Purchasing

Mary Walker

Speak Out
September 24, 2007

Have you ever received one of those emails that your department is having a meeting on a topic that is a real concern to you? You have ideas and comments, but instead of voicing them to the group, you sit through the meeting and say nothing. This is not a good thing. If we strongly believe in something we should voice our opinion. It does not mean we will get what we want, it just means that we had a purpose and we did not let it pass us by.

Think about it. This is your opportunity to give a short, brief speech. As a speaker your role is to tell others about your ideas and occasionally persuade them to take action. If you really believe in what you are presenting, you will be much more persuasive.

Give this some thought before you enter the meeting. Even if this is a brief speech, well organized speeches have several benefits for the audience:

1. Easier to understand
2. Easier to remember
3. More creditable
4. More enjoyable

How can a business meeting have an enjoyable speech? Organizing your speech helps you to present it. When you plan the points you want to make and the order in which you want to present them, you will be less likely to forget anything. You are going to make everyone in the room happy because you are not rambling on and on.

Do I sound like an expert? Don’t think that. This is a new adventure for me to be a better public speaker.

I would like to give you a couple of examples on how people have over come their handicaps:

We had a speaker present at one of our ISM dinner meetings. The man stuttered on words that included “S”. He presented an hour long speech and is a prominent trial lawyer in Dallas. He had something to say and you listened. You forgot about his small speech problem bedcause of the importance of his message and the way he presented it.

Another friend of mine as a child had a very bad stuttering problem. He would go weeks without saying anything because people would laugh at him. He is now a well known instructor and seminar speaker and has a high demand for teaching across the country.

The old question always comes up, are you a born speaker or can you learn the skills to be a good speaker. Personally, I think some people have a given talent, however I also think that anyone can learn and improve on public speaking. You have to want to.

I used to be in a meeting and would dread when they would go around the room and you would have to introduce yourself. It was a challenge. Sometimes now I think they wish I would shut up. Don’t sit back and not say anything that you strongly believe in. If you do, you can have no complaints on the outcome.

Posted by Mary Walker on September 24, 2007 | Comments (0)