5 Things I Learned at Spokesperson Training

MAR's blog will feature guest bloggers who participate in MAR activities, meetings and conferences. Bangor Board President Mary Kuykendall was among local presidents who participated in MAR Spokesperson Training on Friday:

The five most important things I learned at Spokesperson Training:

1. Think in three’s. That sort of goes against the “Five things I learned at Spokesperson Training” premise. People tend to go with and remember things if you give it to them in three’s. Three Musketeers; Three Little Pigs; Three Blind Mice; Father, Son and Holy Ghost; Kukla, Fran and Ollie; Executive, Judicial, Legislative. You get the idea.

2. Don’t speak on a subject you aren’t familiar and comfortable with. Defer and refer. You don’t have to be the expert on everything.

3. Use your voice and body language to get points across. Remember that people have come to hear you. They want you to succeed in getting your message out. Otherwise, you have wasted their time as well as your own.

4. The two primary reasons you will be speaking as representatives of your organizations are to inform and to persuade.

5. Nervousness is not necessarily a bad thing. Just get those butterflies flying in formation, and you’ll be fine.