Continuing Education PART 2: Presentation Skills
This is part 2 of a series on continuing education.
Being able to present, i.e. communicate in a business environment is a critical skill for anyone. Just because you don’t get on stage in front of hundreds of people doesn’t mean you don’t present. A one-0n-one meeting is a presentation; your annual review is a presentation, a sales pitch is a presentation – and I have seen deals fail because of poor ones - and YES, oh YES a job interview is a presentation – sometimes the most important one you give in any given year.
That being said many people have a great fear of presenting. Whatever the reason for your fear, uncertainty or doubt when it comes to presenting - know this – it is a vital skill, that can be learned with some instruction and lots of practice. FYI the butterflies may not ever go away – my husband regularly presents to audiences of hundreds and he is still nauseous for the first two or three minutes, EVERY TIME.
There are plenty of options when it comes to paying for training on how to resent but I have done some research and found quite a few great sources of free or almost free training resources.
So get out there and learn something new.
Toastmasters
This first stop is not quite free, but it will give you great “bang for the buck.” Toastmasters has created a huge network of local groups where members get together and hold meeting based learn-by-doing workshops that teach communication, presentation and leadership skills. Membership runs to about 75 dollars a year – but is a great value.
YouTube
Believe it or not you tube is a great resource to learn many different skills. You can do a search for “presentation skills” and take your pick. My recent search generatede more than 2,000 hits – you may have to separate the wheat from the chaff a little bit – but it is worth it. Here are three good ones to get you started. (one, two, three)
LibrarySupportStaff.com
This site is geared toward folks in the library industry, but has tons of good general interest stuff for all of us. They have a section on presenting that has lists of links for creating and delivering presentations.
The business coaching blog
This blog offers guidance for small business owners. This particular blog entry is on presentation skills and offers a 15 page report on presentation skills in exchange for name and e-mail. They will also send you their e-mail newsletter, which occasionally has some good stuff in it. This entry has links to downloads of two MP3s of teleseminars on public speaking from experts in the discipline.
The Presentation Coaching Institute
Offers volume 1 (Part 1, Part 2) of their 7 part e-course on presentation skills gratis on their site.
Advanced Public Speaking Institute
Has a collection of links and resources to help you with your public speaking skills.
Presentation Helpers
Offers some great advise with their discussion of “three presentation essentials.” There are also links to additional resources.
Garr Reynolds
And last but not least personal branding expert Garr Reynolds provides fantastic guidance and information on presentations on his site. Articles on how to organize and prepare, and how to deliver great presentations via live-action video. Garr is widely acknowledged as one of the best presenters in the world. Now that's quite a claim to fame!
Stay tuned for the next installment - Technical skills
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Debra Wheatman, CPRW, CPCC is the founder and Chief Career Strategist of ResumesDoneWrite, a premier career services provider focused on developing highly personalized career roadmaps for senior leaders and executives across all verticals and industries.
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