Every year, I challenge myself on my birthday by doing consecutive push-ups to match the birthday I’m celebrating. As you can imagine, the task becomes more difficult every year. Last year, I felt fortunate to have eeked out the 38th push-up.

This year, on my 39th birthday, I realized there was a chance I might not be able to meet the challenge, so I decided to pump out 39 of something else. With that in mind, I did some reflecting and compiled a list of 39 things I’ve learned about public speaking.

1. You’re never good enough not to to practice.

2. Public speaking is both a science and an art. Approach it strictly from either point of view and you and you won’t be as successful as you could be.

3. All things being equal, written speeches are better and more successful than extemporaneous speeches.

4. No height of reasoning or depth of wisdom is strong enough to educate a mind that refuses to learn.

5. Every audience and individual is unique. What works for one won’t necessarily work for another.

6. There is no “best way” to start every speech. Each speech is as unique as the audience. Every opening should also be unique.

7. Gestures are overrated. They can’t add substance to a message that lacks substance.

8. Even the right words can lose their effect if they’re not delivered with the right timing.

9. Even if your audience disagrees with your position on a subject, they want your speech to be good. After all, they have to sit through it.

10. When put to the test, most statistics about public speaking are a crock.

11. What our audience remembers most is what resonates with them most.

12. The setup of your room affects the flow of energy in the room.

13. Recording yourself on video is the best way to pinpoint your strengths and weaknesses.

14. Memorizing your material and knowing your material are not the same thing.

15. Sometimes public speaking should be treated as a performance. At other times, public speaking should be treated as a conversation. On occasion, it should be treated as both.

16. Always research your audience as thoroughly as possible… always!

17. Reading the book of Proverbs is a great way to train your mind to come up with analogies that easily explain complicated concepts.

18. Age means squat when it comes to your effectiveness as a public speaker. Martin Luther King Jr. was only 34 when he delivered the “I have a dream” speech.

19. It’s okay to say “um” every now and again. People expect it. “Um” becomes a problem when it is used in a pattern the audience begins to anticipate and predict with 99% accuracy.

20. One of the easiest ways to improve your ability to develop a successful speech is to read and listen to successful speeches of the past and present.

21. When you truly connect with your audience, you will be able to feel and experience their energy.

22. Public speaking is not a monarchy and content is not king. Content alone is not enough to persuade people and move them to take action.

23. What you say AND how you say it are of equal importance.

24. Authentic story telling is easy to learn. Just read story books to children.

25. If your presentation relies heavily on technology, be sure to have a plan B.

26. If you’re using PowerPoint or props, rehearse with them.

27. Knowing your subject is important. Explaining your subject in a way that’s easy to understand and memorable is more important.

28. Your speech is successful if your audience remembers, repeats and responds to it… not if you get a standing ovation.

29. The worst times to speak are just before and just after a meal. The audience is too hungry to concentrate just before and too full (or tipsy) to concentrate after.

30. Asking questions is an effective way to engage the minds of the individuals in your audience.

31. When you tell a story, debrief it. Not everyone will interpret your story the same way.

32. Before using a statistic in your speech, research the statistic yourself. There are a lot of myths disguised as statistics.

33. Always put statistics in context. Explain what the statistic means and why the audience should care.

34. If you must tell a joke, use an original one. Few things are as deflating as having people in the audience deliver the punch line before you do.

35. Don’t use a $20 word when a 5 cent word will do the trick. When it comes to word choice, simpler is usually better.

36. Use repetition in your speeches. It will reinforce your main message and make it easier for the audience to follow your train of thought.

37. If you’re going to be introduced, write your own opening. Never trust someone else to do it for you.

38. Even excellent presenters have “off” days. Get over it and move on.

39. Your audience won’t shut you off as quickly as they will a show on television. They can watch the show in their pajamas, but they get dressed up and travel to hear you speak.

