With New Year’s Eve rapidly approaching, now is ideal time to look back at the year that is coming to a close, and look forward to a fresh start and the twelve months to come. Whether it has been an exceptionally successful year, or a year of hard lessons, there is always room for growth, right? I believe so.
If you’re a public speaker, you surely know there is always room for improvement. The fact that you’re already a public speaker is demonstrative of the fact that you aim high and seek out challenges.
To help you continue on your path of growth as a speaker, here are a few things to consider as you start planning for the exciting new year. I hope these tips empower you to make this your best year ever as public speaker.
Public Speakers: Make This Your Best Year Ever
1. Assess Yourself.
Honestly assessing your current strengths and weaknesses as a speaker is the first step towards becoming a better public speaker in the new year.
To assess yourself, pull out a journal as well as your calendar. Flip through your calendar and note any engagements that stand out to you. Some items on your calendar will jump out at you because they were positive experiences. Don’t skim over your successes too quickly. Stop and pat yourself on the back, and also consider writing down some of your greatest public speaking moments of the year.
While it is good to overcome your public speaking weaknesses, it is also important to continue to develop your strengths. For example, if you note that you had exceptionally interesting Q&A sessions after some of your presentations, consider refining your Q&A skills in the coming year. If responding to questions is one of your natural skills, you will probably be able to improve in that area more easily than some other areas. You don’t always need to tackle your demons to see improvement, and growth doesn’t always need to be painful.
When you note challenges you experienced as a speaker, don’t be too hard on yourself. Jot down weaknesses as they come to mind, and then move on. Working on your weaknesses will be hard enough; don’t waste too much time or energy fretting about things that have already happened. You are reviewing your weakness to develop a list of resolutions for the new year – not to torture yourself.
If you’re struggling to identify your strengths and weaknesses as a speaker, consider these common strengths and weaknesses:
– Procrastination
– Anxiety
– Storytelling
– Body language
– Slide design
– Q&A
– Networking
– Audience interaction
– Confidence
– Attire
– Voice control
As you’re reflecting on the past year, you might be tempted to ask for feedback from friends and family. Getting an outside perspective can be helpful and insightful, however be careful to not let other people’s comments and expectations of you influence your resolutions too much. Letting other people determine your goals is the fast track to failure. Studies have indicated that people are more likely to succeed in changing their behaviour when they are motivated by internal rather than external forces, according to The Guardian.
Identifying your unexplored interests is the final step to honestly assessing yourself as a speaker. Untapped passions won’t show up on your list of strengths and weaknesses so you must force yourself to contemplate what new experiences you want to seek out in the coming months. For example, you might have an interest in becoming a TED speaker, however if you’ve never pursued this interest in the past, it is yet to be determined if this will be an area of strength or weakness for you. If some of your new interests seem inappropriate to add to your list of public speaking goals for the new year, you might be surprised. For example, if you are interested in becoming a better dancer, go ahead and add dance lessons to your public speaking resolutions. Dance lessons will help you refine your nonverbal communication skills and also help you have a more dynamic presence on stage.
2. Be Realistic.
Now that you have a list of successes, challenges, and unexplored passions from the past year, start to develop your resolutions for the new year. Plan to work on areas of strength as well as areas of weakness over the next twelve months. By working on areas of strength, you will enjoy the thrill of seeing rapid improvement. When you work on areas of weakness, you will enjoy the pleasure of seeing unexpected shifts.
Don’t get carried away with your list of resolutions though. Be realistic about how much you can truly do in one year. While I applaud anyone who wants to go above and beyond, most people set goals that are way above and beyond what is humanly possible. According to Vox.com, 60% of people fail to live up their New Year’s resolutions. Setting the bar too high is one of the main reasons people do not accomplish their goals.
If you want to accomplish 20 goals in the new year, edit your list and instead aim to accomplish 10 or 15 goals. If you have accomplished all 10 or 15 of your goals in a few months, you can always create a list of new goals at that time.
If your goals are too lofty, and you fail to succeed, research proves you are damaging your self-esteem in a way that will make it more difficult to achieve similar goals in the future. So, remember to be realistic. Maybe even set the bar low (gasp!) so you can leap over it and keep running towards your other goals.
3. Make A Plan.
Having a list of goals is obviously not enough to get you the results you desire. In order for your resolutions to become a reality, you need a plan.
If you have a long list of resolutions, it might be best to focus on only a few goals at a time. If you choose that route, develop your plan according to a timeline, and schedule the timeline so you are only tackling a few goals at a time before you move on to the next goals on your list.
Humans have limited willpower so trying to develop and/or break multiple habits at a time will quickly deplete your willpower resources, and you will find it increasingly difficult to stay on track simply because your well of willpower is dry. Give yourself the best shot at success by using your willpower in a focused, intentional manner.
In addition, for every goal on your list you should map out the steps required to get you from point A (where you are now) to point B (where you want to be). Try to think through every step on the path, as well as every potential obstacle to ensure unexpected issues don’t throw you off your timeline, or completely off course.
Think through scenarios with an if, then mentality. For example, let’s say you want to improve your presentation design skills, and therefore you commit to signing up for a presentation design course online. If the course is full, or if the course is out of your budget, then what? Will you sign up for a course at the local community college? Will you hire a designer to train you in their spare time? What is your plan B? If you don’t have a plan B for unexpected bumps in the road, you might lose momentum and eventually lose your fire for the resolution when a curveball hits you.
Conclusion
To make this coming year your best public speaking year ever, commit to enhancing your strengths and overcoming your weaknesses – starting on the first day of the new year. To ensure you stick to your resolutions and achieve your goals, set goals that you want to achieve; don’t set resolutions based on what other people suggest. In addition, be realistic about what you can achieve in one year. Lastly, map out a detailed plan for following through with your resolutions, even if curveballs are thrown your way.
