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?
You might also be interested in
Replies (0)
Please login or register to join the discussion.
There are currently no replies, be the first to post a reply.