Wednesday, June 3, 2009

When Giving a Short Presentation....

Today I gave a 30-minute presention at the Jewish Communal Service Association's annual conference. The topic? Fearless Public Speaking.

Now how in the world can you possibly hope to teach public speaking in 30 minutes?

A colleague, Barry Bainton gave me some invaluable advice:

Barry suggested that the goal of a short training is not to teach a skill, but rather to persuade the audience that the skill is one worth learning.

There is no way to teach public speaking in such a short amount of time. But in under thirty minutes, I was able to make a clear and compelling case for learning how to be present in front of an audience.

I got great feedback. Thank you, Barry.

From the Green Room: Don't attempt too much in a short amount of time. Set a focused and realistic goal, and stick to it.