Three Methods to Boost Your Career

by Edward J. Barks

Here's one sure way to advance your career: Speak up!

Think about it. Successful people in your field crave the opportunity to speak in public, whether it's presenting at your trade association's annual meeting, making a pitch to a potential client, or giving a 10-second introduction at a Chamber Breakfast Exchange.

You're afraid to take that plunge? You have lots of company. The good news is there are three common sense tools you can use right now to stop that quiver in your voice and knocking in your knees. They are the Three Keys to Great Presentations - preparation, presentation, and assessing feedback.

Let's take a look at some basic preparation tips. Begin by researching and crafting your remarks with care. Once you develop a razor sharp message, commit to delivering it. Then remember to anticipate any tough questions you might be asked and develop a response strategy. The bottom line to success is practice, practice, practice! Rehearse your performance aloud to colleagues or friends, or before a video recorder.

Now let us turn to the second key, presentation. If you come across as a human sleeping pill, the best message in the world doesn't make a difference. That's why you need to use what I call your video tools and audio tools - the way you look and sound.

From the video perspective, be animated with gestures and facial expressions. Use props when appropriate and make sure your eye contact is rock solid. On the audio side, use vivid words and add color to your voice with inflection and pitch. Vary your volume and rate occasionally. And show some emotion, for if you don't care about the new company-wide initiative you are directing, your co-workers certainly won't.

The most often ignored of the Three Keys to Great Presentations is assessing feedback. You cannot improve if you don't seek out honest critiques. Hand out an evaluation form, then mingle with your audience after your remarks and listen carefully. Gauge whether they were attentive or nodding off as you spoke and decide what steps you can take to better capture their attention next time.

Whether you deliver a speech to the National Press Club, pitch a client on a new service, or are asked to say a few words during a networking luncheon, the Three Keys to Great Presentations - preparation, presentation, and assessing feedback - can help you shore up that trembling voice and those wobbly legs.

Edward J. Barks, President of Barks Communications, is an expert in media, presentation skills, and testimony training. The firm also operates Barkscomm.com, the Internet's Communications Training Resource, at http://www.barkscomm.com/.

Ed invites you to subscribe to his free e-zine, Personal Trainer, at http://www.barkscomm.com/. He can be reached at (540) 955-0600 or by e-mail.

© Barks Communications 2003