Public speaking is something that many of us do every day.
Not only can public speaking skills help you with formal presentations and speeches – they can also help with job interviews, toasts at social gatherings, pay-raise pitches, and the list goes on.
I know I’m not the only one though who gets a little nervous when it comes to public speaking.
Therefore, I want to provide an example that (maybe you’ll find humorous, or maybe it will make you cringe), but ultimately, I hope you can take something useful away from it. Readers, this is a time where I failed at public speaking in a real-life situation.
The year was 2020. I had just landed my first official external marketing job as a business development representative for a behavioral health hospital.
Up until then, my experience had only been in post-acute care. Let me tell you… behavioral health is a whole other world in terms of healthcare. From insurances and reimbursement to length of stay, and of course… the patients themselves.
Not to fear, though! With my experience in healthcare as a whole and driving opportunities for census growth, I was confident that I could learn this new sector easily and become an expert quickly.
This was my first mistake.
My boss accompanied me on my first ‘outing’ to introduce me those that he already knew (as well as promote the hospitals’ services). Our last stop was to a behavioral health clinic, and I – being the confident, charming girl I was, felt ready to introduce myself. It was my turn to give the overview of our services.
**For the record, walking into a business and trying to land a meeting is harder than it looks or sounds… my audience was not just the clinic manager, but also everyone else that was sitting in the waiting room with nothing but time and listening ears.
I met with the clinic manager, introduced myself with ease… and then began stumbling over everything else as far as our services went.
If that weren’t enough, to make it more uncomfortable, I expected my boss to ‘jump in’ and save me, so-to-speak. When he didn’t, we stood in an awkward silence that (to me) felt like it lasted a lifetime.
(Really… it was probably more like 20 seconds.)
I’m not going to lie to you, reader.
The only message I probably got across was that I didn’t know what I was talking about.
The clinic manager (even though I openly told her I was new) was highly unlikely to call me in the future based on my overall ‘presentation’ of our services. I can’t blame her though. I wouldn’t call me, either. At least not after that.
It’s hard to say exactly if I got any of it right, but I give myself at least a few kudos for starting off strong with an introduction of me. I was confident when I walked in there.
In the end though, I realized that I needed to learn more about the subject that I was talking about to improve my public speaking. I should have spent more time understanding the hospital before I tried ‘winging it.’
After all, it is hard to present an overview of a service that you don’t even understand yourself.
If the thought of standing in front of a group of people and presenting makes you feel uncomfortable, here is my advice.
Know your audience.
- “Learn as much about your listeners as you can. This will help you determine your choice of words, level of information, organization pattern, and motivational statement.” 1 Consider how much they already know on the subject. In my above example, I failed to consider the fact that the clinic manager, as well as the patients in the waiting room who were listening, already had a level of understanding on behavioral health. I also learned later that some audiences might even know more than a simple basic understanding – think psychiatrists, therapists, and even police officers. This makes a huge difference in terms of your messaging strategy. A police officer is going to want to know the process for directly admitting potential clients to the hospital. Can they just drop them off, or do they need to go through a different process? On the other hand, a therapist probably wants to know the admission process from a different angle. How can they refer their clients to the hospital?
Know your subject matter inside out.
- This will directly impact your overall level of confidence. If you’ve ever explained something to someone that you are passionate about, you know what I’m talking about. Take the time to truly learn and understand the subject matter. Consider viewpoints that contradict your own.
Research possible questions that you might be asked ahead of time.
- This one goes hand in hand with the first two. Again, who is your audience, and what do they already know? If you were in their position, what would you ask?
Practice, practice, practice.
- Again, this is only going to help your confidence. And your confidence is going to be the key to not only making you less uncomfortable, but also to relaying the message you want to relay.
Remember that your audience wants to hear what you have to say.
- I think this is an important one that many people forget. It’s totally normal to be a little nervous, even if you are used to public speaking. Just remember that if your audience showed up to listen to you, you’ve already earned their respect. But if you want to keep that respect – do them the honor of employing your expertise.
List out the most important points that you want to get across to your listeners and use an outline if you need to.
- This will help you stay on track as well as ensure that the message you want to convey is actually being communicated. “Write down the topic, general purpose, specific purpose, central idea, and main points.” 1 Avoid reading a script if you can help it. An outline should only guide you as you speak.
References
1 – North, M. (2020, March 17). 10 Tips for Improving Your Public Speaking Skills. Professional Development | Harvard DCE. https://professional.dce.harvard.edu/blog/10-tips-for-improving-your-public-speaking-skills/
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