Speaking in public about what you do…
In the business world, speaking in public about what you do for a living and how you can help people is a skill that many business’s fail to see the importance of. What product are you selling, what service are you offering needs to be communicated to existing and potential clients, customers and / or service users in a way that they have been touched in some way by seeing you, meeting you, and listening to you. You want them to remember you, don’t you?, you want them to buy from you, don’t you? And you want them to tell their friends about, don’t you?
Speaking in public about your business and what you do is a skill you need to develop, nurture and imrpove upon if you are measured by how you effect the bottom line in your business. For many people, they just have it (how we envy those people!), others have learned the skills (and are now accomplished public speakers) and for the main majority, we have to keep working on it and keep doing more presentations. For the latter, the following three thoughts may make speaking in public somewhat easier for you.
- You are in the company of old friends
- Speak from the heart
- Plan, Prepare and Practice
You are in the company of old friends
With the mindset that you are in the company of old friends helps you really relax, be yourself and speak with sincerity. Seeing your audience as people who know all about you, who know where you have come from, who know that you mean well will be such a support and help to you before and during your speech delivery. This mindset will help you to look forward to your speech, help you practice better and help you deliver a great and competent speech.
Speak from the heart
This was said to me only a few years ago now by a lady who heard it from another person. They both were not too fond of public speaking, but their jobs required and demanded that they demonstrate good communication and presentation skills i.e. this was how they were measured in their job. With this second mindset of really speaking from the heart, a speaker gets into the moment and again gets the ability to speak with sincerity.
Plan, Prepare and Practice
Fail to plan, Plan to fail / The more I practice, the luckier I get / 3 P’s (Practice, Practice, Practice) – we have all heard the advises and sayings and I’m sure there are more. You know that planning what you are going to say, preparing it on paper or a speaking medium of choice and then practicing it are ‘must’s’ if you want to be on the top of your game. Find the time to plan, prepare, but most importantly, find the time to practice. Put it into your diary and practice as if it is the real situation – you’ll be glad you did…
