Often, people tell me, "I'm not a speaker so I do not have to think about presentation skills."
I disagree. I think we are all speakers – yes, even you.
Whether you talk to a small or large audience in a corporate,
academic or community setting, you are a speaker. If you give an update to a project team, speak up at a neighborhood meeting
or organize a fundraiser, you are a speaker. If you give a toast at a wedding, conduct an orientation for new employees or
train someone on a new process, you are a speaker. If you teach a class, lead a conference call or accept a community award,
you are a speaker. If you answer a question at a meeting, attend a networking event or interact with potential clients, you
are a speaker. If you’re on a panel at a professional association meeting, answer the phone at your company or give
an oral report in your college class, you are a speaker.
The point of thinking of yourself as a speaker is not to make
you crazy. The point is for you to become conscious of your power to communicate. Public speaking is a skill – it's
not magic or a special gene. Yes, some people are naturally more comfortable with public speaking than others, but the good
news is that since public speaking is a skill, it can be learned and improved. You already have knowledge and expertise; public
speaking gives you the ability to communicate that knowledge and expertise effectively to others. And in so doing, you can
have a positive impact on your self-confidence, your career and your community.
One of the first people that I coached
was a man who had to give the toast at his brother's wedding. One of my most recent coaching clients was a woman who had to
lead a teleseminar with a global audience for a major client. Both of these people are speakers, even though that is not their
primary job description. They had something to share with other people and communicating effectively made a difference in
their personal and business relationships.
Just by thinking of yourself as a speaker, you benefit from what I call
the Focus Effect. Earlier in my career, I worked in process improvement and was often called in to analyze a business process
that was inefficient, costly or time-consuming. I found that just by asking people who were involved in the process to focus
on what they were doing and how, the process often improved because they were more conscious of their actions.
Likewise,
when you think of yourself as a speaker, you begin to focus on what and how you communicate. And as you pay more attention
to your communications, you become more conscious of what works well and more able to improve what doesn't.
The next
time you have the opportunity to speak or present, think of yourself as a speaker. Doing so will help you eliminate the barriers
to letting your voice be heard and make a positive contribution to your professional and personal success.
