I couldn’t do it for the longest time.
I had a hard time starting this newsletter. I realize this is often the case for things that are important to us but not urgent. A lot of people live in the “urgent and important” space, only doing projects once they’ve become important and urgent.
The problem?
It’s hard to do important tasks in a hurry well unless you’ve invested in building a skill set that can spring into action at a moment’s notice.
Firefighters get months of training. Leaders get decades of training on people management, time management, resource management.
The one thing that leaders don’t get trained on till it’s usually too late is speaking in public.
They get rushed into a media interview. They need to present at the next board meeting. They get an opportunity to pitch to a new investor.
It’s almost impossible to be an amazing public speaker the first time you’re rushed into the spotlight.
If you’re invested in building your personal brand, in being a voice that people want to listen to, you have to start building your speaking skill set as early as possible.
You can start now.
Welcome to the Speak as a Leader newsletter!
Here is the ONE actionable thing you can do to begin speaking in public:
Find or create a public speaking goal.
Here are some goals for your inspiration:
🔥 Sign up to present a project at your next weekly work meeting.
🔥 Find a Toastmaster’s club near you and sign up to present.
🔥 If you’re friends with a teacher, ask if they’d like a guest speaker from your industry (you). (Bonus: your friend will love you for letting them take a break for a class!)
🔥 Create your LinkedIn profile intro video.
🔥 Start or join a book club, or any other group activity where you will need to share your ideas with a group of people.
The goal should be medium stress: not super high profile that you feel paralyzed by fear, but not that unimportant that you don’t think you need to work for it.
Once you have a goal, you become committed to up-skilling to meet that goal. You’re building your skills on your own time but with an external motivator.
That’s the best way I know to keep growing.
See you next Saturday! Till then, speak fearlessly.
💜
Nausheen
