How to Grow Your Social Media Following Using Public Speaking
Liam Sandford
Liam Sandford is a Head of Marketing, public speaking expert, and 2x Best Selling Author including the book Effortless Public Speaking. He helps ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs communicate with impact to get noticed, grow their career, and build their business.
Public speaking is one of the most powerful ways to grow a following online. Social media lets you reach thousands, even millions, with your message, but reach alone does not build an audience. Connection turns a viewer into a follower, and speaking to camera is how you build it: people hear your voice, see your energy, and start to feel they know you.
Whether you post on YouTube, Instagram and TikTok or on the more written platforms like LinkedIn, X and Facebook, your ability to speak well on camera becomes a growth engine for your personal brand. This article is about the relationship side of that growth, turning attention into followers and followers into a loyal community. For the platform by platform mechanics, pair it with the guide on using public speaking to grow your audience on each social media channel.
Get Comfortable Speaking on Camera
Everything starts with being comfortable on camera, because the audience can instantly tell whether you are relaxed or just surviving the recording. The path runs comfortable, then confident, then competent, and you cannot skip a rung. So start where the stakes are low: turn your camera on for every call and meeting. That one habit gets you used to speaking while being watched, which is the exact muscle a social video needs.
From there, scale up gradually rather than throwing yourself in at the deep end. A simple ladder works: camera on in meetings, then short clips you record but do not post, then short clips you do post, then longer videos. Each rung is a batch of low stakes reps, and the reps chip away at the fear of getting it wrong. As your comfort grows it shows on screen as warmth, and that warmth pulls viewers in.
Show Your Depth and Expertise
A written tip can only take your audience so far. Real thought leadership is depth plus delivery, and video lets you show both. Speaking lets you explain the why behind the what: walk through a process, talk through a real example, show how one decision led to a result. That context proves you genuinely understand your field rather than just repeating headlines.
Take a tip like "hook your viewer in the first three seconds." As one line of text it is forgettable. On video you can show a weak opener, then a strong one, explain exactly why the second holds attention, and the viewer leaves able to do it themselves. That extra depth convinces someone you are worth following, because they can see the substance behind the soundbite rather than just the soundbite.
Structure Your Videos for Maximum Impact
Attention is the most valuable currency you have online, and a clear structure keeps people watching long enough to land your point. Use the Nano Speech for every video: open, body, close. Open with a hook that earns the first few seconds, deliver one clear point in the body without wandering, and close with a single call to action, whether that is to follow, comment or try the thing you just taught.
A clear structure also stops you rambling, and rambling loses you a following. If you cannot say your main point in one sentence, it is not sharp enough yet. Tighten it until you can, and your videos become easier to watch, easier to remember, and easier to come back for.
Tell Stories That Connect
Storytelling is the fastest route to connection, because people remember stories long after they forget a list of tips. As Carl Buehner put it, people do not remember what you say, but they remember how you made them feel, and that feeling earns the follow. So fold your own experiences into your videos: a moment you got something wrong, a small win, a lesson that stuck. The content stops being generic and starts being yours.
The stories do not have to be dramatic, and they should never be about you for the sake of it, because it is always about the audience. A short, specific, honest moment that mirrors something the viewer is going through builds a personal bond, and that bond turns a casual watcher into a follower who shares your content with their own network.
What to Make Videos About to Grow Your Following
Consistency only grows a following if you are making videos about the right things, and the right things are your audience's real problems, not whatever you happen to feel like covering. Two simple methods keep you supplied with topics people genuinely want.
The first is a pain points database. Keep a running note of the questions, frustrations and exact phrases that come up in your comments, your messages and your everyday conversations. Run it on a rule of three: see a question once and note it down, see it twice and it becomes a post, see it a third time and it earns a full video, because by then you know the demand is real and you already have the words your audience uses to describe it.
The second is the 2 year test. Think back to where you were a couple of years ago, the problems you were stuck on and what eventually solved them. Your past self is usually a close match for the people you are trying to reach now, so the things you wish someone had explained to you then are exactly the videos that will grow your following today.
Let Your Audience Get to Know You
The biggest advantage of speaking on social media is that people get the real you: your voice, your energy, your personality. When someone only reads your words, they fill in the tone themselves. Video hands them the genuine article, and that is far harder to ignore and far easier to trust.
If video still feels like too big a leap, start with your voice. Audio formats like X Spaces let you practise speaking in public and build a following before the camera is ever involved. By the time you move to video, you already have an audience that trusts your voice and wants to put a face to it.
Engage With Your Audience
A following is a relationship, not a broadcast. Growth comes when people feel heard, so reply to comments, answer the questions your videos provoke, and genuinely ask for input. A few specifics that work: reply to every comment in the first hour, while the platform is still deciding how far to push the video; end a video with a real question rather than a generic "let me know below"; and turn your best comment into your next video. Every reply is a signal to the algorithm that your content sparks conversation and a deposit of goodwill with a real person.
Aim for community over virality. A viral spike fades, while a loyal, engaged community keeps turning up, commenting and bringing other people with them, and that compounds into durable growth over time.
Actionable Takeaways to Grow Your Social Media Following Using Public Speaking
If you want a simple on-ramp, here is a first week that breaks the seal:
Days 1 to 3: turn your camera on in every call and meeting. Say nothing differently, just get used to being seen.
Days 4 and 5: record one 30 second clip on a single tip, using open, body, close. Keep it, but resist rewatching it ten times.
Days 6 and 7: post two clips, then reply to every comment they earn.
One week, and the hardest part, starting, is behind you. For more on using public speaking as a marketing growth channel, see the Ultimate Guide to Public Speaking in Marketing.
Frequently Asked Questions About Growing a Following With Public Speaking
How does public speaking help grow a social media following?
It builds the connection that turns viewers into followers. When people hear your voice and see your energy, they start to trust you in a way text cannot match, and trust is the reason someone follows instead of scrolling on. Structured, story led video also holds attention longer, which the platforms reward with more reach, so good speaking grows both the relationship and the audience size.
What is the best way to start if speaking on camera feels scary?
Lower the stakes until starting is easy. The trick most people miss is that you do not have to post anything at first: record short clips just for yourself, so the camera becomes normal before anyone is watching, then follow the first week plan above. Comfort comes from reps, so the goal early on is simply to start, not to be polished.
How do you turn viewers into loyal followers?
Give them a reason to come back and a reason to feel known. Show real depth so they learn something, tell honest stories so they connect with you, and then engage: reply to comments, answer questions and treat the audience as a community rather than a number. People follow and stay for the person and the relationship, not just the information.
How often should you post to grow a following?
Consistently enough that your audience starts to expect you, which usually means several focused videos a week rather than the occasional one. Consistency matters more than polish, because a following is built on familiarity, and you only earn that by showing up regularly over time.
TL;DR: Grow Your Social Media Following Through Public Speaking
Public speaking grows a following because it builds the connection that turns viewers into a loyal community.
Get comfortable on camera by starting small, because comfort comes before confidence, then competence.
Make videos about your audience's real problems, found with a pain points database and the 2 year test.
Show real depth on video, the why and the how, not just the what.
Structure every video with the Nano Speech so it is clear, tight and worth following.
Tell honest, specific stories so people connect with you, not just your information.
Engage genuinely and build community over virality, because a loyal audience compounds and a viral spike fades.
More From Liam Sandford
Read my book: Effortless Public Speaking. Learn how to speak confidently, reduce stress, and turn public speaking into your competitive advantage. These actionable public speaking tips will help you improve your presentation skills for any audience.
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