Improve Your Public Speaking Skills (Everyone Needs This!) – Work In Sports Podcast - a podcast by Brian Clapp - Work in Sports

Hey everybody, I’m Brian Clapp, VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports Podcast…We’ve had a pretty crazy month, doubling up our podcast guest and really trying to crush January - but we’re going to start getting back into our regular routine this week. Monday’s will be a fan question, a shorter episode in the 1-15 minute range and Wednesday’s will be our longer-form interview with an industry expert. This week is going to be Philadelphia Eagles Director of Production Stacy Kelleher -- Stacy worked for a long time at Ohio State, and just came to the Eagles a year ago -- really great interview, make sure to check that out Wednesday -- Stacy has some really great insight into cover letters and what she likes to see in them.Before we get into our Monday fan question  --   Real Talk for a second. Kobe Bryant, his 13-year old daughter and 7 others died in a helicopter crash in Calabasas, California yesterday. And if you are listening to this episode 6 months from now, you’ll likely remember where you were when you heard this news. We all know it’s tragic. We all hope the family can find peace in this awful time, and we all have memories of Kobe from afar. But I would ask all of you, to listen more than you speak in times like these. Listen to those who knew him, competed against him, knew his family, spent time with his daughter. That is how you can respect his legacy, by listening to those who knew the real man off-screen.  This is not the time for your hot take.  Or to go live and discuss the hashtag mamba mentality. Or to share the 7 tips you learned from watching Kobe play ball. The thousands of people that are doing this right now will tell you it’s a tribute, a way to honor those who have passed, but it’s not. It’s people leveraging a tragedy to help build their brand… and to me, that is gross. I did this once, so I’m speaking not from a view of perfection, but rather one of reflection. I wrote a story after ESPN anchor Stuart Scott passed from cancer, giving a behind the scenes on how the sports media handles death. It was a really good article, lots of insight, a viewpoint not many see...and I kind of hated myself after I published it. Just listen. This sort of thing doesn’t have to be about you.Alright, let’s transition have a different conversation, one that will help you advance in your sports career. Because that is the point of all this. Johnathan from California -- “Hi Brian -- you recently spoke in my college classroom and I have to tell you when we have guest speakers, most of the time everyone tunes out. But, after the class, we were all talking about the info you shared. My question is a simple one -- as part of our college curriculum we have to do a lot of presentations in front of the class - I was wondering if you may be able to give some tips to those of us who are in this situation and public speaking isn’t our norm.”Hey Johnathan -- I picked your question for many reasons -- one, it is a topic we haven’t talked about before, and two, you said such nice things about me!In all seriousness, public speaking and presenting, is a huge part of the sports industry, not just in your college classroom. If you work in sales, you’ll present concepts and ideas to businesses and groups. If you work in marketing you’ll present to athletes, executive staff and other shareholders. Even if you work in scouting, you’ll present to the director of scouting advocating for a player. No matter your role you will present in front of the group during your career - and the more confident and charismatic you can be in these environments the better.#1 Tip -- Identify your audience. What is their reason for being here? When I am speaking to a college class,

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