On January first I blogged about In 2026 only you can prevent bad presentations, and mentioned an article by Maurice Decastro at Mindful Presenter on December 28, 2025 titled 10 Ways to Develop Strong Public Speaking Skills in 2026. He has another article on January 1, 2026 titled Transform your public speaking skills: a comprehensive yearly growth calendar. It has the following categories organized by months, each of which is briefly discussed:
January – Prioritise what matters most
Identify your ‘why”
Focus on your strengths first
Find a trusted friend or colleague
February – Clarity is king
Start small and clarify one core message
Know your audience and shape the message around them
Pressure-test your clarity
March – Create a strong, impactful opening and closing
Begin with a compelling quote or question
Share a fascinating anecdote, statistic, or fact
Create an image
Close with impact
April – Managing your nerves
Ground your body to calm your mind
Shift focus away from yourself
Build confidence through preparation, not perflection
May – Could you listen to yourself?
Record yourself practicing
Slow down and pause
Experiment with volume and emphasis
June – Practice mindful movement
Connect with the ground and your hands
Connect through eye contact
Connect with yourself before speaking
July – Manage your bad habits
Fire, aim, read
One size fits all
The curse of knowledge
Avoiding mud at the wall
Avoiding PPI (Preparation, practice, internalization)
The tornado effect
Looking good
Avoiding the bush
The ostrich syndrome
Speed of light
Energy is key
The corporate spokesperson
The comforter
Motion sickness
Let’s count
You don’t sound so sure
August – Share stories
Create a personal story bank
Structure your story and make it emotionally engaging
Enhance your story delivery skills
September – Focus on engagement and interaction
Ask questions
Encourage reflection and gauge the atmosphere
Boost audience participation
October – Get out more
Attend live events
Look for opportunities to learn
Ask for help when needed
November – Mastering questions
Listen fully and clarify
Pause, smile, and breathe
Stay focused and strategic
December – Spend time reflecting
Reflect on your learning and add new techniques
Demonstrate your skills in practical situations
Create a personal development plan
His monthly titles had dashes for January, February, March, April, May, September, October, and November; But he used colons for June, July, August, and December. I edited to make them consistent.
There are three categories in each month for January, February, April, May, June, August, September, October, November, and December. But there are four categories for March, and sixteen categories for July. That is a total of 44 categories! Those 16 from July might better have left four there, and spread the remaining dozen as two each over six months.
The calendar was adapted from this one at OpenClipArt.