Former US Presidential Speechwriter James Humes once said, “Every time you have to speak, you are auditioning for Leadership.”
Whilst Humes’ words stem from having worked with US Presidents, his thinking can be applied to any situation where we are required to speak professionally.
Whether it’s a presentation, pitch, AGM, Board meeting, team discussion, networking event or even a job interview, our ability to command an audience can have a transformative effect, so it’s no surprise that studies published by Harvard Business Review, Forbes and McKinsey continually rank communication as a critical skill.
A fear of speaking
The challenge with all forms of work related speaking, is that we can feel nervous and insecure about what to say, how to say it and worry about how our message is being received.
The irony is that most of us who feel this way are excellent at what we do, however our knowledge is eroded by our inability to communicate effectively. This can hinder career progression and promotion, lead to misunderstanding and mental health challenges.
I can intimately understand these challenges having lived with a stutter for as long as I can remember. For most of my life I have struggled to articulate myself. Throughout school I was teased for how I sounded, and at University I was excluded from group assignments because I was considered incompetent. This continuous bullying fueled my insecurities around speaking.
As a result, I wore a façade throughout my professional career. For my first corporate role I joined the commercial fit-out industry where my position focused on business development - networking, presentations, meetings, and phone calls - which required strong communication skills. I was also expected to build a pipeline of work and regularly win business.
My well-presented façade carried me for a while, but eventually the expectations of my role caught up with me. I shied away from networking; I was always nervous in meetings; I was afraid of making phone calls in front of my colleagues; I avoided presentations, and I was never confident in speaking with my manager. All of this affected my mental health and as a result, I failed to meet my targets and fulfil the expectations of my role.
A critical skill
As my career progressed, I realized how important communication is, and that I had to speak up. Recognizing the benefits of being an effective communicator, I taught myself how to speak, and developed unconventional strategies to control my stutter. This gave me confidence, so I challenged myself to try public speaking to test my fluency. After numerous (failed) attempts at delivering presentations - I became obsessed! I started watching presenters, analyzing TED Talks, dreaming up ideas, and creating models for how to communicate. As I refined my public speaking, I learned storytelling and its vital role in connecting, engaging, and leading people.
For example, there’s a strategy to speaking Formally at a conference, as there is for delivering a 5 minute investment pitch. There’s an approach to building and delivering a 60 second “What do you do?” elevator. There’s a process for designing and delivering a client presentation, or even a TED Talk.
There are strategies for job interviews, panel discussions, virtual presentations, podcasts, radio and TV interviews and creating video content for social media, and ALL of these strategies stem from developing our public speaking ability. I have documented more than 150 verbal and non-verbal techniques which can be applied to strengthen our communication ability across all these areas.
Redefining public speaking
The more I understood about public speaking, the more I recognized that it’s more than speaking on a stage – and it’s time to redefine what public speaking is.
Public speaking drives better meetings, allows us to connect better at networking events, build strong relationships, inspire and motivate teams,resolve conflict and excel at business development. It’s a critical skill for any role, across any industry and an excellent way to establish credibility, build trust and cement authority.
Public speaking is speaking in front of others, in any capacity.
Public speaking and technology
The problem is not just the fear of speaking in front of others. It’s about acknowledging our insecurities and realising our capacity to be excellent.
Chatterbox’s purpose is to provide a solution to the fear around public speaking (in this redefined form) through coaching programs, strategic workshops, keynote presentations and educational online content.
Additionally, Chatterbox has developed its own Virtual Reality technology, to build our confidence in presenting to a live audience. This is complemented by the latest in Artificial Intelligence where, using self-detected learning, feedback on presentations is gained through analyzing metrics such as jargon, language and structure. An ability to speak in front of others can grow our influence, build our reputation, and advance our career, and public speaking should no longer be classified a “soft skill”. Instead, it should be recognized a highly rewarding, essential business skill.
