Dear Readers: You may be fearful about public speaking if you have an upcoming job interview or presentation or task involving speaking in front of a group, such as a sales pitch. Common questions include: “How can I get over my fear?” and “How can I improve my speaking?”

Soft skills such as effective speaking can make it or break it on the job. If you have sharp technical skills — yes, they’re important — they may not land the job if you don’t possess soft skills, too. If I still worked in recruiting and had two candidates with equal proficiency in tech skills and one excelled in communicating and the other didn’t, I would hire the candidate with the stronger soft skills.

They’re vital. Here are some ways to own your speaking skills and improve even in the heat of the moment.

Kateryna Protsenko, head of business operations at language learning platform Promova and an international Cambridge CELTA/DELTA trainer, said there are several powerful strategies. “One of them is establishing and maintaining eye contact, along with smiling and adopting an open posture. These actions typically signal confidence and openness.”

As you focus on intonation, tone, pronunciation and more, she said, “It’s the awareness that truly makes a difference. Anyone can benefit from watching TV anchors, listening to podcasts, reading the news, etc. However, it’s the conscious attention that matters because focusing on what we hear or see helps retain key aspects of the language. When followed by deliberate practice, this becomes even more effective.”

When Protsenko prepares to deliver presentations and conduct workshops, she writes them and then records herself to assess pauses to see if they’re clear. “Recording my own speech also helps me notice if I overuse fillers like ‘um’ or if I use words that sound unnatural in the given context.”

Speaking of “um,” Michael Chad Hoeppner, author of “Don’t Say Um: How to Communicate Effectively to Live a Better Life,” said, “The mission is to get more precise and more skilled at choosing all the other useful, important words instead of ‘ums.’ And the best way to practice that is to do so physically.”

As for practicing, in 2021, pharmacist Jocelyn Tyson joined Toastmasters International, a nonprofit educational organization that builds confidence and teaches public speaking skills through a worldwide network of clubs that meet online and in person, to enhance her public speaking skills and expand her network.

During weekly Toastmasters meetings Tyson attended, she encountered an “ah” counter, someone who counts the number of times you repeatedly say filler words (ah, um, like, etc.). Almost instantly, she became aware of the fillers she defaulted to while speaking with patients and doctors and started decreasing the fillers’ usage.

To avoid sounding canned, Tyson advised, “The best way to flow naturally when presenting is to know your material 100 percent. Not word for word, but know the outline or general story you are telling. Know what comes next and how you want the information to flow. It’s important to have a few key features memorized, but overall be able to deliver it from the heart.” Tribune News Service