Speaking Confidently and Effectively

- This is an audio course. No need to watch, just listen. Welcome to the latest addition to LinkedIn Learning, podcasts. We've curated some of the best business podcasts and made them even easier to listen to. Each episode is split into sections, use the links in the contents area to skip to whichever section you like. We're always looking for new ways to help you learn, and we'd appreciate your feedback. Thanks for listening. - You've done a whole lot of work serving business leaders with their presentations. If folks are not too committed at first in sort of really improving these skills much, they're like, "Hey, you know what? "I know what I want to say, I'm just going to say it." Can you tell me what's really the kind of difference that it makes from having just like a fine presentation versus a knockout presentation and the time that it takes, could you maybe give us a case study here? - Sure, they often say that gifted speakers are born, but effective speakers are made. It's like any skill Pete, you have to practice, and the more you practice, the better you become. So today, speaking is the new competitive advantage. It's different from when I first started out. And if you are not able to present yourself, you're going to lose opportunities. What this gets for you, and I have seen it because I've worked with people. It gets you the promotion. It gets you the job offer. It gets you the raise. It gets you buy-in. It gets you so much further when you know how to present yourself and communicate well. It is a leadership skill and no one can be without it anymore. It's simply a must have. - And could you tell us a story of a person whose career was struggling and then they- - I can. - Kind of turned it around? I'll give you the first one that comes to mind, which was not my typical client, but she was a second year law student. And this woman was very nervous about speaking in class, and she was thinking of dropping out of law school. So what she would do is she'd raise her hand to ask a question, so that the professor wouldn't call on her for the rest of the time. Now we only had four sessions, but within those four sessions, I was able to reframe her thinking and give her some basic tools that gave her the confidence. So long story short, she graduated, and now today she's able to present. She actually sent me a video testimonial saying, "Hi Diane, I just gave a presentation, and it went well, "and I'm doing really well." So it's a skill that anyone can learn. So that's someone who almost lost her opportunity in law. And I can tell you one other where it was the VP, the Vice President of Tax, and he was about to lose his job. He reported to the president, and the president was frustrated with him because he couldn't get to the point, and he would want to know what is your recommendation on tax? And he would hedge and haw, and I said, "Well, what recommendation would you make?" He said, "Well, I would say A, "but I have to tell them all of this before I can do that." So I said, "No, lead with what you're recommending, and then tell him the reason." Long story short, he kept his job. The president was no longer frustrated, and the human resource person said she was relieved that she didn't have to give a pink slip. So it helps you keep your job. It helps you get a better job. It helps you get promoted. It helps you ace the interview. There are so many benefits.