Something I've noticed when speaking in public and looking around at the audience (as one should to be a good public speaker) is that the majority of facial expressions will register as skeptical and unfriendly to my eyes.

I found this pretty alarming and discouraging at first, but I gradually realized that for the most part, I was just interpreting looks of concentration to be negative when they were actually neutral at worst.

Even knowing this, it can be hard to ignore. I was recently giving a talk, and a large guy in the front row seemed to be outright glaring at me the whole time. His look seemed to clearly communicate "WTF is this idiot talking about?" I tried to ignore him, but it definitely left me a bit flustered.

When the talk ended, that guy was the first one to come forward and tell me how much he had enjoyed it.

" Something I've noticed when speaking in public and looking around at the audience (as one should to be a good public speaker) is that the majority of facial expressions will register as skeptical and unfriendly to my eyes."

That was one of the best things I learned in Toastmasters. Most audience members looked bored or unfriendly to me. Once I realized that this is just normal I got much more relaxed while speaking and have a much better awareness of the mood of a room.

Focus on the foreheads. When you’re nervous, your brain is looking for threats.

Go to Toastmasters and get used to it. Worked like a charm for me.

While we are on the subject of speaking, does anyone know of any free or cheap online voice acting courses they would recommend?

I intend to start a stream but I am dissatisfied with my voice. Sound, expression, pronunciation. All bad. Terrible.

Sounds harsh. I started a stream with a good mic and HD cam and within weeks my mannerisms were better. I’m also realizing a verbal problem I’ve always had and nobody has confronted, even dentists, despite the obvious issues (dentists, doctors, phys trainers to a degree, would have all noticed). I am a good researcher and honest with hard truths, and that’s led to some interesting oral exercises and progress, actually recorded a first draft last night talking about oral collapse effects.

I went with the Blue Yeti... can’t speak highly enough... my first mic, so ymmv vs. other condensers, but the sensitivity of the device is paranoia inducing... high gain and I can hear myself breathing loudly across my apartment.

GL with pro help, my $0.02 is that self feedback can probably carry you till you need specific feedback.

Try adding some nodding and a few words of agreement while doing so.