Public Speaking the Secret Weapon in Career Development

PUBLIC SPEAKING The Secret Weapon in Career Development

MARCIA REYNOLDS came from an upper-middle-class Jewish home. Growing up, she was a top athlete, star student … and drug addict. Getting lost in her addiction landed her a six-month stay in the Maricopa (Phoenix, Ariz.) County jail. It was there that Reynolds found her voice and learned it was sate to speak up--and she has been speaking ever since while earning two master's degrees and building a successful 16-year career in health care and high-tech companies. She now performs public speaking internationally to build her coaching, keynote speaking, and training business. "Speaking has given me the confidence to know that I could get work in many different arenas," Reynolds professes.

Having days filled with endless e-mail and voice mail messages while attending countless meetings, it is natural to be hopeful that someone higher up will notice the effort and consider a promotion. The reality, however, is that those who are not visible become invisible and, therefore, expendable. While some prefer keeping a lower profile, many employees want anything but. By participating in panel discussions and programs at company conferences and industry events, savvy professionals with solid speaking skills are able to broaden their bases and open up new opportunities. Even more, their confidence spreads into all areas of their work because they have learned to communicate more effectively, even in one-on-one conversations. In the long run, they develop more presence and become better leaders.

With the possibility of layoffs and reorganizations always looming, it also helps that speaking can create friends in high places. "After leaving one job," Reynolds relates, "I learned that my former boss wanted to fire me a long time ago. But she told Human Resources that she couldn't because I had too many champions at the higher levels of the company." Despite all these benefits, many professionals relegate public speaking to the...