Why It Helps To Be A Good Public Speaker

Dear Import/Export Compliance Manager,

I’m not a very good public speaker yet I feel I need to be strong in this area in order to advance my import/export compliance career.  Is this true?  And, if so, can you provide some advice on how to give a good import/export compliance presentation?

Not Socrates in Novi

Dear Not Socrates,

You are correct in that public speaking is a very powerful skill to have.  We’ll get into the reasons why in a minute but first, why are you not a very good public speaker?  Are you afraid of getting up in front of crowds?  Are you relatively fearless but inexperienced?  There is different advice to be given to you depending on the answers to those questions; the Import/Export Compliance Manager will answer based on a presumption that inexperience is what is making you feel that you are not yet a good public speaker.

To emphasize, the Import/Export Compliance Manager maintains that public speaking is one of the most important skills an Analyst, Manager or Director in the field of import/export compliance, and perhaps any field, can have.  Think about it: what do competent public speakers seem to possess?  Confidence.  Competence.  Professionalism.  The ability to get their point across.  Energizing.  Personable.  Are these attributes useful in other areas of your job?  Oh yes indeed.  Import/export compliance personnel must, at all times, project each of these to convince recalcitrant employees to participate in the act of ensuring import/export compliance at your company, even if they have very little to do with import/export compliance at all.  In essence, you are always on display as a public speaker, whether you are running a meeting, having a one-on-one conversation in-person, speaking with someone on the phone or even writing an e-mail.  The act of speaking in public is just the most high pressure situation you might face regarding the need to show these attributes, at least short of legal proceedings and government investigations.

Keep in mind there is a difference between being a capable and strong public speaker.  Capable means that you can get up in front of an audience and present the material without making a fool of yourself.  A strong public speaker, on the other hand, wants to get up in front of an audience and deliver such a good presentation on import/export compliance that the engineers, human resource personnel, executives, chamber of commerce members, etc. will tell co-workers, family and/or friends about it.  There is no shame in being capable but strong will drive better results.

As to the second part of your question regarding what makes a good import/export compliance presentation, well, that’s a rather longer answer than the Import/Export Compliance Manager wants to take up space in this blog to provide.  You can find lots of good general tips on great presentations online; it is highly recommended you do so.  For import/export compliance, here are some short and sweet tips that work for the Import/Export Compliance Manager:

• Make the content as engaging and relevant as possible to the audience so that they think ‘Ah, this is relevant to ME and my job.’  Don’t just give a standard boilerplate presentation. Customization for the audience shows you care.

• Provide stories that the person can take home and tell their spouse/kids/friends/roommates/etc.  Events that people are already talking about, such as the Cuba embargo, are great for this.

• Start the presentation with something that will get the audiences’ attention and be memorable.  The violation of a competitor works well for this.

• Research says that audiences have a difficult time paying attention to both your presentation and your speaking.  Therefore, either have minimal text on your slides or follow the text closely.  If the latter, start with a blank slide and introduce your text as your talk about each specific part.

• The Import/Export Compliance Manager prefers 45 minutes: 30 for the slides and 15 for questions.  It’s better to take questions during the presentation, as that will lead to more questions and also help you adapt for your audience as you go along.  But saving questions until the end is acceptable if taking questions throws you off too much.

• Don’t be afraid to say ‘I don’t know the answer to that question, but I’ll check on it after this and will e-mail all of you the answer.’  The audience would a million times rather you say that than you provide an answer which may or may not be correct.  Plus, sending the answer later on serves as a reminder of the presentation, helping to cement the content in peoples’ minds.

• Also, don’t afraid to let your personality show, especially if you want to inject some humor.  Having personality in a presentation, especially if you’re self-deprecating, will make the training more memorable and, for most people, more enjoyable.  It’s ok to be human!  Just don’t let your personality overpower the presentation, unless you’re Louis Black.

• Above all, be professional.  Start on time, end on time, know your material backwards and forwards and practice your presentation beforehand. 

As for getting up to speed, the Import/Export Compliance Manager found his inner Socrates as a member of Toastmasters International, an organization which may have a local group near you.  There are plenty of other ways to learn out there.  Find what is best for you and practice, practice, practice.  Like as not, your style will change as you have new opportunities to speak in public.  You don’t have to be Zig Ziglar, Barack Obama or the Import/Export Compliance Manager’s favorite public speakers, professional wrestlers, to give a good presentation.  Just be you.  Good luck!