Public speaking skills are often overlooked in favour of those with marketing and other online skill sets. However, being able to connect with donors and volunteers effectively face to face is also an important quality in nonprofit staff.

The interesting thing about public speaking is that it may not come naturally to individuals. The art of public speaking sometimes needs to be learnt, and in truth, practice makes perfect. You can’t expect an actor to step up on the stage and give an award winning performance on their first time treading the boards. The same goes for public speakers – the more the craft is honed, the better a speaker will be.

Brainstorm your speech

Not all the success of a great speech comes down to the actual event. Much of it comes down to the content of the actual talk. Why not brainstorm some interesting stories or themes that will capture the attention of the audience. Once you have some kind of speech template, then you can adapt to suit.

Rehearse your talk

Taking time to rehearse the speech can also be beneficial. It can help with timing to ensure that the speech does not run too slow or too fast. You can also clarify some points or expand on certain areas depending on the listener feedback.

Record your speech

Seeing yourself speak can be very enlightening. It will help you understand how you sound and look, particularly your body language, eye contact and speech volume. Everyone is unique and so is the way they talk in public. It is all about being comfortable in your own skin.

Make use of technology

Learning how to use technology to aid your public speaking will help emphasise those facts and make it flow. Even software such as PowerPoint can be extremely beneficial. It may be worthwhile giving you team a lesson in the basics of the software to get them started.

Consider training staff

A public speaking workshop or even a speech coach offering one-on-one feedback can be very effective to all nonprofit staff who speak in public. It can teach such subjects as voice control, body language, storytelling and more. It can also help improve those bad habits that you may not even know you had.

Take every opportunity possible to improve your public speaking whether it means giving in-house presentations to your nonprofit or presenting a speech to the community. Continued practice will help enhance those pitches to potential donors and organisations. And remember, regardless of how nervous you are, don’t forget to smile!