Project Management: Public Speaking Bootcamp
What do you do when you’ve been given a task by your COO? You execute!
I was given an assignment to find a Public Speaking Coach to improve and enhance our leaders, public speaking.
I came. I saw. I conquered.
No worries Glam Bews and baes, I’m giving you the road map to conquer.
My objective is to improve the leader's skill set by hiring a coach who specializes in public speaking; this coach would provide my leader’s tools to enhance their skills and how they approach our clients. Because virtual meetings are happening at a much higher rate than ever before as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the traditional ways to woo clients held no value because the world shut down and transitioned to a virtual state.
Step 1: What is your objective?
My COO gave me a task and I defined the objective, improve our leaders Public Speaking.
Step 2: Identify your key players aka Your resources
Your key players are your Learning and Development (L&D) leaders, LinkedIn, former colleagues, and Google.
Always utilize the resources readily available to you, I reached out to the corporate L&D Director, who provided quality candidates I can reach out to. I also leveraged my LinkedIn contacts and Google search engine to gauge the available Public Speaking Coaches. From there I narrowed down my list to two coaches I believe would deliver.
Step 3: Make contact
I contacted each speaker; leave a voicemail if you don’t make an initial contact on the first try, and follow-up with an email. With each speaker, I introduced myself and the company and clearly stated what my objectives are. From there, the speakers discuss their brand, work they’ve completed with companies, and based on the information I provided, give recommendations on the best course of action to take. I asked each speaker to provide a proposal to include a business objective, lesson plan, agenda, pricing, and materials needed.
Step 5: Team Meetings
Holding meetings to discuss every step of the program is imperative. Identify how many meetings will need to take place, identify who needs to be a part of the meetings. This is an imperative piece of the puzzle.
I scheduled a meeting with my COO to present the proposal from each speaker. We identified the best candidate and discussed if this would be within budget. I scheduled a meet and greet meeting to ensure both parties familiarize themselves with one another and to ask/answer any questions or concerns each person has. The second task on the agenda is to identify dates.
It’s important to note to identify any training or conferences to avoid scheduling the public speaking camp on those dates.
Step 4: Build A Team
It takes a village. I asked the office manager for their assistance with logistics: lodging, food, WiFi, materials, calendar invites; especially when some leaders would require travel, the office manager had established relationships with vendors, which saved time to shift focus to complete other tasks like scheduling a date that works for everyone including our speaker.
Step 5: Execute
Bootcamp Day! As an HR Business Partner, all the preparations, all the meetings, all the expectations led up to this point: the day of the event. I was nervous, but excited because I checked off everything on my list. Create a list. Know your objectives, get the necessary parties involved to accomplish the goal(s).
Everyone arrived on time and was ready to make the best of the two-day event. To my surprise, each leader looked forward to the Public Speaking Bootcamp. The materials used like the color code assessment took everyone by surprise but also intrigued each individual to learn more about their personality style and that of their colleagues. This was a great exercise for self-reflection in our work, and the way we work with colleagues; and also how we present our best foot forward to our clients. Doing so allowed each person to think about their audience. If you have a better understanding of your [personality] style, you can leverage this to engage and captivate your audience.
Step 6: Feedback
Not everything will go according to plan, but that’s ok. Obtaining feedback from your participants enables you to enhance your program for the next group. I received an overwhelming positive response about the Bootcamp. Some of the feedback received were “it brought colleagues closer together,” “it pushed me out of my comfort zone,” “I now know how to tell/share my stories.” This feedback allows you to build momentum for your next project, in addition to identifying areas of opportunity to expound upon.
As a disclaimer, I urge you to always do what's best for you, your company, and business. This guideline is here to serve as a guide to help you think outside of the box to execute a seamless event. You may have to get creative or be a bit more reserved, however, if you incorporate these steps, you will have a phenomenal outcome.
