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Public Speaking Trainer and Coach Andrew Brammer is co-hosting a unique conference at The Forum in Norwich next month, Here, he explains why he believes so passionately in the importance of being able to speak confidently in public
The single greatest decision I have ever made in over 41 years in industry and business was to take up and properly learn public speaking. Twenty-seven years after making this decision, the confidence, self-belief and transferable skills public speaking brings has opened more doors, provided more opportunities and enabled greater successes than any other type of management training or development I have ever undertaken.
In my career, I was fortunate enough to find myself in a senior managerial position at a comparatively young age. The unfortunate part is, I often felt self-conscious and nervous when presenting to senior management, important global customers, more experienced people and large groups of employees or work colleagues.
Yet, speaking to these groups was such a crucial aspect of the job. In those early presentations, I can still remember the shaking hands, the dry throat, shallow breathing, tight chest, jackhammer heart and adrenaline surge – and I felt that my delivery was wooden and unmemorable. I certainly didn’t enjoy such experiences. Although my presentations did gradually improve over time, they were still nowhere near the level they needed to be at.
Now, I could have just accepted the situation, but I knew that if I committed to getting better, and dedicated myself to this goal, I could become a confident and effective communicator – such a crucial skill to have for personal and business success.
So, I decided to set out on a journey, and I haven’t looked back since. With now over 27 years as a public speaker and 16 years as a performance storyteller, I have: delivered many hundreds of speeches and stories to a huge variety of audiences in a huge number of settings; trained and coached hundreds of people with their public speaking, presentation skills and storytelling; performed one-man storytelling shows all around the UK; written three books on public speaking and storytelling (with another on the way); and have spoken many times about public speaking and storytelling on radio.
In all my years’ experience, I have found that the best leaders, the best managers, the best motivators, the best at promoting their businesses, are those who can speak and present effectively in public. That’s not forgetting those who speak at conferences and events, and who have that amazing ability to wow and dazzle an audience.
And the skills and techniques you use in public speaking are totally transferable, and can be used in so many situations – yes, conferences and events, but also team briefings, staff reviews, sales presentations, networking events, impromptu situations, staff Q&A sessions, board meetings, investor pitches, radio and TV interviews – the list goes on. So, for those who may think, ‘Oh, I don’t need public speaking skills, I’ll never have to give a speech,’ think again!
Public speaking changed my life, and that is why I so passionately believe in the importance of spreading the word about what such a crucial business, leadership and life skill it is to have, and – as importantly – how we can all constantly learn to be better at it.
So, that’s why I also decided to get together some of my public speaking colleagues and bring an all-day Conference to Norwich to share with the East Anglian business community the wonderful benefits of public speaking.
‘Public Speaking for Business, Leadership and Life’ on Thursday 26th September at The Forum in Norwich will be covering many different ways we can use public speaking and presentation skills to enhance our effectiveness in business and life and will be packed full of invaluable tips and techniques. It will have more takeaways for attendees than a fast-food restaurant – and it will be much better for you! With a fantastic line-up of nine speakers (including business experts, trainers, entrepreneurs, company directors, performers, broadcasters and UK and Ireland public speaking champions), the subjects covered will include: facing and overcoming the fear of public speaking, how to prepare to deliver memorable presentations, speaking as a business leader at work, how to persuade an audience, how to use storytelling in business presentations, how to meaningfully engage people on business topics, how to use language to make business presentations come alive, preparing and delivering a TEDx style talk, using your voice effectively when presenting, and how to prevent PowerPoint paralysis.
I really believe this event will be of huge benefit and will give some wonderful tools to enable people to be more confident, dynamic and memorable communicators.
Public Speaking for Business, Leadership and Life Conference has been CANCELLED. For more information about how Andrew Brammer helps people with their public speaking, storytelling and presentation skills, please email andrew@thespeakingdirector.co.uk or call 07818 412606. Visit thespeakingdirector.co.uk.
Featured image of Andrew Brammer – supplied
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