This is known to be one of the things that people fear most.

But in furthering your career, this is one of the things you may find you have to do.

It won’t necessarily be a formal public speaking engagement, but you may have to speak to several people on an interview panel, or make a short task related presentation at an interview day.

Once in a role you may well have to address groups of people, perhaps your team, or maybe you need to brief another department about progress on a task.

Quick Facts: Public speaking

Here are some tips to help you on your way;

• You need to know your content and your audience. Prepare what you want to say.
• Make yourself some notes. If this is fairly informal and you know your subject matter, jot some bullet points down on a card, rather than the full script. This is the most natural way to present-it ensures you don’t dry up, but allows you to speak unscripted.
• If it is a more formal presentation you might want to develop a PowerPoint presentation with slides and graphs and charts.
• The opening is the key part of any speech. You have about 90 seconds to engage your audience, so it is worth fully preparing your first couple of hundred words and committing them to memory.
• Make sure you have a clear purpose and message and that it is delivered in your speech.
• Consider the structure of your presentation. Beginning, middle , end
• A good structure is to “tell them what you are going to tell them , tell them, and tell them what you have told them “This means stating what your message is going to be , then delivering it, then summarising what you have said.
• Use stories and humour if you can, and it is relevant and appropriate.
• End with a call to action if relevant.
• If your talk is scheduled start on time and finish promptly. Don’t overrun, better to allow time for questions
• Pay attention to your voice and delivery. Volume, pitch pace and articulation are all important.