TED Talks have been viewed more than 4 billion times around the world - and anyone can use its curator's best public speaking advice

2. Prepare one story that you're confident will land well with the audience

Anderson cited Monica Lewinsky as an example of a TED speaker who crafted her talk around one awesome story. Once that tidbit went over well with the audience, she felt more relaxed and confident about the rest of the presentation.

Here's the story Lewinsky used:

The night of my speech [at the Forbes 30 Under 30 summit], a surprising thing happened. At the age of 41, I was hit on by a 27-year-old guy. I know, right? He was charming and I was flattered, and I declined. You know what his unsuccessful pickup line was? He could make me feel 22 again.

Anderson recommends using this strategy if you're nervous about the talk, and worried about your audience's reaction.

3. If you're nervous, say so

You might think the audience is rooting for your failure, but Anderson said they're generally "dying for you to succeed."

So they probably won't mind if you explain that you're feeling anxious about public speaking — especially if you do it with a little bit of humor.

Here's Anderson: "If you actually go on stage and you're still feeling nervous, it's okay just to tell the audience that. Audiences like honesty; they will actually embrace people."

4. Make sure your audience understands what you're talking about

One of the biggest public-speaking mistakes Anderson has seen is speakers neglecting to make sure their listeners understand what their talk is about:

They forget what it's like not to know something. If you're very familiar with a topic, you make all kinds of assumptions when you talk about it to other people. You might use jargon or you might just assume that people know a concept that is completely obvious to you.

He suggests practicing in front of a group of people with a similar knowledge level as your audience. Periodically ask if they got that last bit of information or if something wasn't clear — then tweak as necessary.