If you have the fear of public speaking, you are not alone. You must first recognize what fear is. Fear is the anticipation of pain. Is your fear real or imagined? Here are some great insights into Overcoming Fear of Public Speaking. Steps to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking -

1. Fears – The fear of being judged, making a mistake, not measuring up, getting hurt either mentally or physically can get in the way of a good performance (speech, seminar, sales presentation, etc). Remember that people in the audience really want you to succeed. Nobody is standing there hoping you’ll be boring or bad. If you are coming from an authentic place, and you cover the material with clarity, you’ve won 3/4 of your inner battle with fear.

2. Learn how to enroll and engage your audience – If you haven’t yet taken a professional development course on public speaking, consider finding a public speaking training course appropriate for your needs. Learning the art of public speaking can enhance your results in a boardroom, in a sales presentation, and even accelerate your climb up the corporate ladder. It is a must-skill for any executive and/or business owner.

3. Practice – Find business organizations, networks and clubs in your area (such as Toastmasters) that can afford you the opportunity to practice. Remember to choose topics that you are already an expert on. Speaking on a topic that you are not familiar with will increase your stress, and impede on your performance.

4. Use recording software – Record everything on your PC/laptop. Review it to see where you can improve. Have speaking pros attend your live presentation to give you feedback. Allow yourself the opportunity to learn more every time you go out.

5. Remember, even the top professionals learn something new every single time they go out!

It is always a great feeling when you are recognized for your efforts. But does it also give you a sense of being valued? HR managers point out that employee productivity can be enhanced when they are valued while also being recognized at the same time.

It has been long understood that to make an organization successful, there has to be a happy and motivated workforce working towards the same goal. And most organizations put in a lot of effort in making their employees feel recognized and valued. But though recognition programs do award good work, at times many employees are left feeling devalued.

In a survey done Valuing vs. Recognizing Employees’, it was revealed that there is a difference between recognizing and valuing employees. The survey reveals that organizations are especially weak in creating an environment where employees truly feel valued. The survey also points out that employees feel recognition, who they are.

Recognition is the identification or acknowledgement of something. When we value employees, we appreciate them for who they are and what they bring to the organization. We acknowledge them not merely for tasks, but for the deeper intrinsic worth they add to the organization, by just being there. By valuing a person it directly impacts their engagements levels. Valuing others isn’t a leadership thing, it’s a people thing that the majority of us cherish the most. If you think back to a moment in your life when you felt special and appreciated, it’s most likely a time when you were being valued in some way.

A lot more than recognizing:

At LG electronics, the difference between recognizing and valuing is more than a difference in semantics; it’s a difference in experience. When we recognize employees, we acknowledge their good work and thus, in the process inform them that we appreciate their efforts. Valuing an employee is a process of letting him or her know that the organization is glad about his / her presence in the team and takes pride for the same. In the process, we inform the employee that things wouldn’t have been the same without him / her. Recognizing an individual can be related to successfully completing a project. It’s a spirit of zeal and accomplished endeavor.

Marlabs focuses on helping employees achieve personal and professional growth. They ensure that the success or achievement of every employee is acknowledged, hence making him / her realizes that their hard work has not gone unnoticed. Such performance in many cases is brought about by the freedom the organization provides them to put their skills into use.

Valuing employees is more than just recognition. The kind of policies you follow for employee benefits reflects how much you value your workforce.

Becoming a valuable asset:

So what is that an employee can do in order to become a valuable asset to the organization and feel valued by them too? We feel that our people can become valuable assets to the company by aligning themselves with and by embracing our core values that are fundamental to our organizational DNA. Further, people can reaffirm their value everyday, by going beyond the expected to amaze our clients, taking risks practicing openness and finding opportunities.

There is a need to hone one’s skills and be well equipped with multi-competencies, especially in today’s market scenario. No doubt an employee is delegated with certain tasks as per his / her designation but the need of the hour is to make the best use of every individual’s capabilities.

Organizations are going out of their way to make sure their employees feel valued at the same time as they are getting recognition. But, even employees need to make efforts towards proving that they are working towards adding more value to their respective organizations and are hence becoming valuable to the organization.

