Why Public Speaking is Good for Employee Engagement

We all know that employee engagement is a critical success factor in building a robust business. But did you know that only 13% of employees are fully connected and engaged with their workplace?

That staggering statistic is courtesy of Gallup’s recent ‘State of the Global Workplace‘ research, and it begs the question of how you ensure employee engagement remains high within your company.

The obvious approach is to invest in your staff’s personal development, and encouraging them to perform public speaking roles can be a real asset in this respect.

If this is something you hadn’t previously considered, allow us to explain why.

Why is Public Speaking Good for Employee Engagement?

Public speaking is an excellent way for your employees to raise their individual profiles and those of your business. Therefore, the more you can empower and encourage your staff to do so, the more opportunities they have to increase their value and how connected they are to your organisation.

Through public speaking, your staff will develop their communication, critical thinking, and leadership skills. They will also benefit from increased confidence, networking possibilities, and overall industry knowledge.

By facilitating their personal development this way, you will also create a culture of ’employee development’ that should not only make them more rounded professionals in their field but also lead to greater staff loyalty and retention rates.

Which of Your Employees Should Be Encouraged To Do Public Speaking?

To help with their personal development, all of your employees should be encouraged, or at least given the opportunity, to perform public speaking roles on behalf of your organisation – if they want to.

However, it is important to note that not everyone will be comfortable with public speaking, so you should not force any of your employees to do it. If you do, it could be counterproductive and lead to them deriving negative feelings towards you and their job.

The best way to determine who would be willing to perform public speaking roles is to simply ask. You can do this via email or, better still, in staff meetings. But again, don’t put any pressure on individuals to agree to do it.

How to Make Your Employees Better at Public Speaking

Once you have identified which employees are open to public speaking, you should take steps to develop their skills at it. Here are some of the things you can do to help them.

1. Send them on a Public Speaking Course

If they are novices at public speaking, you should send willing employees on relevant training courses. These will help them build up their confidence and learn the basic techniques required to be successful when speaking to any kind of audience. 

There are several professional development courses they can take, most of which are run by seasoned conference, event, or after-dinner speakers who will share their wisdom.

Do a Google search or look on LinkedIn to find ones in your area.

2. Make Sure They Get Heard

It doesn’t matter how good a public speaker a person is; if their voice is not loud enough, they will struggle to get heard.

For this reason, it is worthwhile investing in a device that will better project it in a crowded room or over a long distance.

If any of your employees naturally speak with a softer voice, TechXpress’s guide to voice amplifiers is worth checking out.

Not only will these voice amplifiers increase the clarity and volume of their words, but they will also reduce the risk of your employees being off work due to laryngitis from straining their vocal cords.

3. Be Supportive and Give Feedback

Like with all aspects of business, employees will perform better if they feel supported. It is important, therefore, to make them feel this way through your words and actions because this will give them increased confidence.

If you can, try to see them perform their first couple of speaking gigs live or at least get them recorded so you can both review them later. Be sure you provide them with constructive feedback that will help them become a more polished performer over time.

What Public Speaking Opportunities Can They Do?

Public speaking opportunities for your employees can take many forms, including ceremonial, demonstrative, informative, or persuasive.

While ceremonial tends to take place on a special occasion, such as an office party, demonstrative and informative can be great ways to convey knowledge and expertise in your industry. This can be done at conferences, exhibitions, trade shows, and networking events, but also on video platforms like YouTube. 

The objective of persuasive speaking is to convey a point of view or idea to your audience. In a business sense, this could relate to presentations to clients or board members.