Speaking Opportunities are Opportunities for Business & Career Growth

While I take up speaking engagements, hosting events and do acting, I am still an introverted person.  Because of this, I regularly receive queries on how I, as an introvert, could do hosting, acting and speaking.

My take would be these:

1) Overprepare
I will prepare more contents that I would need to present.  If I were given 30 minutes to present, I would prepare contents that would cover 45-60 minutes of my speech.  In this way, if I were to end my speech way early (especially in my earlier years of speaking, due to nervousness, I would end session way too early!), I can value add slightly more information for the audience.

2) Research the audience
Before I go out and speak, I would do background research of the audience.  Find out their demographics, and if there are "common languages" they use among the audience, I would use it as part of my delivery.   More often, the audience would laugh when they hear their "common languages" being used in keynotes or training presentations, and that would make the energy in the room positive.

3) Wear different hats and assume different roles
Everyone wears different hats at different points of life.  You could be a colleague at work, but a father at home.  And we with different roles, we assume different responsibilities.  For me, when I am hosting an event, I assume the role of a host; making sure (responsibility) that the flow of the programme is smooth.  When I am speaking, my responsibility is to spread messages that could inspire and change people's lives.  So because of this, I am able to minimise those fears and assume my role accordingly.

To conclude, this is my philosophy when it comes to speaking:  "Speaking opportunities are opportunities for business and career growth".  When you embed this philosophy in your head, you'll do anything to overcome any challenges so you can speak and grow. 

Towards business and career success,

Hazriq Idrus
Author,  The Stage Fright Antidote!
Founder, The Speaking Factory Pte Ltd