Back in the day, when Facebook, Linked In, Twitter and all the other social media platforms were just a twinkle in someone’s eye – can you believe it, I am talking about ten years or so ago? – people used to have to know good, old-fashioned communication skills.  Such required skills included needing to know how to: listen; read body language; mirror; adapt; express empathy; paraphrase, and ask for clarification.  All of this give and take had to be done in person using our voices, mouths, eyes, ears and bodies to read cues, understand messages and respond. 

Today, we can spend entire days alone with an electronic device of one sort or another linked, potentially or actually, to thousands of people who may be known to us or may be complete strangers without moving a single muscle beyond our fingers and thumbs.  Our faces can remain expressionless, our are voices silent and, still, we can conduct our business, do our work, entertain or educate ourselves, book a vacation, complete our holiday shopping — not speak a single word! 

Is that weird or what?

Yet, zoom back to the real world of personal and workplace relationships, and those neglected, old communication skills are still needed — more than ever.

On how many teams have you worked where something breaks down because people didn’t understand one another or get along well?

How many misunderstandings have occurred that have led to broken relationships and poor work performance?

How many times have you failed to persuade others of your point of view even when you were sure you knew what was right?

How often have you had to stand up in front of a room of people – or even speak to a small group of potential funders or employers – and not delivered your message in a compelling way?

In today’s blog, I’ll focus on this last important skill — that of Public Speaking.  George Jessel wrote, “The human brain starts working the moment you are born and never stops until you stand up to speak in public.”  If this is true for you, you might be interested in the Three P’s that can guarantee proficiency in Public Speaking when you need it particularly if most of your time is spent online with your verbal skills in danger of atrophying.

The Three P’s of Public Speaking

Personal Mastery

For many of us, the idea of speaking to a group, and to a large one in particular, is a source of enormous anxiety.  Learning simple techniques to calm ourselves down and quiet the inner voices of fear or flight can be very effective to improve our performance.  Here are a few tried and tested techniques:

• Take several deep, slow breaths before you begin to slow down your heart rate and relax your body.
• Make sure you are hydrated, and drink sips of water whenever you need.
• Wear comfortable clothes so you can walk around and gesture naturally and not be static behind a podium.
• Imagine you are speaking to a single individual in the audience, but try to make eye contact with people in each quadrant of the room.
• Slow down.
• Keep your visuals and stories simple.
• Don’t try and cover too much ground.
• In most cases, keep the tone conversational.
• And, most important of all, when those chattering voices of your “monkey mind” threaten to undermine or criticize you, politely but firmly banish them from your thoughts.

People who have a more deep-seated fear of Public Speaking, and yet for whom it is important to their success to be better at it, might seek coaching that addresses not only the mechanics of Public Speaking but also attends to this underlying aspect of personal mastery.

Preparation

The second key is to be well prepared both in your subject matter and in the understanding of your audience. For your audience, you need to know who they are, what level of knowledge and interest they have, what their concerns are and how you plan to address those concerns.  The better armed you are with this knowledge, the easier it will be to powerfully and effectively deliver your message.

Practice

There is no substitute, especially when you are starting out, for rehearsing and speaking out loud several times what you plan to say.  Whether you have written a rough draft in full or just use speaking notes, the more you practice, the more you will be able to sound natural on the day of actual delivery. From this practice, you will be able to focus on connecting with your audience instead of only on the content.

Don’t forget to develop your Public Speaking skills along with the agility of your thumbs and fingers if you want to be an effective communicator and advance in the workplace.

Fredia Woolf, Founder of Woolf Consulting, blogs about career and workplace issues.  She provides Leadership coaching and Organizational consulting to clients, helping them enhance Productivity, Effectiveness, Performance, Personal Engagement, and Results, and improve Strategy, Alignment, Leadership, and Teamwork.  She can be contacted at fwoolf@woolfconsulting.com.

Last updated on November 21st, 2010 at 01:44 am