181: Practice Makes A Lot Better When Presenting

<p>Practice makes Perfect except when presenting.  Why?  Because as businesspeople, we just don’t get enough speaking opportunities to become really excellent.  Repetition is key and with it frequency.  Today we look at the problem and what we can do about it.</p> <p> </p> <p>The usual frequency for most people for giving formal presentations is once in a blue moon.  In other words, we don’t do so many in a year.  This presents a problem, because as we know, repetition is key to learning and improvement.  If we were giving formal presentations 50 weeks a year, we would see remarkable improvements as we honed our craft.  In business though, this rarely presents itself as an opportunity.  We may be lucky to give two or three presentations in a 12 month period.  In this case, how can we improve our skills?</p> <p> </p> <p>The obvious method is to proactively increase the frequency.  Instead of hanging around waiting for someone to invite you to speak, you need to get out there and beat the bushes for opportunities to present.  There are many organizations who are constantly on the look out for speakers.  Rotary Clubs need speakers every week.  Chambers of Commerce need a constant flow of speakers as well.  There are innumerable interest groups who would love to have someone come and speak on an interesting and relevant topic.</p> <p> </p> <p>This throws up the issue of what to speak about.  There will be a natural alignment between your own areas of experience, expertise and knowledge and popular demand, which will determine the types of subjects you will be able to speak upon.  If these areas are such that there is a common interest in this subject, you will find there will be groups who will be interested in having you speak.  The trick is to let them know you exist as a speaker.</p> <p> </p> <p>This is where you need to be strategic.  Investigate what sorts of groups exist in your area who regularly feature speakers.  Make a matrix between the subject areas they cover and your own range of interests and capabilit