I was invited this afternoon to speak at my Rotary Club’s district meeting. Even though I know many of the people, it was still a group of about a hundred people in a new setting. I have always dreaded public speaking, along with most of the population, so whenever I am asked to speak I hesitate before saying yes.
This group wanted to know how to get publicity for their individual Clubs, so I knew it was a topic I could easily speak about. They also wanted me to keep it under 30 minutes. I created a PowerPoint presentation and fully intended to hide behind the podium and just click through the slides.
During the past month I have been looking for someone to work with me on my speaking and presentation skills. A few people have been kind enough to offer tips and suggestions, but I knew I had to pull out all of the stops if I were going to start speaking more frequently around the country.
I turned to one of the people I have know for more than 3 years now, Tom Antion. I learned about internet marketing from Tom, but his passion is helping people to become better public speakers. Last year he started a new membership site on public speaking and I decided to give it a try. After spending just a few hours on his site yesterday, I forgot all about my PowerPoint. Instead, I was poised and ready to deliver my message. I made eye contact with as many people as possible, and they actually were paying attention. Best of all, I was not nervous and enjoyed sharing my information with the group.
Being able to speak in public will help me to move on in my career. If you need help with public speaking, I highly recommend checking out Tom’s site.
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