As a business owner, public speaking engagements offer a great opportunity to spread the gospel about your business and position yourself as an expert in your industry. At the same, public speaking makes many professionals anxious and nervous.

Here are some helpful hints to make your presentations more persuasive, effective and stress-free in 2008.

Join a Toastmasters group: These organizatiions exist for the express purpose of helping individuals improve their public speaking skills. These clubs are available in most major towns and cities, and there is little cost to join and particpiate. These groups help train speakers in a number of different styles of rhetoric and communication. After one has completed the Toastmasters program, he or she is then eligible to speak on the Toastmasters circuit. This could be a great opportunity for a business owner looking for more visibility in the local community.

Ask for feedback – Your colleagues and peers are often the greatest source of advice when it comes to critiquing your speaking and presentation skills. After all, these are the people that you work with every day. They hear you speak all the time and probably know your strengths and weaknesses best.

Prepare and practice – Know what you’re going to say before you say it. Use a note card or a sheet of paper to create an outline for your speech. If you have a map of where you’re going or where you’ve been, you’ll know how to find your way back on course should you get lost. Practice your prersentations as many times as you can. Do it while driving or while walking somewhere. Practicer it in the mirror when you’re shaving in the morning.

Observe others – There are a lot of exciting public speakers out there,. Go see a motivational speaker at your local convention center if the opportunity presents itself. Or turn on the television and watch the presidential debates this year to see one of the greatest public speakers in recent memory — Barack Obama. Regardless of your political beliefs, you have to be impressed with the way Obama can a work a crowd into a frenzy. Don’t be afraid to borrow the techniques of others and make them your own.

Be yourself — When in doubt, keep it simple and be yourself. Speak in a way that is most comfortable to you. People will appreciate a speaker that is genuine and speaks from the heart.

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