This is the first in a seven-part series of articles on presentation skills designed for persons who don't make or supplement their living from professional speaking.

Part 1 of 7: YOU can be a public speaker…
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7

Wouldn't it be great to be able to stand in front of an audience of hundreds of people and hold them in complete captivation? Wouldn't you love to be a Zig Ziglar, Brian Tracy, or Patricia Fripp for just a day...particularly the day you're scheduled to speak before your company's executives or a local civic group?! Wouldn't it be nice to go into a presentation convinced that they're going to love you, to hear their applause, to overhear comments afterwards such as "He was excellent," or "I really got a lot out of her program?" Well, you can. No, we can't all be a Tony Robbins, Terry Paulson, Lilly Walters, or Joe Calloway...but, fortunately, we don't have to be. You can do quite well just being yourself.

If you're like most people, you may be wondering why you should even bother. After all, speaking before a group can be terrifying at first-studies consistently show that public speaking is the #1 fear of most people. The answer to that is easy: Your career may depend on it! Unquestionably, you can dramatically improve your career opportunities by being a competent public speaker. As former sales consultant, speaker and author Wilson Harrel once said, "Nothing I have learned about sales psychology, killer closes, or whatever has increased my effectiveness in selling as much as the fundamental steps I learned for preparing and delivering a speech."

If you work in sales, can you make 50-100 (or more) cold calls per day? You can if you speak before a group! Earl Nightingale was a firm believer in the power of the spoken and written word...his research led him to believe that a key component to corporate success, and a consistent trait among executives, was the ability to communicate to others and to lead through persuasion and reason. So, if you want to greatly enhance your job performance and career opportunities, you must practice and hone your skills in the area of public speaking. Fortunately, most great speakers are made, not born...and you can be one of them.

In this series of articles, I'll be presenting tips, tools, and techniques that can dramatically improve your presentation skills. Some of this information is based upon my seminar and forthcoming book: "Presentation Skills for the 'Unprofessional' Speaker." If you think you'd be interested in the full presentation skills course and would like more information on how to purchase the book or schedule the seminar, just send me an email. Now, on with the show!

Copyright 1999-2000 by William C. Wilson, Jr.
All Rights Reserved.