Success in 12 Months: Practice Makes Perfect
Welcome back to the “Success in 12 Months” blog series! We’re moving into the third week of Month 9, and the topic for this month has been communication and public speaking.
As I said at the top of the month, the thing to remember is communication is more than just speaking the words. It really requires thought and preparation and making sure you’re delivering yourself clearly and in a straightforward fashion.
Verbal communication and public speaking are often stumbling blocks for people. Whether you’re an employee, a sales person or a business owner, there are times you have to verbally communicate your message. You have to talk to people.
If you can’t communicate yourself effectively, your success will be limited. The idea here is I don’t care how much you know. If you can’t teach me, if you can’t explain it at a level that will help benefit me in my life, then what use is that to me? (Because everyone approaches everything with this question in mind: “What’s in it for me?” or WIIFM.)
It’s your duty to your craft, whatever that might be–and to the things that you’ve built into your life–to be able to successfully communicate it so other people can benefit from all the effort you spent at becoming an expert or doing whatever it is you do to become proficient in your life.
And so, with that in mind, for the first week, I asked you to write an outline for a 5-minute speech.
And last week, your exercise was to actually write the speech.
OK, this is where the fun starts. Now that your speech is written–it’s time to practice!
You can start practicing in your head, but you need to eventually practice for real. Speaking out loud will let you properly time yourself, as well as get use to the cadence of the speech.
Your last practice session should be in front of a mirror.
Practice the speech at least 5 times this week! Record the dates and time in your success journal, using the template below:
Practice Date #1: _____________________ Time:__________________
Practice Date #2: _____________________ Time:__________________
Practice Date #3: _____________________ Time:__________________
Practice Date #4: _____________________ Time:__________________
Practice Date #5: _____________________ Time:__________________
We’ll take this further next week.
As I always say, share your thoughts and your progress, leave a comment below or e-mail me and let me know what’s been happening for you. I’m investing in you and want to support you in your success!
Your partner in mastering the art of communication,
James