Learning how to be a confident speaker starts with understanding your message and your audience. TED speakers appear effortlessly confident because they know what they want to say and why it matters. Their calm presence reflects preparation, not perfection.

Confidence in speaking means expressing ideas clearly while staying authentic and composed. It’s about connection, not control.

At Immerse Education’s TED Summer School, students discover, shape, and share their ideas through workshops on storytelling, communication, and leadership. Guided by TED-trained tutors, you’ll learn to speak with clarity and confidence, culminating in your own professionally recorded TED-style talk.

This article will show you how to be a confident speaker through preparation, storytelling, and purposeful presence.

Why Confidence Matters More Than Perfection

You step onto a stage. The lights are bright, the room goes quiet, and your heart beats a little too fast. This is the moment every speaker faces. The difference between fear and confidence is not talent; it is focus.

Confidence begins with self-belief, not flawless delivery. TED’s curator Chris Anderson says great talks start with purpose. When your attention shifts from yourself to your message, anxiety loses power. You are no longer performing; you are sharing something that matters.

TED speakers know that authenticity creates connection. They embrace vulnerability instead of hiding it, showing that courage and honesty build trust. As Brené Brown explains in The Power of Vulnerability, confidence grows when you have the courage to show up and be seen as you truly are.

At Oxford, debate and dialogue teach this same lesson. Students strengthen their voice through discussion, presentation, and reflection. Confidence grows as ideas are tested, refined, and expressed with clarity and conviction.

At Immerse Education’s Media & Journalism Summer School, you experience this transformation firsthand. Through storytelling, collaboration, and hands-on workshops, you learn to shape narratives, present ideas clearly, and speak with confidence that comes from understanding your message.

How to Be a Confident Speaker – 6 Practical Steps for Students

Confidence develops through consistent practice and reflection. If you’re exploring how to be a confident speaker, remember that, like any TED speaker, preparation, clarity, and empathy form your foundation.

These 6 steps will help you speak with purpose, connect with your audience, and communicate ideas that inspire understanding and respect.

1. Know your message

Chris Anderson’s TED’s Secret to Great Public Speaking shows that confidence begins with clarity. When you know your message deeply, you speak with conviction and authenticity. 

True confidence comes from knowledge, not memorisation. Oxford’s discussion-based learning encourages you to articulate ideas with structure and precision. 

Understanding your topic helps your thoughts flow naturally and reduces hesitation. When you know your message, you project calm and confident communication, a crucial part of mastering how to be a confident speaker.

2. Practise out loud

Lawrence Bernstein’s “coffee shop test” encourages you to rehearse like a friendly conversation, not a performance. 

Speaking aloud helps you refine pacing, tone, and rhythm while identifying areas for improvement. Repetition builds muscle memory, making your delivery sound natural and fluent. 

TED speakers practise until their message feels instinctive, allowing them to connect freely with their audience. Confidence grows through familiarity, and familiarity comes from consistent, realistic rehearsal that mirrors genuine communication.

3. Visualise success

Before you speak, imagine yourself delivering your message with confidence and ease. Visualisation prepares your mind to associate public speaking with calm rather than fear. 

Picture your audience listening attentively, smiling, and engaging with your ideas. This mental rehearsal reduces anxiety and builds focus. 

At our Oxford summer school, you’ll use similar techniques before debates to project composure and credibility. Seeing yourself succeed helps transform nervousness into assurance and anticipation into confidence.

4. Control your breathing

Tina Sodhi’s The Art of Breathing shows that confidence begins with calm. When you control your breathing, you control your nerves. 

Inhale deeply and exhale slowly before speaking to release tension and steady your tone. Breathing keeps your mind centred and your voice strong. Conscious breathing gives you control over your rhythm, helping you sound calm, measured, and assured. 

Confidence, like breath, grows when you are grounded and present in the moment.

5. Use storytelling to connect

Jeff Gothelf’s The Power of Storytelling highlights that everyone is a storyteller. He explains that the most engaging talks use personal experience and emotion to make ideas relatable and memorable. 

Stories help transform information into experiences that stay with the listener.

At the TED Summer School, you’ll learn to craft stories that inform and inspire. When you tell stories that matter, your confidence grows because your voice feels authentic and your message has purpose.

6. Focus on your audience

Confidence grows when you focus on the people listening, not on yourself. 

