward to the talk. It piques their curiosity. They want to know what those 10 tips are.

4. "Frame" your talk.

This is an old formula that has been taught in public speaking classes for decades. It goes like this: "Tell them what you're going to tell them. Tell it to them. And then tell them what you just told them."

If you are using PowerPoint, insert a slide between your title slide and the first slide of the material that says, "What we will cover today." Underneath that heading, list in bullets the main points to be covered on the remainder of the slides. After the last slide of content and before the closing slide (typically, a logo, the speaker's contact information, or a call to action), insert a slide with the heading "To sum it all up ..." Underneath that heading, summarize the key points you made in the rest of the presentation.

And that's it.

By the way, the best book I ever read on giving talks is Making Successful Presentations by Terry C. Smith. Terry, my former boss at Westinghouse, has been teaching presentation skills for decades ... and is one of the best speakers I've ever heard.

Another great book on speaking is Talking to an Audience by Vernon Howard.

Bob Bly is a popular columnist, self-made multi-millionaire, and the author of more than 60 books, including The Complete Idiot's guide to Direct Marketing and The Copywriter's Handbook

He is also the editor of ETR's Direct Marketing Masters Edition - a program to help you start your own successful direct-mail business.