Preparation

Speaking publicly is never easy. No matter the circumstances. Giving prepared remarks or speaking off-the-cuff, speaking before others is not unlike swimming in unknown waters. The unexpected can make a surprise visit at any time. Even if someone makes it look easy, usually that is the result of their working hard to make it look so. Few, however, are that good. Most folks, myself included, lack the ability to get up in front of others and speak in a manner that comes even close to being considered relaxed or comfortable. Most of us who speak before others do so with various levels of dread nipping at our heels.

All this, then, speaks to the importance being well prepared. Public speaking is not to be taken lightly. Professional communicators know this. This is why, when working with clients, they devote as much time to helping prepare the client's actual remarks as they do to coaching how best to deliver them. Practice is the key. Anticipation is another. Will people such as the press in the audience be asking questions? Even if there is not supposed to be, one should assume some will be asked. The best way to handle expected or unexpected inquiries is to be prepared.

The public relations professional can arrange practice sessions for the client in which the client is asked a range of questions - the more difficult the better - as a way of formulating effective and understandable responses. If done well, not only are solid answers created, the client is trained to deliver them in an easy-going way as if they are making them up on the spot. Solid preparation helps make this happen. One should not apologize for this. What they should feel bad about is when they do speak before others with little or no pre-thought. That is a roll of the dice that has much chance of turning out badly as not. Proper preparation improves the odds in one's favor greatly.