Bootstrap Public Speaking Skills On The Job

SpeakingOfWealth.comAs they say, there’s more than one way to skin a cat. Likewise, there are far more opportunities to add more credibility to your name through public speaking skills than simply giving talks on the dinner circuit. Let’s say you’re working at an average job with an average company but feel you were destined for bigger and better things. Let’s also say you think you have a gift for speaking and would like to prove it to your supervisors. The first thing to look for is if your company has a speaker’s bureau. Some larger ones do. For many companies, the reality of a speaker’s bureau is that it’s a pool of employees who have been drafted/volunteered to go out into the community and speak on behalf of the organization at official functions. Look at it another way and it’s your big opportunity.

If your company doesn’t have a speaker’s bureau, offer to start one. If you manage to get one of these gigs during regular business hours, voila, you’re now a professional speaker because you’re opening and closing your mouth and getting paid for it. The downside is you might be asked to speak after hours for no pay at all. The decision is yours as to whether the chance to develop your public speaking skills chops is worth doing it for free. We’re not saying it isn’t. It’s just a decision you’ll have to make.

Another way to advance your speaking career is to offer to join the company training program. Teaching new employee the ropes in an educational setting certainly counts as public speaking. Maybe your company doesn’t have a training program yet. Even better. Start one. This is your opportunity to get one going from the ground up and, by default, land as the head of the fledgling department. Another idea is to target a problem the company is having and develop a program to solve it. Conduct a few sessions. Impress the boos enough and he might ask you to roll it out into a broader program. And don’t think that the higher-ups aren’t noticing the guy or gal (you) who is bursting at the seams with initiative and ideas. Believe us, they’ll notice. The more you speak, and the better at you become, the more everyone will notice and, before long, you’re the bloke or blokette getting paid the big bucks to stand at a podium and talk full time.

The Speaking of Wealth Team

SpeakingOfWealth.com

Flickr / jonl