Public Speaking - Enjoy the Experience

I had the privilege of speaking at a conference on insurance in Jakarta this year. While it was not the first time I had spoken at a conference, it was particularly nerve wrecking because I was speaking at a conference full of industry veterans and experts, including country and regional CEOs. The Chairman of the conference who introduced me had spent 39 years (and counting) in the industry, which is longer than I have been alive. Imagine that!

Thankfully, everything went well and it was extremely satisfying when those experts came up to me and said they benefitted from my presentation. So here are three simple pointers that I had reminded myself of during my preparation, which could be useful to you.

Preparing mentally

I reminded myself that there was a reason why I was asked to speak. While the delegates were executives and management staff of insurance companies, as an ex-insurance agent/adviser with eight years of experience, I had “on-the-ground” experience that most of them did not have. Once I got over the mental hurdle that there was a reason for my presence, things became much easier as I no longer felt as anxious as before and could prepare for my presentation the way I had always done.

So the next time you are worried about having to speak in public, it could be useful to remind yourself why you are there. Perhaps you are the most senior, maybe your job requires it, or maybe you are just a student and it is part of your grading requirements. Whatever it is, there is a reason why you are doing it. Come to terms with it and learn to enjoy the experience.

Share, don’t preach

In this instance, it was easy for me. There was no way I could have “preached” to those CEOs and tell them what they should do. They wouldn’t have let me either. Why would anybody with more experience than I am alive listen to me? But as mentioned earlier, what I had was on-the-ground experience that most of them did not have. I shared with them my experience as