Dynamic and well-prepared speakers are highly valued by employers and often gain greater visibility and career growth within their organizations. Employers tend to award leadership positions and choice client contact roles to employees who present well.
Why Employers Value Public Speaking Skills
Effective public speakers are in an excellent position to get their messages across in the workplace. A lackluster speaker can make a solid product or proposal seem less than enticing while a polished speaker can add allure to an otherwise mediocre proposition.
Public speaking skills are central to a variety of jobs including consultants, trainers, sales representatives, actors, motivational speakers, broadcasters, public relations representatives, recruiters, public officials, managers, clergy, attorneys, association leaders, admissions representatives, fundraisers and teachers.
Most professional level roles require some amount of public speaking to carry out functions like presenting findings, pitching proposals, training junior staff and leading meetings.
Examples of Public Speaking Skills
A – O
- Articulating clearly
- Assessing the needs and priorities of a potential audience of conference attendees
- Consultants presenting the findings for a reorganization plan to a group of executives at a client firm
- Controlling performance anxiety
- Creating attractive PowerPoint slides with the right amount of detail
- Drafting an evaluation form that attendees are likely to complete
- Grabbing the attention of the audience with a powerful opening
- Handing out copies of slides in advance to minimize note-taking demands on the audience
- Maintaining eye contact with the audience and providing an energetic, animated physical presence
- Memorizing enough content so that the speech does not come off as a reading of notes
- Modulating vocal tone to emphasize important points and avoid monotonous presentation
- Organizing a logical flow to a speech
P – Z
- Preparing examples that are relevant to the experience of the expected audience
- Providing compelling evidence to support themes
- Rehearsing the presentation and revising rough spots
- Researching information about the latest trends in an industry prior to presenting at a professional seminar
- Restating key points at the end of a speech to cement key concepts
- Reviewing feedback and modifying the approach for talks in the future
- Sales Representatives delivering a pitch for human resources software
- Summarizing the topics to be covered at the beginning of a talk to provide context for attendees
- Telling stories to illustrate points
- Timing the speech in advance to make sure it meets the allotted time
- Using humor to enliven a talk
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