23.

Improve Your Verbal Presentation Skills

Polls have shown that people would rather die than speak in public. I also teach speaking (both my writing and speaking courses are “wing” courses to my career development course). If you can't communicate well, both in writing and verbally, your résumé isn't going to get you where you want to go. The hard skills—that is, your specific talents and abilities—get you in; but your soft skills—i.e., communication—move you up.

I don't teach public speaking, because that term implies that you're going to be speaking to large groups. Most of us never will. Besides, I can't turn you into a Barack Obama or Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. in an 11- or 15-week course. I'm an educator, not a magician. What I teach is speaking to one other person or to small groups because this is what you'll have to do in the business world—think interviews or presentations.

Here's a tip: Focus on the concept of contribution. You have something valuable to contribute to your audience. You need to push past whatever shyness or anxiety you may have to get the message across. It's not about you; it's about them and their needs. (Sound familiar?) Whatever detracts from conveying that message needs to be eliminated—think verbal hiccups like “y'know,” “uh,” “like,” etc.

Verbal presentation is about the steak and the sizzle. The “steak” is the content. You need to fully research your topic so you are an authority on the subject (or at least more authoritative than your audience). The “sizzle” is how you present your topic, the show. People like to be entertained and stimulated. You need to get their attention and connect your content to their needs. Consciously or not, they are thinking, “Why should I care about this?” Unless you can connect with them and explain why they should care about what you're telling them, they won't listen.