The benefits of presenting skills

Our Careers Development Officer, Darren Kerr, talks about the value of good presentation skills and urges young professionals to take part in our upcoming event on presenting.

Presenting in front of an audience. An exciting buzz or a deep dreaded fear? For most, it’s the latter, but it’s something that can be overcome with the right training.

In my experience, it’s a sense of vulnerability. You aren’t sitting in the back row of the audience able to zone in and out thinking about what you are having for dinner that night. You are on centre stage with all the attention on you. Am I standing right? Am I speaking too fast? Is the audience interested? These are just some of the thoughts that might go through your head.

Luckily for me, I seem to be in the middle. I’m not excited about public speaking but I won’t lose any sleep over it. My main concern is how I am being portrayed with all eyes locked on me.

I’m fortunate in that my employer sent me on a training course to enhance my presentation skills which I found invaluable. Firstly, it increased my confidence dramatically, but it also taught me that there is much more to presenting than just public speaking. Wrongly, as soon as I heard the words “presenting skills” I instantly assumed that this meant public speaking. Of course, public speaking is a big factor and training did provide me with many valuable tips such as how to improve the projection of my voice, speed of delivery and posture, but presenting is wider than simply public speaking. Presenting is a skill that we use in everyday life, from meeting new business associates to meeting the in-laws and we could all benefit from additional training in this area.

Building working relationships, pitching business ideas and responding to clients all require good presenting skills, and there are always ways that we could do this more effectively. When you are in a meeting do you sometimes feel like you haven’t said much? Perhaps you are trying to find the right time to speak. Training courses on presenting skills will give you tips on how to develop these crucial skills.

I am not a training provider and certainly not someone who has all the answers, but I am someone who has benefited from training. If I could recommend any type of training course I would recommend one on presenting skills. Of course, improving your skills is not just an overnight fix. It will take time and practice, however learning the fundamentals to improve engaging with others can go a long way.