Poll: Do You Have a Fear of Public Speaking?
As we were ramping up for Autodesk University, I was struck anew by the fantastic instructors and able lab assistants who commented that they were nervous about presenting and teaching. It sometimes still surprises me that some of my favorite gurus and skilled speakers get stage fright, but, it really should not. I have always known people with loads of knowledge and beautiful voices with glossophobia (yes, I just looked that up). There are different degrees of anxiety or nervousness, and I always encourage people to practice their public speaking to try to get over it.
Knowing things is great, communicating that knowledge is what sets people apart, though.
Thank you to everyone who took a moment to chime in on this month’s homepage poll on www.augi.com, about the fear of speaking in public.
51% of our members seem to get a little nervous when they speak publicly. 25% are completely comfortable with talking to a group. And, 24% are just petrified.
Check out the archived podcast "Finding a Design Job – Part 3 and Part 6", where I discuss with CAD Manager, Mark Kiker, the various forms of networking and their importance in establishing your reputation as a person people want to hire. You might not think of public speaking as a networking tool, but, I assure you it is. Being known as a subject matter expert and being able to display how well you share that expertise can make you stand out from other people being considered for an exciting new role and will keep you in the forefront of the minds of someone who might mention your name as a referral.
If you are looking to raise your professional profile for any reason, I encourage you to look into getting more comfortable with speaking in public. If you have any advice or questions, feel free to pop into the Training forum to discuss the issue with your peers.
Melanie Stone is a CAFM/ IWMS Specialist & System Administrator supporting and writing about ARCHIBUS, FMInteract, Tririga, Revit, AutoCAD, BricsCAD or similar. She served as an AUGI Director/Officer for over 6 years and is currently involved with the STLRUG. Melanie can be reached at mistressofthedorkness@gmail.com or found on Twitter as @MistresDorkness on YouTube or on her Mistress Of the Dorkness blog.