The key to effectiveness in reading is to incorporate flexibility into it. By flexibility it means that you should read different kinds of material at different speeds. Don’t try your speed at reading everything. Similarly don’t waste time reading anything and everything in detail and with utmost care. Don’t read every article as if you were studying it. The flexibility in reading can be developed using the following: Surveying: Survey does not mean that either you have to carefully read the whole piece or you have to speed read it. It means reading some items carefully and completely skipping all the others. When you survey, the three things you read are: the beginning, the end and the structure of the item. The structure includes the headings and sub-headings. Surveying helps you to get an insight of the material before you start reading it. This will give you an idea regarding the reading speed and the time you intend to spend on it.

Analyzing:

Once the Surveying is done, you can then analyze so as to decide if it is worth your time to

(1) read the article in full

(2) read only the selected part or

(3) not to read it at all.

Once you decide on this aspect, you can then decide on the time you have to spend on the article.

Appropriate Speed:

The third step is to read at the appropriate speed. There are three speeds at which one can read any article. The first is speed reading. Here the idea of the reader is to get a general sense of the whole article by reading at a high speed. The second speed used in reading is called general reading. Here the reader goes over the article at a slower pace. He reads line by line for main ad subordinate ideas. You will probably read many memos and letters at this rate. Then we have the final reading speed, known as the careful reading. In this case the reader pays extra attention to what he reads. He may go over a line a few times before proceeding to the other line.

For better Reading:

Many experts will lay emphasis on the fact training your mind is very important to develop the habit of effective reading. This does not undermine the importance of eye training while reading. The experts say that if you learn to use your mind better while reading, the eyes will take care of themselves. So if you really want to become an intelligent and efficient reader, you must adopt a strategy. A systematic way of reading the levels of effective reader are listed below in five steps:

 Survey: Survey means to get an over view, the overall picture before going into details, reading without surveying is like plunging into a jungle without a map.

Here is how to survey:

1) In the case of a book first read the preface, contents, and summarizes at the end of the chapters. Skim through the rest.

 2) In case of a chapter or article,

                 a) read the first and last sentences of the first and last paragraphs and also the first sentence of all the paragraphs in between,

                  b) Read the words in italics

                  c) See the graphs, diagrams, tables.

These are a few hints as to how a person can go about surveying. Time to be spent in surveying is around 5 percent of the total time.

Question:

You should ask questions before you start reading, as well as while you are reading. Reading is thinking plus questioning.

Read:

You have surveyed the article, and you have questions dancing in your head. You are ready to read. So read. Read for meanings and not for words.

Restate:

To restate means to put your book down at intervals and to tell yourself what you have read. It’s a key to solid learning. Stop reading after sometime tell yourself the main points and important details of what you are reading.

Review, the fifth and the last step in your reading strategy, is simply repeating the first four steps.

So, review is, skimming back over the material, surveying the headings again, answering the question in your mind, reading the hazy item again and restating the central message of the material. The time to review is right after you read. Reviewing is like marking your own examination paper. You may rate yourself low on your first attempt but very soon you will see your grades shoot up.

1) Is this the kind of job profile you are looking forward to?

2) Do you think it will be a stepping stone in achieving your vision?

3) Will it be a learning experience?

 4) Will it help you to chart your career graph?

 5) What are your strengths / weaknesses?

6) Are you ready for the kind of responsibilities and the challenges it will bring along?

You might come across many opportunities that may be too tempting to let go. But it’s time to stop and think. If money is what’s in your mind, it’s time to rethink. Changing your job for a small increment is a short term plan. Think about the future and make a long term plan. Consider factors like do you have the required academic background, does the job profile suit your skills, with your current skill sets will you be able to take up the new responsibilities etc., If you think there are areas within your company that you wish to explore give it a shot. Terms and conditions can always be negotiated. Jumping to a new organization is not the only way out. Identifying a career path that is at par with your areas of interests and passion will keep you content. Therefore never follow the herd mentality. Set your targets based on factors that give you maximum satisfaction. As you work towards them, you will inadvertently direct your career path. As they say, change is constant and you should learn to use them in your favor.