Does a PM need a speaking coach?

Does a project manager need a public speaking coach?

The everyday life of a project manager isn’t filled with public speaking opportunities – so you could argue the answer to the above question is: ‘no’! But part of the reason for starting my business Bloom Project Management was to do more of the stuff I really enjoyed. I knew I liked public speaking and got a buzz out of doing it, but felt I could do it better.

Not only that, I’d been doing quite a bit of reading about increasing my capacity to earn money in different ways. Public speaking isn’t an immediate money spinner, but as my own boss, I need to build my profile and increase my network – and I felt it could definitely help! So, apparently this project manager did need a public speaking coach! And this is where the brilliant Pascalle Bergmans 📣 CEO & Founder of PresenTales came in.

🌸 Seizing an opportunity

Pascalle popped up on LinkedIn, where she’d done a wonderful post about public speaking and I thought her approach was really interesting. She was running a 12-week public speaking course online with a small group and it just spoke to me, so I signed up. All the other people on the course were entrepreneurs and we became a team of like-minded individuals, all championing each other, which was great.

🌸 100% expertise

I might only spend 5% of my time doing public speaking, but the opportunity to learn from someone who does it 100% of the time was just invaluable. Pascalle has fantastic energy, which I really responded to and made it much easier to absorb all the techniques and tips she was sharing with us. We covered how to write different types of speeches and for different audiences, as well as the technicalities of how to structure talks. And it was all done in group discussion, which I found so much easier to absorb than simply reading about a topic.

🌸 A money maker after all?

A really important part of Pascalle’s training was how to make public speaking an asset within your own particular business. At this stage in the development of Bloom, I might not be speaking to large audiences on a regular basis, but I am busy selling myself and my business to practically anyone I speak to! Whether I’m at networking events or one-to-one meetings, I’m actually public speaking all the time. And with Pascalle’s coaching behind me, I’m able to get into the rhythm of always doing so confidently and succinctly, so I’m pretty sure public speaking has made me money after all!

🌸 A long-term vision

The reason I’ve worked with coaches like Pascalle is because I’m making a long-term investment in my own development, which – in turn – will benefit Bloom.

📷 from Pascalle's recent #ExtravagantAF event last week which was beyond a masterclass in public speaking! Together - finally meeting in person #TheOGs from #TheTalkTribe