How Improving Your Public Speaking Skills Makes You a Better Boss - CareerMetis.com

How Improving Your Public Speaking Skills Makes You a Better Boss Public speaking is about motivating and inspiring your team. However, a lot of people are nervous when it comes to speaking to a room or giving a presentation.In business, it’s important that you are able to get your points across. For managers in particular, public speaking is vital to project management.Here are some of the reasons why improving your public speaking skills will make you a better boss and progress your career.1. Public speaking makes you a better leaderevalevalLeadership skills are always expected from a manager. Being able to communicate effectively during a team meeting or at an event is crucial. Bosses that have great public speaking skills are able to create authority because you are seen as an expert.Generally speaking, experts in their fields are highly sought-after people. For example, if you ran an eCommerce business, you will seek out an Amazon marketing expert to grow your business. The same logic applies to public speaking. You are seen as an authoritat ive figure who can help people solve problems.It also enables you to enhance your listening skills; because you will be at the centre of attention, the conversation will drive through you, meaning you must be focussed at all times. Transferring these listening skills to the office, you will be better suited to make better decisions and listen to any problems team members may have, creating a better environment.In terms of career progression, speaking publicly shows to superiors that you like a challenge. Your bosses will be looking out for how well you can perform in front of an audience. If you excel, there will be plenty of extra opportunities in the future.Businesses require people that are easily noticed as a leader.The more visible you are, the more authority you create. At the same time, you will be showing your ability to perform under pressure, which in itself is an important to skill.2. Public speaking improves self confidenceevalOnce you have done one talk, you can do anot her. The key is getting that first one out the way.It’s perfectly fine to feel nervous. However, by changing your mindset, these nerves can be used to your advantage and take away key management skills.Public speaking is about the audience rather than yourself. The point is to get your message across and teach/inform them. A speech is, in essence, a conversation, except that there is usually more than a single person. Once you grasp this concept, public speaking becomes a lot easier.As you talk, pick a single face to talk to for a few seconds before switching your attention to another. This creates a one-to-one conversation which, mentally, is lot more comforting, but still engages the whole room.evalYour audience will be able to pick up on your confidence. This will provide better reactions and participation. As it progresses, your own confidence will be given a huge boost, spurring you on to success.Having great public speaking skills leads to confidence in your other abilities and will translate in everyday actions. Your communication will be clearer, more decisive and assured.3. Public speaking creates influenceIf you are enthusiastic with the way you talk or present, you are going to capture the audience’s attention. Varying the way you talk, taking your time and having positive body language makes you look comfortable in what you are saying.This creates influence.The more that the audience can understand what you’re saying and follow how you present it, they become a lot more impressionable and will take on board your ideas.By improving your public speaking, you have a platform to inspire your team to follow your message. Furthermore, by sharing your ideas in a clear and expressive manner, your team will be more engaged and more likely to listen to what you have to say.This then crosses over to regular conversations. You will have learnt how to connect with an audience and so will know how to respond and interact with team members on a more individ ual level. This creates a better working culture as team members will find you more approachable and so your influence can point them in the right direction if they have any problems.4. Public speaking improves critical thinkingevalCritical thinkingenables managers to clarify team goals, come up with actions to achieve these goals and assess the conclusions.When creating a speech, you will be required to think about its content and how it provides value to your audience. It must also have a clear structure so it flows.All the steps it takes to creating the speech improve your ability to think critically which can be taken back into the workplace. For example, by thinking of how to structure your speech, this can directly translate to how you want your team to prepare the next report and what it must include.Also, the ability to assess conclusions cannot be underestimated. Speaking publicly puts you at the forefront of having to deal with any praise or criticism. You will be able to judge the outcome of the talk based on feedback. Again, these skills are transferable as you will be able to how your team is performing based on feedback from other members of the organisation.5. Public speaking sparks positive changeevalevalIf you believe that something needs to change in your organisation for the benefit of your team, then public speaking can help you with this.The more people that you can connect with, the more likely the positive change will happen change.This connects well with the influence point we have previously discussed. By speaking publicly, your message becomes more powerful and more people are likely to get behind you. It’s a lot easier to drive support in person than it is over a blanket email.Plus, team members will respect you for standing up for them and will want to work for you. They will be more productive and improve results.Speaking over an audience gives you a great platform to spark positive change.CONCLUSIONPublic speaking is a great way to get the right people to recognise your leadership capabilities, your ability to influence and drives positive change. But it doesn’t stop there.Improving your public speaking has many transferable skills to take into other aspects of management. A team that believes and has confidence in you will perform at a much higher level.