Forums: Discussions for entrepreneurs and small business.

Last night was my employers annual awards banquet. I had to go to the podium twice in front of a few hundred people. The first time was to present the "Marketing Person Of The Year" award to a member on my staff. The second was to accept the award I won for "Employee of The Year" (ironic a poster on here with the entreprenuial bug won employee of the year, no?) Both times, even though I did a decent job with humor, I fell very short of being a good public speaker. I was very nervous. I am not an ummmer or anything, I just did not know what to say and I was kind of all over the place. It`s strange because I do not lack confidence, in fact in my position, I have to be very agressive etc, but that person could not be found when I was up there talking. My question is, are there courses or anything out there I can take to help me improve my public speaking? I need it!

Check out Toastmasters.  I`ve been to a couple meetings and liked it.

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Leslie
Founder and President
Charmed Life Products LLC
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1. What is the premise of your message?
2. How will you grab the audience attention?
3. Develop two or three points of wisdom and then "flush" those points out.
4. Finish with a strong close.

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Mr. Ric Willmot
Professional Speaker | Consultant | Mentor | Author
Executive Wisdom Consulting Group
W: http://ExecutiveWisdom.com
E: info@executivewisdom.com
Blog: http://ricwillmot.com

Founder of the Society for Executive Wisdom

The Law Firm Marketing Masters podcast rated Ric Willmot as “Au stralia's leading law firm management and marketing consultant” and “One of the Top 10 Law Firm Marketing Experts in the World” for 2012.

If you have the chance to take a class in improvisation, do it!  It is the best way to attack public speaking, because it is the most difficult.  Improv gives you the skills to get up when you have nothing and deliver; you become that much more effective when you get up to deliver when you actually know what you`re talking about.

I`ll go along with Steve---get some training. There are courses you can take, and some are even a whole lot of fun. One very good way is to try something like a course on stand-up comedy. That`s the most complex form of public speaking, particularly involving timing and audience perception. Toastmasters is a good thing too, or just audit a course at your local collage on public speaking.

Booklover -

You suggestion is a great one.  Improv workshops or classes have been VERY helpful for many of my friends and clients. 

- J.



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Jeff Fisher | Jeff Fisher LogoMotives | Tweet! Tweet!

I went to the Toastmasters website and it seemed as though the groups are niches. For example, a Rock Climbers club. I am taking this to mean this is a groupof people looking to work on their public speaking and alsohave an interest in rock climbing. Is this accurate?

I have no idea about that (and I live in one of the hotbeds of rock climbing in the U.S.).  The meeting I went to was just a bunch of people, maybe 15, in a bland room in an office building talking about and practicing speaking skills.  The meetings I saw online were held at schools, churches, office buildings and so forth.  There were meetings throughout the week, from early morning to night.  Maybe you happened upon one specific group that was trying to incorporate an activity but that`s not my impression of Toastmasters.

I am a member of two Toastmaster clubs in Tampa, Florida. I can highly recommend joining a Toastmasters club after attending a few meetings at different clubs to find one where you feel comfortable. The name of the club doesn`t necessarily indicate that they all have the same interests.

The cost is typically $70 per year. You learn to give ten different types of speeches to become a "Competent Communicator". They also do "Table Topics" which is leanring to speak extemporaneously (thinking on your feet when asked to comment about something).

There are some clubs that are sponsored by corporations that may be closed to the public, but most are open to visit and encourage new members.  Go to www.toastmasters.org and find the clubs closest to you.