Published February 2001

Improve speaking skills with planning, practice

By Kimberly Hilden
Herald Business Journal Assistant Editor

Whether you’re in front of a board of directors, staff members or a national convention, public speaking doesn’t have to be intimidating. In fact, speechmakers say, getting your point across with style and aplomb just takes planning and practice.

“Preparation really is key,” said Donald Woelfle, President of Early Opinions, a local chapter of the public-speaking organization Toastmasters International (www.toastmasters.org). At weekly meetings, group members give speeches within a certain time frame, forcing them to consider how best to present material within the allotted time.

Along with time constraints, speakers need to tailor their presentations to fit their audience and their objective, whether it’s to inform, persuade or motivate, said Stephanie Gilmore, a professional public speaker who offers continuing-education workshops at Everett Community College.

“There are different formats to utilize based on the speaker’s objective,” she said. “We train how to handle the Q&A period following a presentation, especially for influential speaking. Use of visual aids is also challenging to speakers learning to coordinate their usage with the verbal presentation.”

Speakers can improve drastically by working on their presentation skills and evaluating their progress by analyzing their speeches on videotape, Gilmore said.

“Students who have more opportunity to do presentations will improve more rapidly than others,” she said. “It’s like learning a sport or to play an instrument — skill improves with practice and time.”

Woelfle agreed, saying that evaluations from members of Early Opinions helped correct habits and mannerisms he wasn’t even aware of.

“When I first started, I had a tendency to sway a lot and hold my hands,” said Woelfle, who since joining in 1999 has given about 15 speeches and competed in three speech contests.

For some people, the challenge of public speaking stems more from anxiety than the ability to create masterful phrases or project one’s voice.

“We have people who are terrified of public speaking” when they first join, Woelfle said. The group, which meets Wednesday mornings at the Evergreen Branch Library in Everett, encourages those people by offering a safe environment, one where “nobody is judging them.”

“Common challenges students face are to build confidence, to be assured that they can do the job with the tools and techniques learned and that they will do better with practice as they relax and become more natural and conversational in their presentation style,” Gilmore said. “They need to realize it may not become something they enjoy doing, but that they can do an acceptable job without it ruining their lives as they anticipate public speaking.”

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