Women in Business Fall 2017

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26 | WOMEN IN BUSINESS—FALL 2017 PUBLISHED BY BUSINESS IN VANCOUVER Speaking up foot in front of the other until the fear disappears,” says Carter, who is also the founder of GetThrival! Training & Consulting. Good public speaking requires that kind of conquering, can-do-better attitude – and a shift in mindset. You need to get comfortable with sharing thoughts, feelings, stories and opinions. It starts with delivering the contents out loud to yourself, then sharing it with others. “We all have three speeches,” White says, quoting the famed leadership trainer Dale Carnegie, “the one we practise, the one we give, the one we wish we’d given. That’s just to say that it’s not going to be perfect every time. Don’t be so hard on yourself. Look for an opportunity to have fun when you’re presenting. Enjoy it. Get passionate about it. Be enthusiastic about sharing your message.” Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of Vancity credit union, has honed her public speaking skills through experience, and by listening to others | GREATER VANCOUVER BOARD OF TRADE 5 TIPS FOR SPEAKING IN PUBLIC up to speak for two to three minutes before diving into her seat and encouraging participants to speak up and interact with each other instead. Then she joined Toastmasters. She lasted 38 seconds up at the front of the room during her first meeting in 2010. The shaking stopped after her third speech. By her eighth, she felt confident enough to ditch her notes. And within eight and a half months of starting, she came third in B.C. in Toastmasters’ Humorous Speech Contest. “I watch a lot of speeches and I’m always looking for good role models, and people that are doing comedy really well because I’m terrible at it,” says Carter, who this year is serving as director of District 21 Toastmasters, which encompasses clubs in the Lower Mainland, on Vancouver Island, and from south of the Fraser up to the Interior. “Forcing yourself to speak as much as you can is the hard way of doing things. The easy way is to get into a group that causes you to practise every week. That gives you feedback, and mentoring, and helps you put one Improve your writing: “The writing is as important, if not more important, as the speaking,” says Narges Nirumvala, CEO of ExecutiveSpeak Coaching International. “If you practise your writing ability, then when you practise your speaking and you work on it, it dramatically improves.” Overprepare: “It’s like anything in life: the more you do something, the less nervous and the more comfortable you’re going to be doing it. So seek out opportunities to get up in front of a group. Take those chances,” says Kristy White, director of operations at Dale Carnegie Training of British Columbia. Ditch the notes: “I find that people also are amazed when you speak without notes so they give you a break,” says Tamara Vrooman, president and CEO of Vancity credit union. Not having notes makes a speech more genuine and authentic, she says. It’s also never the same twice. Watch your tone: “I can’t speak enough about the tone of your voice. You have to speak with confidence, you have to speak with authenticity. You can’t pretend to be someone you’re not,” says Anna Tudela, vice-president of diversity and regulatory affairs at Goldcorp. Silence the inner critic: Women need to be less critical of themselves, Nirumvala says. “I think as women we expect perfection,” she says. Don’t punish yourself for mistakes; celebrate progress instead. IF YOU DON’T FIND IT INTERESTING, OTHERS WON’T EITHERVancity president and CEO Tamara Vrooman started public speaking in university by giving speeches to students, peers and professors. “My breakthrough came when I realized that if it wasn’t interesting to me, it probably wasn’t interesting to the audience,” says Vrooman. Her secret? Don’t use notes or try to memorize speeches. “That really changed the experience for me because I realized that if I was engaged, then probably I would be engaging,” she says. “And all of the other stuff that I worried about would go away.” Admitting she still gets nervous, Vrooman uses the adrenaline to bring energy to her presentations. She sinks into the moment, taking cues from her audience by watching body language, and adjusting where needed. She also looks inward, reflecting on the message she wants to convey, and how she wants to convey it. She adapts, using tips and tricks from other speakers whose style resonates with hers. “The message can be conveyed in a host of other ways,” Vrooman says of public speaking. “Why do we choose public speaking? Well, we must use public speaking because the person conveying it adds value to the message. So think about the message less and yourself more.” At the end of the day though, it’s about good content and not letting a poor performance set you back. “I would rather listen to an interesting speech poorly delivered than an uninteresting speech perfectly delivered,” Vrooman says. RESOURCES A number of local institutions provide public speaking courses, including Simon Fraser University and the British Columbia Institute of Technology. University of British Columbia Extended Learning offers public speaking for international professionals. Private institutions, such as the Harvard Advantage Consulting & Training and Dale Carnegie Training of British Columbia, also offer sessions aimed at working professionals. District 21 Toastmasters, which includes the Greater Vancouver area, has dozens of clubs available for beginner, advanced and specialty speakers.
