It’s Always a Good Time to Practice Your Speaking Skills!
Filed under: "To Do" List, Career, Leadership, Marketing Yourself, Professional Growth
The irony wasn’t missed by me that as I was packing up today to head to a speaking engagement, my college freshman son called to let me know that he was on his way to deliver a speech in class.
The only thing that separated us for the moment was 30 years and a few thousand presentations. Oh, to be young again! How do you tell an 18-year-old that he would be well-served to embrace learning the art of speaking versus fighting it like so many people do throughout their lives?
Not everyone remembers Speech 100 as fondly as I do. Some people still turn pale at the mention of having to get up in front of a group and present. The relief at finishing that class for many was palpable. “Yep, never have to do that again!”
Wrong!
I’m a bit of a broken-record on this topic (how many years until no one gets that metaphor?), but there are few skills that will take you further and help you more than developing your speaking skills. Your writing skills are a close second.
Individuals in the world of work will form a perception of you not only by the quality of your work, but by how well you carry and present yourself. A little confidence goes a long way. It’s good to be able to articulate effectively when the VP or CEO corners you in the elevator on the latest project issue or you’re invited to a command performance in front of the executive committee.
Leaders communicate. While listening and asking questions are core to a leader’s communications arsenal, when you talk, people listen. Make it count by being comfortable, confident and concise!
More and more roles inside organizations serve as informal leaders. If you don’t think it’s important to be a competent speaker in front of a group, ask a project or product manager.
Nothing to Fear but Fear Itself:
While you can hide and some people do get away with dodging the speaking bullet, I’m not sure why you would want to. The fear is overblown and developing a level of competence takes effort and practice, a lot like working on your serve in tennis. OK, maybe that’s a bad example, because I’ve yet to master that stroke, but hopefully, you get the point.
My advice:
- Seek out some easy opportunities to practice. Departmental or team updates can be fairly non-threatening. Alternatives include community events, classroom visits, or school committees.
- Ask your boss and peers for specific feedback on your speaking. What should you do more of? Where do you need to improve. Don’t settle for, “that was great!” No one gets better by being told they were great.
- Search on “Toastmasters” and find a local chapter and join!
- Reference a good book. My favorite is: “The Exceptional Presenter” by Timothy Koegel.
- Find a coach. While the price is often not cheap, the impact is priceless!
- Read the book, listen to your coach, practice and video record yourself. You’ll be shocked, but at least you will be seeing and hearing what everyone else is seeing and hearing.
- Volunteer for other opportunities. Yep, you heard me. After a lifetime of dodging this bullet, you’ll find that embracing it is exhilarating.
The Bottom Line:
Public speaking, like leading is only learned by doing. Practice, feedback, coaching and more practice are the ingredients of success for both. It’s time to quit hiding from the speaking monster and to practice and develop it into submission.
Oh, and those of you managing early career professionals. What a great developmental opportunity! Hint, hint.
Professional Development: It’s Time to Improve Your Presentation Skills
Filed under: "To Do" List, Career, Professional Growth
You’ve likely heard this quote: “In a survey about what people fear the most, speaking in public edged out dying.”
While I question the existence of this now legendary survey, it is at least not far from the truth for many individuals.
Whether you enjoy speaking in public or would rather have honey smeared all over you and be staked to an anthill, the ability to speak effectively in public is one of the admission tickets to success in many professions. Master this art form and doors open effortlessly in front of you.
A very wise manager once indicated something to the effect of, “you will be as successful as you are able to communicate.” It’s an odd twist of words, but the point is clear.
I credit another teacher, Mr. McSherry, at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, IL with helping me move beyond my fear of speaking. From Freshman Speech to his courses in Argumentation and Public Broadcasting, and as coach of the Debate Team, he helped many of us hone our skills and develop a passion for the podium. I’ve tried to pass this along in my professional career.
Whether you are one of the survey respondents above or someone that has honed your skills and developed some degree of confidence and competence at public speaking, it’s important to recognize that you can always improve.
Speaking in public is much like playing an instrument. You never really master an instrument. Great performers constantly push themselves to explore new areas and new limits and the best speakers do the same.
During one of his many visits to the aforementioned Hersey High School in the late 70’s, Doc Severinson, the bandleader for The Tonight Show and an accomplished trumpet player told the audience of concert band enthusiasts, “If I don’t practice for one day, I can tell. If I go two days without practicing, my band can tell. After three days, everyone can tell.”
How much time do you spend practicing this skill?
Timothy Koegel, author of The Exceptional Presenter—A Proven Formula to Open Up and Own the Room (2007) offers up a similar quote on practice from a speaker in this excellent and helpful book. I checked it out from the library and found it so practical and useful that I ordered it and will add it to my collection of professional tools.
The Exceptional Presenter offers practical advice for:
- Crafting your message
- Relating to your audience,
- Managing your own physical positioning and body language
- Managing question and answer sessions
- Recognizing and overcoming common bad habits
- Leveraging passion as a powerful speaking tool
- And much more in this idea and exercise packed little book
Koegel’s stated goals in the book are to:
1. Provide a proven formula that will enable you to communicate at an exceptional level in any venue to any audience.
2. Share practice methods that help you develop skills that will not fail under pressure.
3. Serve as your personal diary to document your improvement.
In my opinion, he succeeds in good order. If you’ve postponed thinking about and acting on improving this part of your professional skill set, The Exceptional Presenter is a great way to jump start your development program.
The Bottom Line for Now:
Of course, it’s impossible to improve your skills by reading a book without putting the ideas into practice. Seek out opportunities at work to stand up and talk. If you are not comfortable practicing at work, it’s surprising how many opportunities you might find in your community through school activities or church groups. The important lesson is to start practicing and keep at it.
If you are really hungry for a development opportunity, consider joining a local chapter of Toastmasters. I know many professionals that credit much of their speaking success to the lessons learned and support provide at Toastmasters.
You may never completely overcome the nervous anxiety that accompanies the lead up to a public presentation, but you can definitely improve your success. Remember, you will be as successful as you are able to communicate. You heard it here.
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