Great speakers speak to serve, not to impress. Pay attention to your audience’s reactions, pace your delivery, and maintain eye contact to connect with empathy. When your goal is to inform and inspire, you stop overthinking and start communicating. 

True confidence comes from connection. When you focus on impact rather than perfection, speaking becomes effortless and meaningful.

Media and Journalism

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Career Insights
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Media and Journalism

In-person

Experience the pulse of media and journalism and...

Career Insights
Provides a comprehensive introduction to various professions. Suitable for students starting to consider their future careers and wishing to explore different professions.
Ages: 15-18

Lessons from TED and the Art of Storytelling

Storytelling is one of the most powerful ways to engage an audience and show confidence.

Every memorable TED Talk proves that mastering storytelling is key to learning how to be a confident speaker, as great speakers use real experience, emotion, and structure to turn ideas into lasting impact.

Real Experience

Authenticity is the foundation of great storytelling. In The Clues to a Great Story, Pixar filmmaker Andrew Stanton opens with humour from his own life, instantly creating a human connection. 

His experiences as a storyteller at Pixar show that confidence comes from owning your story rather than performing it. Stanton’s rule, “Make me care,” reminds you that people respond to honesty. Speak from experience, and your message will always feel genuine and powerful.

At our Media & Journalism Summer School, you’ll explore how real stories, drawn from lived experience, shape compelling journalism and communication. Speaking from truth builds trust, and trust strengthens confidence. The more personal your story, the more deeply it resonates.

Emotion

Karen Eber’s How Your Brain Responds to Stories reveals that emotion turns information into memory. When your story connects emotionally, your audience pays attention and remembers what you said. 

She explains that stories trigger empathy by activating the same brain regions as lived experience. Facts inform, but emotion transforms.

Through storytelling projects and workshops, you’ll learn to use feeling as a tool for connection. Expressing emotion authentically makes your message relatable and real. Confidence grows when your audience not only understands you but feels with you.

Structure

Nancy Duarte’s The Secret Structure of Great Talks reveals that confidence comes from knowing where your story is going. Great talks move between “what is” and “what could be,” creating rhythm and contrast. This structure keeps audiences engaged and gives you a roadmap to follow.

When you plan your structure, you control your direction. At Immerse Education’s TED Summer School, you’ll put storytelling into action. Through guided workshops and feedback, you’ll develop your own TED-style talk, blending personal experience, structure, and emotion into a message that inspires real change.

Together, real experience, emotion, and structure transform speaking into storytelling and storytelling into confidence. By studying TED speakers and practising these techniques, you’ll learn how your own voice can inspire, inform, and connect,  just like the world’s most powerful storytellers.

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Building Confidence Through Immerse Programmes

Confidence doesn’t appear overnight; you develop it through practice, feedback, and community. Immerse Education’s summer programmes are designed to help you grow these qualities by learning, creating, and communicating in environments that nurture confidence from within.

At our Oxford Summer School, you’ll build confidence through the art of dialogue. Oxford’s tradition of debate and discussion encourages clear thinking and composed expression. 

In small, tutor-led seminars, you’ll learn to articulate ideas persuasively, respond thoughtfully, and speak with poise. Beyond the classroom, moments like punting on the River Cherwell or exploring historic colleges give you chances to share, listen, and connect with peers from around the world.

At the Media & Journalism Summer School, you’ll develop confidence through storytelling and communication. Guided by experienced journalists and academics, you’ll practise shaping narratives, leading interviews, and presenting stories that express truth with clarity. Every workshop helps you refine your voice and share your ideas with assurance.

At Immerse, you’ll learn that confidence doesn’t mean being perfect; it means being prepared, aware, and willing to speak with purpose. You’ll leave not only as a better communicator but as someone ready to lead conversations that matter.

Becoming a Confident Communicator with TED × Immerse

Learning how to be a confident speaker begins with understanding yourself, your story, and your purpose. True confidence means speaking with clarity and authenticity, not striving for perfection.

TED speakers show that great communication happens when preparation meets passion. 

At Immerse Education, you’ll learn the same mindset. From our TED Summer School, with a culture of storytelling, creativity, and global connection to the Media & Journalism Summer School’s storytelling focus, every experience helps you speak with conviction and presence.

Confidence grows when you share ideas that matter. Explore our Immerse programmes to discover how to be a confident speaker who inspires others through storytelling, purpose, and connection. Your story has power. Start sharing it today.