So you want to get better at speaking. You may speak with the confidence of the Wolf of Wall Street or maybe you speak with the timidness of Napoleon Dynamite.  Regardless, we all can practice at our speaking skills to get a little bit better. How do you capture an audience like a political candidate, a professional speaker, or even like the most interesting man in the world? Well, with these skills you'll be on your way to getting people to listen to you.

Work on your skills to get others to listen to you.

• Body Language. Body language is has a big influence on how others perceive you. Even when you’re not confident, acting confident can make you look like you are and other people will think so too.  Your attitude will soon match your body language. It’s the old saying of , “Fake it till you make it”. So keep your head held high, stand up straight, and walk with some swagger.
  Blow them away with your body language confidence.

• Calm. Cool. Collected. When I had a major speech I was nervous, spoke fast, and my words came jumbled out together. Then a good friend told me something, “Man, don’t stress too much. Just be cool, calm, and collected”. What he told me wasn’t a secret, I just had to remember to do it. After that, before a speech I would say to myself, “Cool. Calm. Collected”. You have to act cool and confident about what you’re saying. You have to remember to breath and take your time, because it’s not a race. Don’t get distracted, don’t let anything bother or scare you, and know that you are in charge in that moment.
  Be calm, cool, and collected. Some meditation may help.

• Just Like Talking to a Friend. When you talk to your friends you are being yourself, because you don’t have to fake anything. If you speak to strangers like this or use this approach in conversations and speeches you will come off as genuine. People will feel comfortable with you, they’ll open up with you, and they’ll like you faster. By talking to people like you’ve been friends for years you make it feel personal and people love to feel that sense of caring. You will also find that you feel more at ease and that conversation or your speech will flow much more smoothly.
  Talk to them like they're a friend. Be like friends from Friends.

• Keep It Short. People don't want to listen to a lecture or an audio book. You can give to many details, so make your points like a movie trailer. You want it to give the main points, a lot of action and excitement, and you want it to leave your audience wanting more.
  Leave them wanting more.

• Be A Good Listener. It may sound counter productive, but people love being listened to. Ask questions and interact. If you listen to others, I guarantee that they will like you more and will listen to you when you talk. Too many people now talk, but one listen to each other. So when you do listen, people notice and then will return the favor. It’s also just a common courtesy we should all give.
  Be a good listener.