Last week I participated in a number of conferences and business meetings with Polish and international experts. I have to admit sadly that Polish speakers, struggle in conveying their message in an attractive way a lot. Presentations are usually too lengthy, too wordy, with too many acronyms and complicated words, with too many charts and numbers and too little humor, emotions, stories, personal touch and connection with the audience.

I know that public speaking is not an easy task. I know how stressful it may be. But guys, it is an opportunity to tell the world about what you do, to share your passion, to fundraise, to build coalitions and movements, to sell.

The ability to communicate and sell your ideas is and still will be a competitive advantage in any profession: in business, in academia, in social work, in science, in church. It is not the smartest people in the room who win the money and get the job. It is the people who can inspire others and communicate in a way that others want to follow.

The world we live in is hyper-competitive. Not only do we compete for money but most of all, we compete for attention and engagement. So how do you differentiate yourself and make yourself memorable in such circumstances?

Recently I did a class of storytelling for students at Hult International Business School in Boston with my dear friend Katarzyna Bachnik. Kasia is an Associate Professor of Marketing at HULT and a super-smart woman. Students in the USA hone their presentation skills from a very young age. It is a regular class at primary school. Therefore at the age of 20, it becomes unconscious competence.

What can we learn from them:

• use the perspective of your listener – at the end of the day he/she will ask “What is in your presentation for me?”
• use simple language, stories, metaphors
• be authentic and be bold, it is okay to be nervous, it is okay to make mistakes
• don’t be too serious, we are all humans, we love to laugh
•  make it short, it is better to give one good story to illustrate the topic than a list of scientific definitions

I often hear that “Polish businesses, Polish startups, Polish inventors, Polish products are great, much better than others, but you don’t sell well”. We have to change it and we have to start early.

So if you have kids, please make sure they learn to do presentations, they practice public speaking.

And what about you? How is your public speaking competency?