Tomorrow I have to train a group of about 20 new hires and it will be the first time I have had to do this. I was asked last week by my manager if I would be comfortable spending about an hour with these people, walking them through a PowerPoint presentation. Being the "yes" man (sarcasm) that I am, I agreed to it. I'll get through it, I'm just not looking forward to it. I don't mind being a participant in large groups, but a batch of strangers hanging on my every word is not anything I look forward to. Who else is mediocre at public speaking?

Good luck James. Try to have fun.

If I could just say a few words... I'd be a better public speaker.
-- Homer J. Simpson

IDK what advice to give you. In the course of being involved in various activisms I have been put in front of large groups as a speaker.

I have also been drafted by my company to teach HIV/AIDS courses and while it is now (with this economy no new hires) very small groups, I have had as many as 40 in a room. Just know your stuff and be able to field any questions with honest answers or "IDK, I'll find out and get back to you."

You just speak and go with the flow. Somehow, you realize that there may be a lot of them but they are all just one person. Make eye contact with a few as if it were a personal conversation.

It might help to be a "life model" at the local college art school. Builds confidence being naked in a room of 20 or more students studying ALL your physical features. :biggrin:

They would have had to TELL me I had to do that. I wouldn't have agreed to it voluntarily.

I'm fine casually speaking to a group of people. What sometimes pinches my nerves is having to give a prepared speech, or formal presentation before one. If it's just me talking randomly, it's not much a problem.

I'm not sure if I have any advice to give you except to just do the best you can and you'll be so happy when it's over with. After you're all done with it you should do something to celebrate to congratulate yourself - it's such a hard thing to do.

Good luck JM!

I dunno. I think you guys are making too much out of this. JM, this is some kind of orientation for newbies? Maybe it's the Leo in me but I'd probably tell them that the boss is a little hard of hearing in his right ear so when they speak to him, they should stand on his left side and talk a little louder. I might be kidding about that. I assume you know your shit or you wouldn't have been asked to do this so just organize your thoughts, take a deep breath and picture your audience sitting there in their underwear. Unless that's going to make it, um harder for you to talk so to speak. I don't know why public speaking terrorizes so many people. You'll be fine.