Whether you're a solo entrepreneur or the executive of a Fortune 500 company, you are often called upon to be your company's spokesperson, and the responsibility of spreading positive word of mouth depends upon your ability to present well. How do you handle this challenge?
Most of us have suffered through a "Death by PowerPoint " type of presentation. You know what I'm talking about: the speaker stands sweatily before a group and goes through a one-hour presentation reading PowerPoint slides as if they were on a teleprompter . Many speakers who eschew PowerPoint fail in presentations since their nervousness gets the best of them.
People give terrible presentations for one primary reason. Inexperience. Yet, there is a effective, inexpensive solution. Since 1924, millions of professionals from around the world have polished their speaking skills through Toastmasters. Many people don't join Toastmasters because they mistakenly think it's only for beginners.
I've been a Toastmaster for over two years, and it has helped my speaking ability immensely. I'm very comfortable giving presentations and have always received good evaluations from my audiences. Yet, Toastmasters provides me with a weekly forum to practice new material and work on areas that I seek to develop such as using humor to illustrate my points. Recently, I was selected to be the president of the Oregon Chapter of the National Speakers Association . Yet, I'll continue to go to Toastmasters to keep improving as a speaker.
So, whether you're nervous about speaking in public or are an accomplished speaker wanting to take your speaking the the next level, join Toastmasters and you'll discover how much more effective you can be in spreading positive word of mouth.
