Have you ever thought about the benefits that improving your
public speaking skills could bring to your life?
Maybe public speaking is something you don’t want to or have
to think about right at this moment, but there will likely be a time in the
future where you will have to speak “in public” – either to a small audience
(say a presentation at work) to the mother of all public speaking gigs – the
wedding speech!
In this article I will look at ways to improve your public
speaking skills by suggesting some top tips so that whatever public speaking
activities are in front of you, you can at least approach them with some degree
of confidence.
First of all I should stress that I am by no means a public
speaking expert. But I have done quite a lot of public speaking and I have
developed some public speaking techniques of my own to overcome the public
speaking anxiety I used to experience.
This has helped me develop my public speaking skills in both
my business and my personal life
- In my business life and career this has involved presentations to customers, to suppliers, to my immediate team and to higher management. I have found that as my presentation skills have developed, so has my confidence
- In my personal life I have made speeches at University (I was President of my Halls of Residence and am still quoted for one particularly hilarious speech involving various members of the hall and fairy tale characters), at weddings, at funerals, and as part of my social role at the local football team….
All I can tell you is what has worked for me, and in dealing
with my public speaking fear, it has really helped me in other areas such as my
communication skills, my presentation skills and my listening skills…. and who
knows where it may lead – some people make a very tidy living out of public
speaking on the after dinner circuit.