| 27 HOW TO TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CAREER MARNI JOHNSON | You alone are responsible for your career Seek opportunities to take on challenging projects that require you to step outside your comfort zone In my 30-plus years of corporate experience, particularly as head of human resources, I’ve seen many women inadvertently put obstacles in their own path by not actively managing their careers. Taking the driver’s seat at every stage in your career is critical to success. Be intentional. Define your goals, articulate them and follow up. You alone are responsible for your career. Your manager and HR play a role in supporting you, but it’s up to you to be leading the way. Make your career intentions known to your manager and mentors. Women are often brought up to not promote their own interests. As a result, many forgo advancement opportunities because they wait for someone to recognize and reward their good work, rather than be proactive. Here are some tips to help you better manage your career: KNOW YOUR VALUE AND NEGO- TIATE Research shows that 57 per cent of men negotiate job offers, but only seven per cent of women do. In one study, those who negotiated were able to increase their salary by over seven per cent. Over a career, that difference can amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. Women also need to negotiate opportunities to gain new skills and experience in order to move their careers forward. Fortunately, negotiation is a skill that can be learned and honed with practice. EMPHASIZE RESULTSThe theme of “what’s in it for them” is central to driving your career forward. Establish a strong track record of delivering results for your organization. If you led a successful product launch, how did that affect the bottom line? Frame your accomplishments in terms of your contributions to your organization’s success. LEARN TRANSFERABLE SKILLS Futurist Alvin Toffler wrote: “The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn and relearn.” Given the pace of change, even if you are well established and an expert in your field you will not stay that way without continuous improvement. Enhance your marketability by developing skills that are transferable across roles or industries such as leadership or digital literacy. Get creative. Serving on boards of directors is an excellent way to gain transferable skills. BE HUNGRY FOR EXPERIEN- CESSeek opportunities to take on challenging projects that require you to step outside your comfort zone; this is an essential ingredient for growth. When you operate within your comfort zone, you are likely acting based on habit and aren’t learning anything new. Looking back on my career, my proudest accomplishments are the ones where I felt I was in a little over my head, but persevered regardless. I became stronger, and so did my resumé. Be open to lateral moves as part of your development. You will gain new skills and experiences, and demonstrate that you are adaptable – a desirable trait from an organization’s perspective. I have made lateral moves within organizations and even between industries; they all helped move my career forward, even though they weren’t upward moves. When a career opportunity arises, consider applying for it even if you don’t meet all the qualifications. Research shows that men will apply for a position when they believe they have 60 per cent of the qualifications, but women won’t apply unless they believe they have 100 per cent. Give it a shot. BUILD A DIVERSE NETWORK OF STRONG RELATIONSHIPSWho are the top 10 individuals who can help you to grow your career? They may be people in your existing network whom you rely on for honest feedback, or who challenge you to take risks. They may be mentors who’ve travelled that road and can help guide you and open doors. Make a point to build and nurture relationships with your top 10. In these days of extreme interconnectedness, you never know when and where your paths might cross and what opportunities may arise as a result. KEEP YOUR EYES AND YOUR MIND OPEN FOR OPPORTUN- ITIESFinally, although it’s important to have a career plan, it’s equally important not to be so wedded to it that you are blind to opportunities along the way. My career switch from marketing into HR was unplanned, but the best career move I ever made. Don’t be so focused on your career destination that you miss the journey getting there. Marni Johnson is senior vice-president, human resources and communication, at BlueShore Financial.
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