Sunday 28 October 2012

Are Your Public Speaking Skills Up To Scratch?

It is inevitable that at some stage you will be asked to present your treasurer’s report to the committee or at the Annual General Meeting. How would you cope?

Speaking in public is not easy to do, especially when you know that your message is not what people want to hear. Just in case you need a little help, here are the three top tips from ToastmastersToastmasters.

1. Know your message. Be clear on what you want to say. If you are very nervous, memorise your first few lines. That gives your brain time to kick start and catch up with your mouth!

2. Know your audience. Understand who you are speaking to and choose your terminology to suit. Not everyone will understand financial terms, nor will a formal audience be expecting jokes.

3. Practice! There is nothing better for calming your nerves than to have practiced your speech so often that you know it by heart. Learn where in your speech to pause for breath and to gather your thoughts. Practice and practice again.

Public speaking is a skill so the more you do it, the better you will get.

Besides, if this is the standard of treasurer’s speeches, you’ve got nothing to worry about.