8. PUBLIC SPEAKING

Public speaking may be one of the most anxiety-inducing prospects for many students and professionals alike. Yet the ability to speak clearly and confidently and present ideas effectively in public is an important competency in many workplaces.

Creating focused, impactful presentations is crucial not only in a school context, where you want to create a good impression for your professor and classmates about what you’re learning and doing, but also in the workplace. Your professional success relies, in good part, on being able to talk about your ideas, designs, and recommendations in a way that clients, colleagues, and executives find accessible, convincing, and memorable. By presenting complex information – solutions, relevant data, recommendations – in a focused, well-mapped, engaging way, you make it easy for an audience to follow your line of thought so that they end up thinking, “yes, this really makes a lot of sense. I can see exactly how your approach works – and I’m keen to follow through!”