Year One extra credit
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Year One core curriculum
Year One extra credit
Public speaking basics
To advance your employer's interests while giving your career a big boost, many experts advise media training and/or lessons in public speaking.Merely mentioning public speaking raises hives for many network professionals - even those who've successfully climbed the corporate ladder. "I've been a network engineer since the early '80s and I still can't stand speaking in front of large groups," says Ralph Jenson, CTO at Aravox Technologies, an Arden Hills, Minn., company that makes firewalls for voice-over-IP networks. "But if you give me a whiteboard and let me talk technology, I'm OK."
Media training used to be reserved for top corporate officers. But according to Steve Bennett, principal of Media Mentor, a Cambridge, Mass., consultancy, that's changed dramatically over the past several years. "We're seeing a lot more network administrators," he says. "People who've been in the trenches need the training, because there's nothing in their daily job that prepares them" for presenting before large groups or dealing with journalists.
According to Bennett, network professionals commonly need help in two areas: They tend to give too much information, and they use technical jargon that often goes over reporters' heads.
With plain-talking technologists clearly at a premium, getting a few pointers in handling the media or public speaking can really enhance your career prospects. Most businesses still don't offer such training to the rank and file, Bennett says; if you want in, talk with your corporate communications department.
Full-fledged media training may not be a realistic option for everybody, but Toastmasters International is. The grass-roots organization devoted to public-speaking practice boasts of more than 8,000 branches worldwide and costs only $36 per year (more information is available at www.toastmasters.org). "I wish I'd gotten involved with Toastmasters," Aravox's Jenson says. In the future, he says, "the greatest advantage in networking will be the ability to think fast on your feet, because you'll be doing a lot more presentations at customer sites."
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Ulfelder is a freelance writer and can be reached at sulfelder@charter.net.
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