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If you would like to take your speeches to another level and learn more public speaking tips, I suggest you download a free copy of my “Successful Speeches Toolkit” so you can make sure your next speech is a successful speech. Visit http://www.wellwrittenwellsaid.com/successfulspeechesblog/?page_id=10 to get your workbook and search tool.

John Watkis is a freelance speechwriter, consultant and keynote speaker who helps his clients give better speeches so they can get better results.

Abraham Lincoln wrote, “Extemporaneous speaking should be practiced and cultivated; it is the lawyer’s avenue to the public. However able and faithful he may be in other respects, people are slow to bring him business, if he cannot make a speech.”

When Lincoln spoke of extemporaneous speaking, he did not mean making totally unprepared speeches — “winging it” we might call it today. Few speakers can trust the moment or raw talent for a good speech. Very, very few.

Years ago I knew a woman who had a brief career as a keynote speaker. Several times she boasted to me that she never gave a prepared speech. She told me the audience deserved something new every time. She liked to believe that it was a good thing that her every utterance was something new, something never heard before, never thought of before. It occurred to me that she herself may never have thought of some of the things that she said. Many of her thoughts were new to her, too.

For a while she was in demand because she was a high-energy speaker, witty and intelligent, and well informed about corporate life.

But she relied entirely on her wits, and the moment. Clients never knew what kind of speech they would get. Sometimes her presentation would be brilliant. Other times embarrassing.

Today she is out of the speaking business.

I know another speaker who took a different path. He is witty and intelligent and well informed too, but he prepares carefully every time – even when he makes an announcement at a local meeting or introduces a relatively unknown guest speaker.

“You never know who’s forming an opinion of you,” he once told me. “I never have been able to understand how a professional speaker could even think about getting up to speak without preparing.” Neither can I. Not surprisingly, this speaker is in demand year after year.

In case you’d like to acquire the reputation for giving great extemporaneous speeches, here’s a checklist of what to do if you are called upon to make a short presentation. (A keynote presentation has additional rules, but adheres follows these basic principles, too.)

One. Know what your opening sentence will be. If this opening sentence can be witty and short and safe, good. If not witty, then short and safe. By “safe,” I mean something that you know will work, not something that might ricochet.

Two. Create a script, if not on paper at least in your head. Know the main points that you need to cover-when, where, and why if an announcement. If an introduction, who the speaker is, what are his/her credentials, and why his/her message is worth hearing. If you are called upon to acknowledge or recognize a number of people, for god’s sake, prepare a list in advance. You will almost certainly omit someone important if you don’t.

Three. Know how you will conclude. When you are getting up to speak, have in mind how you will end. For the short presentation, the close generally is more important than the beginning. Don’t just trail off or abandon control with Q & A. If you do Q & A, keep back something strong for your conclusion – a thought-out sentence or quote or a very short and apt story to illustrate your point.

Lincoln knew and observed those rules. We know because some of his notes that he used in the courtroom have been preserved. Lincoln would prepare a rough script-how he would open, the illustrations he would use, the points he would make, and how he would conclude.

Moreover, Lincoln spent a lifetime acquiring material that he could plug into his speeches-ready-made modules to fit the moment. He memorized poems and Bible passages. He immersed himself in newspapers and books and written sermons. He knew thousands of jokes and humorous stories and even carried a joke book with him so that he could adapt traditional stories to local situations.

Lincoln spent a lot of time preparing for his extemporaneous presentations.

It’s a mistake to sound too slick, too smooth, too over-rehearsed; but it’s a greater mistake to sound unprepared, inept, and unprofessional. Let all speakers who ‘wing it’ prepare for painful crashes. There are more winds that hurt speeches than help them.

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Gene Griessman is a professional speaker, executive coach, and author of The Words Lincoln Lived By and co-author of Lincoln Speaks To Leaders: 20 Powerful Lessons From America’s 16th President, with Pat Williams and Peggy Matthews Rose. Griessman’s website is http://www.presidentlincoln.com.