Public Speaking must be Banned Now!

... and while we're at it, Presentation Skills must be banned too!

Now why on earth would someone like me, who has spent the best part of their career coaching and partnering with leaders to help them become accomplished, confident and excellent in the arena of communication and leadership, come out and say such a thing?

The answer to that is pure and simple... to help you become an excellent Communicator much more quickly.

The terms Public Speaking and Presentation Skills are outdated and counter-productive. It makes them sound like they are something so incredibly unique and special. As such we tend to raise them up on a pedestal as things that are mightily lofty and so important that surely only the most accomplished leaders and those born with these superhuman gifts can master.

Not suprising then that the very mention of those two terms (either separately or together) is enough to send shivers down the spines of most of us mere mortals. Even many of the most accomplished communicators may care to admit that the same goes for them too. The only difference is that they've just learnt to grin and bear it, to put on a mask, take a deep breath and just get on with it, in the hope that it will be over and done with as quickly and as painlessly as having a tooth pulled out by a very accomplished dentist.

Yes, ouch, sorry about that (and to all dentists), but you get the picture!

So the myth has got to stop... because it does none of us any favours and indeed holds us back.

At the end of the day, an excellent communicator is someone who is a great listener and can have a natural conversation, with structure and clarity, and deliver their message with confidence, style and passion... and I don't believe for one minute that we cannot learn to coach ourselves how to bring these skills out of ourselves and give them a throughly good polishing. In essence, these skills can be learnt.

And here's how to hugely speed up the process...

If you're going to invest time and effort in the following...

• Assessing your audience in order to produce a message that has what they need to hear from you at the very heart of it, striking a chord, as opposed to just telling them what you want to tell them.
• Structuring your message so that it is clear, concise, and gets to the heart of the message.
• Delivering your message with a positively strong and impactful voice, grounded and confident body language, great eye contact and connection and chemistry...

Why on earth would you choose to focus on those excellent and highly sought-after skills sporadically? Why would you choose to save them up, just for the big presentation, the huge contract proposal, the next Board presentation, the next interview for a new job or a promotion, the next crucial conversation in a meeting where the outcome is of vital importance? Why would you do that?

Why not make it your absolute goal to become consciously aware of the clarity of your message (tailor-made for who you are talking to), the quality of your voice, the impact of your body language and the connection and chemistry all the time... quite literally every time you speak, no matter what the context? Why not?So this means, from this moment on, if you're up for the positive challenge, and I would strongly urge you to go for it and get on board (because only good things will happen)... every time you speak, from now on provides you with an opportunity to become consciously aware of the clarity of your message, the quality of your voice, your positive impact of your body language and allowing and authorising yourself to be who you are truly capable of being, the genuine, authentic you. All the time, in all contexts, informal, formal and anywhere in between, i.e...

• Out with friends
• At home with family
• At work, by the water cooler or coffee machine
• Walking down the corridor
• In the elevator
• On the phone
• On a video conference
• Sitting around a table in a meeting
• Standing presenting at a meeting
• Delivering a keynote speech at a conference

The great news about this new habit, is that we are able to get rid of old habits, i.e...

• Not getting to the point
• Splintering our conversations with filler words such as errs and erms and like
• Using vague terms like kind of, sort of, maybe, perhaps
• Standing in a way that makes us less grounded and less positively authoritative
• Not connecting and being fully present with those you are speaking to...

with much greater speed because, in essence with this new habit, we are practicing all the time, not just doing so a few days or hours before an important meeting or presentation, so that it becomes second nature. Having a structured and clear message and delivering it with confidence, style and passion, becomes your normal, so when you get up there on the big day, it's no big deal, because you've been doing it all the time, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, in all contexts.

We can liken it to being a top sportsperson, or musician, in the sense that being disciplined, focused and dedicated brings in huge rewards. So get fit in the arena of communication and start practicing right now.

The good news is, for most of us there is at least sixteen hours of each day in which we are awake and during a significant percentage of those sixteen hours most of us will be talking, so it's so much easier to practice and become top of our game in speaking with clarity and confidence, than it is for top sportspeople and musicians to become top of their game. You don't need any special equipment and you don't need to travel specifically for it, you just need you, right here, right now.

So what are you waiting for? Change your habits and become consciously aware of the Clarity of your Message, the Quality of your Voice, your Body Language and the unique Gift of You, all the time, in all contexts. This means that you can now wave goodbye to the terms Public Speaking and Presentation Skills, because you will be an excellent Communicator all the time, in all settings.

Best success. Please share your thoughts, tips and experiences below. Voice is Power.