{"id":9,"date":"2018-09-26T12:04:00","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T12:04:00","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2019-07-09T16:20:55","modified_gmt":"2019-07-09T16:20:55","slug":"why-business-owners-entrepreneurs-must-hone-public-speaking-skills","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lucilleossai.com\/blog\/2018\/09\/26\/why-business-owners-entrepreneurs-must-hone-public-speaking-skills\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Business Owners & Entrepreneurs Must Hone Public Speaking Skills"},"content":{"rendered":"
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“I was shaking!” confessed a visibly surprised young female participant, after she returned to her seat.<\/div>\n
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I nodded sympathetically. I’d be there before, and I too was surprised, and embarrassed, to have been so shaken after briefly speaking in public.<\/div>\n
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So I understood her reaction. However, I reassured her that although difficult, her attempt was commendable.<\/div>\n
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The lady, Ms\u00a0Y, had just given a 30-second elevator pitch to a group of potential investors\u2014fellow participants\u2014about her fashion business idea. Despite the timing, she was able to introduce her idea in a calm manner. Nevertheless, she was amazed by the positive feedback she received from her colleagues. She hadn\u2019t thought she did well.<\/div>\n
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\nWe’re often our harshest critics.<\/div>\n
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For the pitches, no notes or visual aids were permitted. One by one, participants were called upon to speak in front of the class. Two volunteers, using their smart devices, videotaped each presentation from different angles. Afterwards, I \u00a0advised them to\u00a0email the presenters the clips for self-evaluation.<\/div>\n
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The day before, I had hoped to ease the predictable dread the participants would face when presenting, so I gave them a full day’s notice to prepare. But that reprieve did little to calm nerves before the\u00a0short speaking exercise.<\/div>\n
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Interestingly, some who were vocal in the classroom discussions became visibly nervous in front of their colleagues, who were a familiar audience. Some lost their thoughts, and others waffled on. A few participants displayed distracting body language cues such as rolling eyes, avoiding eye contact or looking upwards, which weakened their pitches.<\/span><\/div>\n
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Yet, some presenters were confident and convincing. They used presence, vocal variety,\u00a0and nonverbal cues to connect and persuade.<\/div>\n
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What made the experience interesting was that the group of participants who signed up for the weeklong programme were business owners and managers. <\/span>They were respected professionals, knowledgeable in their fields and came from diverse industries. They were also clearly driven people who wanted their businesses to succeed.<\/div>\n
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In my interactions with professionals, I’ve come to realise that they often relegate communication skills to the fringe until a demand emerges. By that time, it’s too late to deliver outcomes because those skills haven’t been cultivated.<\/div>\n

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Still, the good news I shared was that effective communication skills are rarely innate; they are learned.<\/div>\n
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Thus, I challenged the group about their public speaking skills. I urged them to speak regularly and to learn best practices to improve their craft along the way.<\/div>\n
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As a business owner, below are compelling\u00a0reasons why you must hone your public speaking skills:<\/div>\n
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1) Increased business opportunities<\/strong><\/h3>\n

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Being business owners and executives, the participants had heard of Warren Buffett <\/a><\/span>\u00a0– the US billionaire philanthropist who made his fortunes in stocks.<\/div>\n
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In the\u00a0clip<\/a><\/span> below, Warren Buffett\u00a0 admitted to being terrified of public speaking, but he summoned the courage to take the Dale Carnegie public speaking course in his youth.<\/div>\n
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