Seeking Help: How Can I Confidently Deliver Welcome and Thank You Speeches at Staff Meetings?

I have now become a new plant manager of the plant where I have been working for more than 15 years. Whenever our MD or any directors visit my plant, they hold a staff meeting with all the management staff in the conference room. However, I find myself not very confident while speaking formally in such meetings.

Request for Speech Examples

I would like to have a few examples of delivering a welcome speech and also giving thanks at the end of the staff meeting to help me overcome these types of situations during visits by important guests. Please help me.

Regards,
CB

It is not just the speech but the presentation that also matters. Suppose a writer writes a very good speech for you, but if you start reading it out in front of your audience and begin fumbling or flustering, it kills the spirit of the text. On the contrary, an ordinary speech, if presented properly, holds the audience's attention.

Recommendation for Presentation Skills Training

Against this backdrop, I recommend that you take training on "Presentation Skills." Go to YouTube, and you will find a lot of material on presentation skills.

Secondly, start giving presentations in your ordinary meetings. Have someone take a video of you. When you review your video, you will notice the flaws in your presentation.

Importance of Communication Skills

Before presentation comes communication. Have you received training on communication skills? Communication skills are the soul of presentation skills, so you may want to take that training first.

All the best!

Regards,
Dinesh V Divekar

Mr. Dinesh Divakar has correctly pointed out that it is not just the content of the talk but equally important is the delivery of the speech that makes it effective. He has therefore suggested that, if required, you should go through a training module on Effective Presentation Skills to ensure you make an impactful speech. However, in the interim, to help you get over your jitters of coping with the inevitability of having to make speeches, I am sharing with you a 'Checklist for Introducing a Speaker and on Proposing a Vote of Thanks'. The checklist outlines two aspects to be focused upon - the Preparation and the Performance. Hopefully, this should alleviate your anxiety to a large extent and help you on your way to being an articulate and effective speaker.

Best Wishes.

Guidance for Plant Manager Presentations

Very useful information has been provided by Mr. Jacob. A person of the stature of an MD visits the plant either periodically or for a specific occasion. Accordingly, you can note down the points. If you cannot speak extempore, you can always write down in advance and get it vetted by someone before you present. Reading correctly from a written script is better than struggling without cogency in speech.

There could be formal presentations as well. It would be ideal to start with the highlights of the MD's previous visit. There would be several performance aspects, achievements, and shortcomings. You have to present both. Many may avoid mentioning shortcomings; however, a senior person like an MD would welcome knowing the shortcomings. Notwithstanding the shortcomings, an action plan and target dates also have to be added. Hope the above would be useful.

Regards,
V. Raghunathan

Few Tips on Running a Discussion

1. People are more interested in action, so one should not be like a newsreader in front of their audience. Your body must support the words you are speaking, and facial expressions with your words are important.

2. Do not talk if you are not prepared. Whenever you speak, feel as though everyone owes you money. By preparing, you are showing respect to your audience. Never make excuses like "I am not prepared" or "I am not good at speaking," as this sets the tone for your audience not to take you seriously.

3. Logical Preparation
Do not use the "Rat Theory" when preparing. Your preparation must be logical so that the end of one point naturally leads to the next. For example, it should not be like 1, 5, 9, 4, 2, 3, 6, 8, 7, 10. It will be easier if you have prepared in the sequence 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10.

4. Start with enough courage and confidence. If you want to be successful, act as if you are already successful.

5. Build a link between your mind, body, and brain while preparing. This will help control your responses to fear when facing an audience and prevent forgetting key points.

6. Create curiosity in the opening of your talk.

7. If I had to share the most important and useful mantra, I would say "PRACTICE... PRACTICE... and PRACTICE."

Thank you.

Regards,
Nuraj Pradhan

No reason to worry—the MD or another person is just another person. You are there to share with him, learn from him, teach him, and be taught by him.

Elements of a Good Presentation

A good presentation basically has two elements: understanding of the material and the delivery style. If what you have to present is in your 'head' and you are well aware of the audience's needs (in this case, your MD/boss), then your presentation almost automatically/naturally comes to you. Your words simply flow as do your thoughts, and the body language, together with the NVC (non-verbal cues), falls in sync. Your audience will then leave bedazzled.

Plain and simple.  SMILE