Linked – Public speaking, TEDx, and well articulated points of view
I enjoyed this recap of a TEDx event, which reminded me how enjoyable and educational it can be when someone gives a quality presentation and shares their ideas.
The other thing that Sukh said in this post that I want to highlight is this:
I don’t think we give people enough opportunity to do public speaking. I enjoy public speaking, and pay a lot of attention to how I deliver a talk. But, public speaking can be learned. It can be practised, and you can get really good at it. For me, comedians are the best at public speaking.
I often see this in the IT world. Some very smart people have never been allowed to practice public speaking and develop this skill.
Now, before you start with “they work in IT so that they don’t have to do public speaking,” I am going to argue that even if you’ve never wanted to present to a large conference audience or be asked to present webinars, etc., you would do well to learn how to do it anyway. You will need to tell a compelling story about what you do at some point in your career. Whether it be to defend your budget, ask for headcount, or explain your role on the team, being able to present your ideas well will go a long way. But, it’s not something we train for with many of our technical employees.
We should. Even if they say they’re not interested in public speaking, training on the basics of telling a story with data, charts, and stories will help them communicate to each other and to the non-technical groups in your business. There’s no reason not to learn some of those basic skills.
I also strongly recommend mentioning comedians. I’ve written about this before. It works.
https://pabial.wordpress.com/2024/11/04/public-speaking-tedx-and-well-articulated-points-of-view/
Also, for some more tips, check out Up Your Game and Give a Great Presentation
