Comments on: Public speaking a competitive marketing skill

By: Home Business Team

Home Business Team — Sun, 25 Jan 2009 22:48:51 +0000

Public speaking is a very important skill. Unfortunately some people are too afraid to try it to ever get good at it.

By: PPC

PPC — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:08:37 +0000

It sounds practically a great tool, but actually doing it, that is another matter all together. I can sit in a boardroom and chat to 20 people, but put me on a stage and I think I will freeze. I am, scared, I always thought it takes a particular type of person, but then maybe my time will come.

By: Vandy Massey

Vandy Massey — Thu, 15 May 2008 12:12:25 +0000

Following on the point about moving out of your comfort space – having always been one of the millions for whom public speaking was a fate worse than death, I set myself the goal of becoming comfortable with it at the beginning of 2007.

My lessons were:
- get some professional training if you can. I have had two fantastic trainers for this – and the investment was worth every penny

- preparation is sooooo important. The time I put into preparing is always hard work, but pays off big time.

- the only way you get any better is to grab every opportunity to do it.

Yesterday I did a talk at the Institute of Directors’ conference – and despite the nerves – I loved every minute! Prepare like crazy and then just get out there and do it.

By: Thomas Nicholson

Thomas Nicholson — Wed, 14 May 2008 16:36:04 +0000

I agree public speaking is an important skill. Even lecturing in the classes I teach. It gives me a chance, with each new group of students, to experiment and improve my skills. Toastmasters is another option. I have always wanted to checkout my local club but never make the time to go.

By: JudyAnn Lorenz

JudyAnn Lorenz — Wed, 14 May 2008 14:24:20 +0000

When I am knowledgeable and comfortable in my topic so that I can speak about it, I am also prepared to visit or talk about it one on one more effectively.

DH came to public speaking late in life with a job that required presentation. Our family is so proud of the job he does even though occasionally nervous.

By: Don

Don — Wed, 14 May 2008 04:36:23 +0000

Speaking is big specially for handling clients and can be big if you have public speaking skills.

By: jbrown

jbrown — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:12:39 +0000

This goes along great with your “comfort level” post the other day. On a daily basis I like to be the behind the scenes guy, designing the system and letting everyone else interact with customers/suppliers etc…but I know that it’s important to break through that comfort bubble. Recently I made myself go speak at the University of Houston (my alma mater) and it was both terrifying and rewarding all at once. For me, the hardest part was getting past the idea that most people wouldn’t retain anything I said. 95% of my preparation and hard work just went right on through them, but the handful of people that hung around afterwards to learn more made it all the more worthwhile.

By: Mike Reining - MindValley Labs

Mike Reining - MindValley Labs — Tue, 13 May 2008 08:18:36 +0000

I think it’s great that people are becoming more aware of the importance of public speaking. We try to encourage this by holding training and idea-sharing meetings twice every week and we get different people on our team to present on their learning and any ideas for innovation to different projects. We’ve found that this helps people to think their ideas through because teaching helps consolidation. Encouraging public speaking also falls in very well with the new direction our company is taking that everyone should think like a marketer first.