In my role at Morgan McKinley I often speak with people about improvements they want to make to their experience and skill sets, public speaking is often one that comes up under ‘must improve banner’. It is particularly relevant to project professionals who need to engage and influence stakeholders across organisations.

With this in mind, I recently sat down with Michelle Campbell – Director of Peak Performance Leaders and we discussed how being a strong public speaker can often give you the push up you need in your career.

“While being a great public speaker can catapult you ahead in your career, being weak in this area can likewise hold you back. Whether you’re a manager trying to gain buy-in to an approach or an employee seeking to impress for a promotion, it’s important to be able to express your ideas articulately in front of others to build both your brand and your credibility.”

“Fear of public speaking can be a huge barrier for people and is often thought to be a fate worse than death.  However, according to Forbes article that claims it is the “one skill that will boost your value by fifty percent” Billionaire Warren Buffett states that if you want to substantially boost your value as a business professional: master the art of public speaking.“

So how can you get over this fear?

“Some may have conquered their fear of public speaking and yet lose their audience in talking to the content.  Simply having experience in your content does not make you into a great speaker. A powerful speaker has both confidence and the ability to engage their audience in many different ways.  Many speakers will assume that their audience thinks and communicates in exactly the same way as they do, when the majority does not…”

Being a confident and impactful speaker is a rare skill set however extremely worth investing the time and effort into developing especially in the Business Transformation world.  Across all levels in Program Delivery, having that ability to speak publically is of vital importance, especially when dealing with the more tricky stakeholders!

In today’s competitive marketplace, it is becoming a skill set that is more in demand in order to stand out amongst your competitors.

For more information on Michelle and Peak Performance Leaders, please contact michelle@peakperformanceleaders.com.