There are many good reasons for you to develop your public speaking skills. A law enforcement career provides many opportunities to talk with the media and the public. You'll build confidence - and be well prepared for career advancement.

1. Effective Public Speaking
for Officers
by Jean Reynolds, Ph.D.

2. Why should officers
develop public
speaking skills?

3. Public speaking is an important leadership
skill.

4. Police administrators are often called on to
speak at government and community meetings.
They’re frequently
interviewed by TV
and radio reporters.

5. Schools, colleges, and service clubs
sometimes invite police officers to talk about
crime prevention and careers in criminal
justice.

6. There’s another good
reason for working on
your speaking skills.
You’ll build confidence
and poise – valuable
traits in law
enforcement.

7. You can improve
your speaking skills
in a number of
ways.

8. Seek opportunities for practice.
If you’re a member
of a club or a church,
volunteer for
speaking roles when
they come along.

9. Take an active role at meetings and
classes.

10. Consider joining Toastmasters, an international
organization that has helped countless people
develop their speaking skills.

11. Here are some tips for
effective public
speaking.

12. Stand still.
Shifting from
foot to foot is
distracting.

13. Don’t fidget or
jingle keys or
change in your
pocket.

14. Use your
smartphone or
tablet to make
videos of yourself
talking.
Study the videos
and look for ways
to improve.

15. Speak slowly, clearly, and loudly enough to be
heard.

16. Sharpen your
skills.
Most people
have a few
speaking habits
that need
improvement.

17. Are there any
words you
mispronounce?
Do you make
usage
mistakes?

18. Ask your friends and
family members for
feedback so that you’ll
be error-free the next
time you speak before a
group.

19. Carefully plan your
talk ahead of time so
that you can present a
crisp, well-organized
speech.

20. Tell stories. They
increase your
audience appeal
and have lasting
impact.

21. Never say “finally” or “last but not
least.”

22. When you say “Finally…,” your audience
will decide you’re almost done and stop
listening.

23. Say “most
important” or
most seriously”
when you get
to your final
point.

24. Learn how to handle questions from the
audience. Here are some tips:

25. When you ask for
questions, don’t assume
that a quiet room means
nobody has questions.
Always pause for five
seconds. (It’s longer than
you think!)
Shy people in the audience
need that time to get
ready to speak.

26. Always repeat the
question before you
answer it.
- Your questioners will
feel you’re taking
them seriously.
- The rest of the
audience will know
what’s going on.

27. If you’re using
technology,
check the
equipment
ahead of time.
And make sure a
tech-savvy
person is
available in case
help is needed.

28. Public speaking skills make
you more valuable to your
agency and your
community, and they’re
important for career
growth.

29. Seize every opportunity to
sharpen those skills.
The time and energy you
invest now will pay off
again and again.

30. Be sure to visit
www.YourPoliceWrite.com for
professional writing tips.

31. All the resources there are FREE:
www.YourPoliceWrite.com.

32. And if you’re
looking for a
low-cost,
practical book…

33. Criminal Justice
Report Writing is
available from
www.Amazon.com.
View a free sample
online.

34. A discount price is
available for class sets
(minimum five books).
Send your request to
jreynoldswrite @
aol.com.

35. An e-book edition is
available from
www.Smashwords.com.

36. A free Instructor’s
Manual is available on
request: Send an e-
mail to jreynoldswrite
at aol.com.