Business meetings: afraid of speaking in public?

Plenty of people have a good idea and freeze when it is time to tell it. The symptom is always the same: the explanation seems clear in your head and comes out tangled in your mouth. That is almost never a lack of ability. It is a lack of a written text and of repetition.

This article is about solving both, using the matchmaking format itself as practice.

Why a matchmaking event is the best place to start

Speaking to a hundred people at once is a single, frightening event. Speaking to a small group, several times in a row, is something completely different.

At a matchmaking event, you repeat the same pitch at every table change, always to a few people and always to new faces. You notice at the second table what did not work at the first, adjust at the third, and reach the last one with a sharp pitch.

It is distributed practice with a real audience, and every attempt costs a few minutes. There is no better format for anyone who finds it hard to put themselves forward.

Tip 1: have a text, not an intention

The most common cause of freezing is improvising. Write the pitch in four parts, for 90 seconds:

1. The problem you solve, starting with the pain.
2. What you do, in plain language, with no sector acronyms.
3. For whom, with specificity.
4. The ask: what you are looking for in that room.

A written text does not mean a text memorised word for word. It means knowing the sequence. Whoever knows the sequence does not freeze, because they always know what the next step is.

Tip 2: rehearse alone, out loud and against a clock

Rehearsing mentally does not work, because the mouth does things the head does not predict.

• Record it on your phone and listen. It is uncomfortable and it is the most useful exercise.
• Time it. Almost everyone overruns on the first rehearsal.
• Repeat five times in a row. The fifth already comes out different from the first.

Tip 3: start with a small group of people you know

Before the event, present to five or seven people you trust and ask for two answers: what they understood you do, and what was confusing.

The first question is revealing. If what they understood is not what you do, the text is wrong, not your courage.

Tip 4: bearing before content

Two changes that cost nothing and change the perception:

• Hands visible, above the line of the table. Hidden hands generate distrust without anyone being able to explain why.
• A divided gaze. At a round table you are speaking to several people at once. Always looking at the same one makes the others disconnect.

And a third, about breathing: say the first sentence more slowly than you would like. The pace of the start sets the pace of the rest.

Tip 5: choose the right format

If presenting in public is hard for you, prefer events where the presentation happens in small groups, at a table, and not on a stage.

At a business matchmaking event, nobody goes up on anything. You sit down, speak for a few minutes to the people at your table, and change. It is the difference between a single exam and several rehearsals with an audience.

When registering, ask the organization: are the presentations at the table or on a microphone? How many minutes per person? How many people per table? The answers tell you whether that event suits you right now. See why take part in a business matchmaking event.

Tip 6: use the break in your favor

For anyone who finds it hard to speak in a group, the break is usually more comfortable than the table, because the conversation is one to one.

Make use of it: choose two or three people whose pitches made sense and seek each one out. Start with a question about what they said. A question is always easier than a presentation, and it gets the conversation going without you having to put yourself forward.

What to do if you freeze in the middle

It happens, and there are two ways out that work.

Go back to the problem. It is the part you know by heart, because it is your daily work. "Anyway, what I solve is this" recovers the thread.

Ask the table a question. "Has anyone here been through this?" hands the control of the conversation back and also reveals who has the problem you solve.

Nobody at the table is judging you as much as you imagine. They are all thinking about their own presentation.

Mistakes that increase the nerves

• Arriving at the last minute. You miss the explanation of the format and enter the first round not knowing what is going to happen.
• Improvising. Without a text, the nerves have room to work.
• Trying to say everything. Too large a scope in a few minutes guarantees confusion.
• Reading from paper or a slide. At a business table, reading is the quickest way to lose attention.
• Comparing yourself with the most confident person at the table. The aim is not to be the best speaker. It is to be understood.

Afterwards: the part that requires no courage at all

The follow-up after the event is written, and writing is comfortable for anyone who finds speaking hard. Use that in your favor: a short, personalized message to each person the conversation made sense with, within 48 hours, citing something specific.

Plenty of people who come across quietly at the table convert very well in the follow-up, precisely because they write better than they speak. See tips for strengthening relationships after the event and how to present your idea well.

Speaking well in public is not an inherited talent. It is a 90-second text, rehearsed five times, repeated table after table in one afternoon.