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Why entrepreneurs should embrace public speaking

This is a post from a member of the Freelancers Union community. If you’re interested in sharing your expertise, your story, or some advice you think will help a fellow freelancer out, feel free to send your blog post to us here.

If you’re an entrepreneur, I’m sure you value the ability to speak well in front of people.  If you’re an entrepreneur who is seeking investor funding, effective public speaking becomes even more important. Why?

A pitch from a great public speaker elicits confidence in the speaker. Who would you rather give money to: someone who is humming and hawing all throughout the pitch, or someone who delivers the pitch self-assuredly? Door number 2, please!

I don’t think I’m alone in that sentiment. Investors by and large are way more likely to invest in people who communicate well. If they communicate well to the investors, chances are they’ll communicate well to employees, vendors, and customers. You know what all that leads to? Money!

If you’re an entrepreneur who doesn’t pitch to investors, you still have to communicate. How do you get your employees to be productive? How about getting vendors to provide you with what you want? And getting customers to buy? Public speaking! If you present clearly to employees what you need them to do, they’ll be more productive and make money for your enterprise. If you tell vendors exactly what you need, they’re more likely to give it to you. If you give customers a clear vision of what your product or service will do for them and how it will transform them, they’re more likely to buy.

You know what else excelling at public speaking can lead to? Opportunities you weren’t even looking for. Public speaking led me to join a speaker’s guild, which led me to get speaking engagements I didn’t even know existed. It also led me to meet people who would later appear as guests on my podcast that focuses on… public speaking!

To recap, for people who pitch, public speaking:

  • elicits confidence, which...
  • makes investors more likely to invest, and...
  • results in your business flourishing.

Even for non-investor-pitching entrepreneurs, public speaking:

  • Makes employees more productive
  • Improves vendor relations
  • Leads to more customer purchases

There’s really no downside to becoming a better public speaker. It makes sense to work on it. So get on it!

Neil Thompson is a speaker, writer, and entrepreneur. Neil has been published in the San Diego Business Journal, Mechanical Engineering magazine, and Tech Directions magazine. He’s also an avid blogger, vlogger, and podcaster. You can find out more about Neil at www.neilthompsonspeaks.com.