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Public speaking: Tips and experience

4th Apr 2014
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It seems like a good week to share my thoughts on public speaking, as I've been giving a lot of talks about the recent Budget. 

Public speaking is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it.

For me, I can honestly say I love it. But, I do have to caveat that - I love it when I'm, lecturing on tax - anything else doesn't come naturally to me.

But I didn't always enjoy it. I can still remember my first lecture, in particular I remember how I felt. I knew my subject but the thoughts of speaking out loud in a room full of people who had been accountants much longer than I had filled me with absolute horror.

It was a Saturday in London and IR35 had just come in and I had to lecture on it. I only found out on the Friday afternoon that I was doing it, as my boss at the time was suddenly unavailable.

He handed me his slides then dragged me to a meeting that finished at 6pm, so I had only the Friday night to prepare. I ran through that lecture twice that evening and the next morning I made my way to the venue. I was sick with nerves and mŷ head pounding. 

The first minute was horrendous, I was nervous and was shaking so much that I couldn't lift my glass of water. But they were a great audience and very soon I forgot nerves and enjoyed sharing what I knew about this subject.

After this experience, I started to lecture more and I realised that I got something out of this and I started to look forward to them.

Almost 15 years later I still lecture quite a bit on tax. There are still some events that make me nervous, but that's the adrenaline you need.

My tips for anyone wanting to lecture on tax are:

  • Practice those early ones, as it does pay off 
  • Always lecture on something you understand
  • Enjoy delivering your talk and the audience will enjoy listening
  • Share some practical tips with the audience and make sure they leave with something
  • You may get a day that you are not on form or the audience doesn't seem to respond but that's life - pick yourself up and move on.

I encourage all our team at Gabelle to lecture both internally and externally- it's good for confidence but it is also a great way of demonstrating expertise.

Do you lecture or are you considering it? What tips or advice would you give someone wanting to lecture?

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