Power skills | Public speaking
UNLOCK YOUR POTENTIAL
How to nail public speaking at work
Just the idea of public speaking scares the living daylights out of most people, but get good at it and you will get exposure, fast-track your career and you can even get paid for it.
Why should I perfect my public speaking?
1
Showcase your knowledge and confidence
It’s a brilliant way to position yourself as an expert in your role.
2
Climb the career ladder faster
The higher you go, the more you’ll be expected to speak and present so if it’s a skill you have, you’ll stand out as ready for promotion.
3
Get paid to speak
Keep improving and one day you could be getting booked and paid as a keynote speaker at conferences and events.
Everyone started at the beginning
If standing up and talking to a group of people doesn’t come naturally to you, the temptation can be to bury your head in the sand and try to avoid it at all costs. It’s important to remember that presenting doesn’t come naturally to the majority of people and even those who you now see smashing it often started as shy, sweaty messes. Focus on building your speaking skills.
Ross Simmonds, is a CEO and global keynote speaker, but he told us it wasn’t always like that,
“My nickname at high school was ‘Shy Ross’ but I read online that if you want to go far in business then you need to be able to write well and speak well. I did want to go far and could already write well but I was bad at speaking. So I signed up to speak at local events. I was a sweaty, bumbling, stuttering, sweaty mess at first and learnt the lesson very quickly not to wear white shirts. But I kept signing up so that I could get better and I did. Back then I was one of the only folks talking about social media in the local scene as there was a demand for that topic. It probably took me 20 talks to get to the best in class and in the early days I was probably speaking to a room of 20 people—two weeks ago I spoke to a room of 16,000 in Brazil.”
10 tips for being an amazing presenter
1
Mindset matters
Always come at it with an attitude of trying to be as helpful as possible, not trying to look clever, and thinking about how you can continuously improve.
2
Make it about them
“The number one thing people get wrong is thinking about themselves. People always worry ‘what if the audience doesn’t like me’. Newsflash! It is not about you. It is not about them liking you. It is about you serving them. You’re not up there to make yourself look good. You want your audience to derive value from what you’re saying. I always say, serve at the pleasure of the audience. It doesn’t just take away a whole lot of pressure from yourself, it also makes you a 10x better speaker,” keynote speaker Pascalle Bergmans told us.
3
Deliver with impact
Think about using confident body language. Engage your audience using storytelling and humour where appropriate.
“Don’t think about what you are going to say, think about how you are going to say it. Only 7% of what you say will actually be remembered. People don’t remember what you said, but they will remember how you made them feel,” says Pascalle.
4
Use visuals
Slides can support your points and serve as great prompts but don’t make them too busy or distracting.
5
Practice makes perfect
Ask a friend if you can practise on them and you can also film yourself on your phone and watch it back.
6
Prep, prep, prep
Arrive early, scope the room or venue, test your tech, dress with confidence.
7
Turn nerves into excitement
Nerves and excitement can feel the same so embrace and channel the energy you get into positivity and be glad to have the opportunity.
8
Slow down
You already know the content (your audience doesn’t), and the nerves will naturally speed you up. Focus on speaking slowly and taking pauses.
9
Content is king/queen
Creating content for presentations and public speaking makes great content. You could turn longer talks into mini videos for TikTok or turn slides into useful LinkedIn carousels.
10
Get feedback
Ask others for a couple of things they think you could do better and, if it was recorded, watch yourself back to see where you can improve.
QUICK TIPS
Your first 5 steps to public speaking glory
1
Manifest it
Put it out there and tell your peers, manager and LinkedIn followers that you’d like the opportunity.
2
Be passionate
Talk about the things that you know about, that you could talk about forever.
3
Pay attention
Watch others public speaking at work and watch TED Talks on YouTube and study how they do it and what you like about the techniques they use.
4
Try different formats and audiences
You might not feel at ease presenting to a room full of people now but what about presenting in your team meeting or talking to a classroom of young people? Or doing a Q&A instead of a formal speech?
5
Start now and start small
Ask others who you respect and trust to give you some honest feedback.
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