Public Speaking Skills

for
Workplace Success
What Is Public Speaking?
Why Employers Value Public Speaking
Skills?
DR. RIAZ HUSSAIN Top Public Speaking Skills
How to Showcase Your Skills
How to Improve Your Public
Speaking Skills
  Candidates with strong public speaking skills are in demand for
the many occupations that require the ability to speak to a group.
Introduction  Dynamic and well-prepared speakers are highly valued by
employers, and having this skillset can even help land you
leadership positions and important roles.
  Public speaking is a soft skill that requires excellent
communication skills, enthusiasm, and the ability to
engage with an audience. Soft skills are interpersonal
skills that are less technical and more about how you
interact with others.

What Is Public
 Public speakers make presentations to a group.
Speaking?
Presentations could range from speaking to a small
number of employees to presenting to a large audience
at a national conference or event. The same skill set
and ability to be comfortable speaking in public are
required regardless of the size of the group.
Soft Skills
  Soft skills relate to how you work. Soft skills include
interpersonal (people) skills, communication skills,
listening skills, time management, and empathy, among
What Are Soft Skills? others. They are among the top skills employers seek in
the candidates they hire, because soft skills are important
for just about every job.
 Alternate names: Interpersonal skills, essential skills, no
cognitive.
How Soft Skills Work  Soft skills are also important to the success of most
employers. After all, nearly every job requires employees
to engage with others in some way.
 Soft skills are particularly important in customer-based
jobs. It takes several soft skills to be able to listen to a
customer and provide him/her helpful and polite service.
 Even if you're not in a client-facing role, you need to be
able to get along with coworkers, managers, vendors, and
other people you interact with at work.
  Soft skills include the personal attributes, personality traits,
and communication abilities needed for success on the job.
Soft skills characterize how a person interacts in his or her
relationships with others.
Adaptability, Communication, Compromise
Types of Soft
Creative thinking, Dependability, Leadership
Skills
Listening, Work ethic, Teamwork, Positivity
Time management, Motivation, Problem-solving
Critical thinking, Conflict resolution, Negotiation
 Soft skills are similar to emotions or insights that allow people to
“read” others.
 These are much harder to learn, at least in a traditional
How to Get Soft Skills classroom. They are also much harder to measure and
evaluate.

Soft skills are non-technical
skills that impact your
performance in the workplace.
You likely already have soft
skills from your school and
work experience.
You can also develop soft skills
at work, school, volunteer
activities, and by participating
in training programs and
classes.
Include your soft skills in your
resume and cover letter.
Demonstrate your soft skills
during job interviews.
 For example, if you've worked in retail, you've
worked in a team environment. If you've helped
unhappy customers find a resolution, you've used
conflict resolution and problem-solving skills.
 If you're new to work, think of other activities you've
done, either through school or on a volunteer basis.
Chances are you've had to communicate, adapt to
changes, and solve problems.
 You can also reflect on soft skills you need to develop.
 For example, instead of just discussing problems with
your manager, suggest solutions to those problems. If
you see a colleague struggling, offer to pitch in. If
there's a process that could improve your workplace,
suggest it.
 Employers typically don't directly ask if you have soft
skills. Instead, they present situations and ask what you
would do to assess whether you have soft skills.
  The art of public speaking comes into play in many
places. It's important not only in the delivery of speeches
and public talks, but also in professional presentations,
training events, and motivational speaking.
 Consultants, training, managers, clergy, sales
Why Employers Value representatives, and teachers, for example, all have a
reason at times to speak in front of others.
Public Speaking  Most professional-level roles require some amount of
Skills public speaking. It's often necessary to carry out
functions like presenting findings, pitching proposals,
training staff, and leading meetings.
  When you want to highlight your public speaking skills in your
cover letter or resume, or during an interview, be sure to go beyond
stating that you have "public speaking skills." Go into detail about
which aspects of public speaking you are good at, and provide
specific examples of your skills and expertise.

 Important skills for successful public speaking

Clear Articulation
Top Public Speaking Of course, public speakers must be able to speak well. That includes
Skills enunciating, speaking loudly enough, and using proper grammar
without a lot of verbal crutches such as "um." It helps to be able to
talk well in ordinary conversation, but public speaking is a kind of
performance and, as such, requires practice and preparation.
Engaging Presentation Style
Presentation style includes vocal tone, body language, facial
expression, and timing. The right style can make a talk exciting and
engaging.
 Assessing the Needs of the Audience
Some audiences want a lot of technical detail; others don't.
Some will enjoy humor; others won't. There are jokes that work
in some crowds but not others. To draft a successful talk and to
adopt the appropriate presentation style, you need to be able to
assess the needs of your audience.
Before you begin speaking, think about your audience and what
Top Public Speaking they hope to gain from your presentation. That can help you
Skills assess their needs, which can help ensure that your presentation
is the best possible use of your time and theirs.
PowerPoint Skills
PowerPoint is a popular software used for creating slides. Not
all public speakers use them, but slides are so common that
doing without them is sometimes called "speaking naked."
 Composition Skills
Whether you prepare your talk ahead of time or just go with the
flow, you must be able to construct talks that are rational,
coherent, and easy to understand, and that cover all the points
Top Public Speaking you want to hit.
Skills
Storytelling and humor help, and you must know how to use
them. Public speaking is not only a form of performance art; it
also requires writing skills.
 The skills mentioned above aren't the only ones that are important
to public speaking.
The following skills and tips can make you an even more effective
public speaker:
 Controlling performance anxiety
 Grabbing the attention of the audience with a powerful opening
 Handing out copies of slides in advance to minimize note-taking
demands on the audience
Other Public  Maintaining eye contact with the audience and providing an
energetic, animated physical presence
Speaking Skills  Modulating vocal tone to emphasize important points and avoid
monotonous presentation
 Organizing a logical flow to a speech
 Preparing examples that are relevant to the experience of the
expected audience
 Providing compelling evidence to support themes
 Rehearsing the presentation and revising rough spots
 Researching information about the latest trends in an industry
before presenting at a professional seminar
 Public speaking is a skill in itself, but it is also a collection of skills.
Lists like this can help you name some of these skills so you can
identify which jobs require the abilities you have.

Be sure to read job descriptions carefully. Even very similar

positions can have different requirements, depending on what the
hiring manager is looking for.

Mention Skills in Your Resume and Cover Letter

How to Showcase
Your Skills When you apply, you can use these skills as keywords on your
resume or other application materials. Hiring managers sometimes
scan through applications looking for these keywords to make an
initial cut, so it's important to make it clear from the beginning that
you have the sought-after qualifications.
Share Your Skills During a Job Interview
  Whether you feel like a public-speaking expert or you're new to
it, there are always ways you can improve.

How to Improve Your  You can brush up on your public speaking skills with these tips:
Take a public speaking class or workshop.
Public Speaking Skills
Practice in front of the mirror.
Practice in front of friends, family, or colleagues;
then, ask for feedback.
Record yourself giving a presentation, watch the video,
and take notes.
Watch videos of accomplished public speakers you
admire.
THANK YOU