 We have one person in our office that must have been born with the skills, talent, and ability to be a total extrovert and give a speech or presentation at the drop of a hat. However, according to a human resource survey reported in 2005, approximately 15% of employed persons are highly apprehensive about communicating orally in organizational settings. Practically everyone – about 85% of the population, in fact – experiences "stage fright" when they give a speech. Another person in our office, we’ll have to call him “Joe,” was pretty near the bottom of that 85%. He was probably one of the 5% of us who have an excessive and debilitating fear of speaking in public. Realized this could affect his career from moving forward, he decided he needed to do something.
Shakespeare wrote, “All the world’s a stage. And all the men and women merely players,” but if we’re not pretty good players, then we may face missed business opportunities, lost clients, being passed over for promotions and either can cost us tens, even hundreds of thousands of dollars over a career. So, our “Joe” went for help to acting professionals who teach transferring performance skills to the business arena, and it really made a difference.
I know of two places in town where they have acting classes to help the business person; “Joe” went to the Houston Academy of Dramatic Arts which you can get further information from at http://www.hadaedu.org. The other one is Lasater Training which you can find at http://www.barbaralasater.com. Until then, the following tips should help improve your presentation skills.
Practice – It sounds too obvious, but it’s surprising how many people don’t practice in front of a mirror or in front of friends.
Visualize -- See yourself successfully presenting to a pleased audience.
Know your material—Another one that should be obvious, but many people have stage fright because they feel unprepared.
Focus on one topic-- All your audience really wants is to walk away with something that will make a difference to them. If possible have a discussion with the audience.
Relax – Or look relaxed when you walk out before your audience.
Use resources-- A good Flash or Powerpoint presentation can make you presentation more interesting and make you job easier. |
