Share what you know with millions of people
Focus is the best place to turn what you know into remarkable content
0
What is the best way to train employees to speak and deliver presentations effectively?
Do you recommend having them 'pitch' eachother, or do you have a different way of coaching better public speaking skills?
Events
- Live now Dos and Don'ts of Small Business Marketing May 29 @ 11 am PT
- Lead Nurturing 202: The Next Generation May 31 @ 11 am PT
- The Tricks to Paid Media June 6 @ 11 am PT
- Display Advertising for Brand Awareness June 20 @ 11 am PT
Related Activity
9 Answers
Liz
I'm not a speaking coach. So I would send them to Toastmasters and pay them to attend as part of their job. They would attend whichever meetings made sense to them and in the process of learning how to speak and deliver effective presentations, would also network with other leaders in their area.
I would think that you can create an internal speaking program internally, but that does cost a lot of time.
Liz, I can only speak from my own experiences.
1. Video record a person and have effective speakers/presenters review and recommend suggestions. Assess physiological behaviors, mannerisms, and word selection.
2. Less is more when speaking to groups. Many speakers make the mistake of delivering too much information. The average person can only remember thing points given in a presentation. Understand what you are "truly" attempting to communicate and make it simple. Create analogies or "pictures" for the audience. The presentation should be engaging and on-topic with the respective audience. i.e. know your audience.
3. Practice..practice..practice.
Some folk are a natural at speaking/presenting but for the rest of us mere mortals it often comes down to three things - practice, practice and practice!
Sending your folk on a simple classroom based 'presentation skills' training course will teach them the basics to get them going, e.g., understanding their target audience, understanding the key messages they wish to convey, ensuring content is appropriate to the audience, determining the right amount of detail to cover, timing, etc. Then the opportunity to practice in front of the group, with the output video recorded for constructive analysis straight afterwards.
After that, look for opportunities for people to speak/present, starting with internal (more forgiving) forums before letting them loose with customers and external stakeholders.
I agree with Mike. A combination of videotaping and having good presenters/professionals offer coaching is the best way to build the skills needed to be an effective and comfortable speaker.
With the increasing use of Skype and other video based communication tools, employees also need to know how to present to an audience through the lens of a camera. Communication and presentation is different through this medium. Understanding basic on-camera techniques will help you be perceived as credible.
Make sure that you make eye contact with the lens of the camera. The audience will not trust you if your eyes appear "shifty" or disconnected.
Posture is even more important on camera. If seated, sit on the first third of the seat so that you don't "slump" in your seat.
Make sure you know how much of your body is in the shot. The closer the shot the more still you need to be. If you move your hands when they are not in the shot it will simply be distracting.
And of course...practice, practice, practice.
I would align with the responses here, but add that you need to allow for the fact that not everyone learns in the same way. Usually when training a group, I try to have multiple options (video recording, written examples of good or bad practices, as well as audio examples) to hook in those in the group who prefer written or other stimuli.
Brevity is certainly one area where we focus.
Quite alright, the intention to equip every employee with speaking and presentation skills could be driven by good faith. In spite of everything, the underpinning receptacle for accumulating and exploiting the know-how is a function of the employees' flair. Putting all employees in that one square ability can create disenfranchising dissension. Best Practices promote the use of basic analytics in HR department to identify employees with flair for speaking and who have KSA in required topical areas, so as to sharpen them for the acts through learning and exposure.
Dr Elijah Ezendu
http://advancinghr.blogspot.com/
http://advancingci.blogspot.com/
OK I see your point but I answered the question.
Liz,
The best way to start training your employees is of course to invite a professional presentation coach to create awareness around the basics of speaking and presenting effectively.
Since speaking is a "performance sport" it isn't enough to impart theoretical knowledge. Employees have to be on their feet performing, video-taped for later analysis of message, voice and noverbal signals.
Once the basics are covered as far as organization, structure and delivery are concerned, introduce elements of strategic storytelling, the creating of message salience and meaning through rhetoric.
In the end, honest and tactful evaluations by peers and other stakeholders in the company will continue to help speakers hone style and substance when they speak.
http://amzn.to/pza43D
Take our 2 day experiential event "Speech Mastery Workshop" of the Professional Speakers Federation (I am a certified trainer). Go to link:
http://www.professionalspeakersfederation.com/speech_mastery_course.html
for more info or call 866 455-2155 for more details, early bird discounts and/or corporate 50% discounts of 10 or more in a group.
Answer This Question