As a nonprofit professional or leader, your days are full of conversations. You’re constantly engaging with others, whether it’s meeting with your staff about connecting with younger donors or communicating with major donors to win their support for an upcoming campaign. 

Since you spend all day talking, it can be highly beneficial to set aside time specifically to build effective presentation skills. Public speaking and presentation skills can help you craft better written and verbal communications, whether you’re engaging with your team internally or connecting with an external audience. 

In this guide, we’ll cover the internal and external benefits your nonprofit will receive when you and other leaders at your organization work on developing better public speaking skills. Let’s get started!

Internal benefits

Improving internal communication. 

Internally, you likely engage with the following team members regularly: 

• Employees
• Volunteers
• Board members

One of the most important aspects of hosting an effective team meeting or delivering a presentation to these team members is knowing your audience. When you can identify who you’re speaking to, what their perspective is, and the knowledge level they bring to the table, you can design your presentations to be more appealing and relevant.

Take the time to craft better public speaking skills, so you can connect with each of these internal audiences on a deeper level. For example, you can deliver more relevant volunteer training sessions or distinguish between engaging with newer vs. older employees. You will also leave a good impression on your team members, when you’re able to connect with them effectively, helping to boost morale and empower team members to do their best. 

Tackling meetings more effectively.

Well-run organizations are powered by efficient meetings. Many offices debate over whether certain meetings could be emails, but nearly everyone agrees that there are times when you absolutely must meet with your nonprofit’s team. Meetings allow you to discuss important issues, work through challenges, and ensure everyone’s on the same page. 

By improving your public speaking skills, you can run more efficient meetings that deliver information concisely and clearly. For example: 

• You can host more efficient one-on-one meetings, such as weekly check-ins with the people you manage. Keep these meetings organized using pre-planning time and make sure there is no miscommunication or confusion. 
• You can plan well-run team meetings to deliver all the information team members require to take on a new project or plan effectively. Pair verbal and visual presentation elements to answer team members’ questions and to clear up complex topics. 

Your team members will appreciate your efforts to create more impactful, organized meetings that make the best use of everyone’s time. 

Delivering better internal presentations. 

Part of your meetings might include occasional presentations to your entire team or organization. You might use these presentations to announce new initiatives, projects, or programs. 

Creating effective presentations is a skill you can develop by working with a presentation coach or public speaking trainer. According to Be Brilliant’s guide to writing a presentation, following these three steps with the help of a coach will allow you to develop a more engaging, polished presentation: 

• Strategically brainstorm for your presentation. Define your audience, develop your main point and hook, and plan a memorable conclusion. 
• Storyboard your presentation. Many experts recommend grabbing a pen and paper to sketch out your presentation’s format and structure. This can help you think intentionally about how to lay out your presentation without getting distracted by the design elements. 
• Design appealing visual elements. After choosing your presentation’s structure, you can design your visual elements and brand your presentation with your nonprofit’s logo, colors, and fonts. 

Effective internal presentations can help rally your team around a new program or initiative, deliver pertinent information, or work through any crises your nonprofit may face. 

External benefits

Improving external communication. 

To earn funding and support for your nonprofit, you have to speak with various external audiences daily. Expand your public speaking abilities to help you engage more effectively with the following groups: 

• Individual donors. Individual donors include major donors, monthly donors and other recurring donors, in-kind donors, and other types of individual supporters. Building strong relationships with individual contributors is crucial for improving your donor retention rate and earning reliable, long-term support. 
• Corporate partners. Modern nonprofit professionals should be comfortable speaking with corporations since many businesses now offer corporate giving initiatives. According to Double the Donation’s corporate giving guide, corporate giving programs can include everything from matching gift and volunteer grant programs to community grants, annual giving, and more. Build relationships with businesses to ensure that your organization will be at the top of their list when deciding which nonprofits to partner with or sponsor. 
• Grant funders. Nonprofit grants can come from many different sources, including corporations, foundations, government agencies, or individuals. When applying for grants, it’s important to consider your grant funders’ perspectives and goals. Then, once you’ve secured funding, you should keep in touch with your grant funder to show that you’re using the funds appropriately.

Research these groups and craft presentations that resonate with them. For example, your corporate partners would like to hear about the benefits they may receive from supporting your cause, while your grant funders will be interested in how your nonprofit’s goals align with theirs.

Boosting your fundraising success. 

Inspiring prospective supporters to take the leap and donate to your organization is no small feat. Public speaking skills can create more persuasive fundraising appeals, whether you’re presenting in person or in a written format. 

For example, public speaking prowess can help improve your: 

• Written communications, including fundraising emails, social media posts, website updates, and annual/recurring reports.
• Verbal communications, including donor meetings, fundraising events, and educational experiences (conferences, webinars, workshops, etc.) 

To secure donations, your fundraising appeals must be passionate, persuasive, and personalized to the audience you’re addressing. By thinking through your requests and expressing yourself clearly in both written and verbal formats, you can recruit more new supporters for your cause. 

Earning greater notoriety for your organization. 

Picture this: you’ve been working with a conference presentation coach to develop a visually-appealing, informative presentation for an upcoming nonprofit conference. On the day of the conference, you deliver an eloquent and engaging presentation, and you receive high praise from session attendees. Word spreads about your inspiring presentation, and soon, you find yourself fielding requests to speak at other events. 

By investing in public speaking training for yourself and your team, you can distinguish your nonprofit’s leaders as industry influencers. This allows you to raise awareness about your nonprofit’s mission to new audiences far beyond your initial reach. By speaking authoritatively about your nonprofit and its initiatives, you can build your organization’s reputation as a well-run, effective nonprofit. 

About the Author

Pattie Schutte

Patti Schutte is the CEO, Founder, and Principal Coach of Be Brilliant Presentation Group. Be Brilliant Presentation Group’s coaching system results in speakers moving from fear and avoidance to confidence and purpose. 

If fear of presenting runs through the veins of the majority, then Patti is the minority. She’ll be the one to grab the mic and quickly have the room engaged, laughing, and learning. Not skills you’d expect from someone who has a degree in mathematics. Her unique combination of being analytically minded, extroverted, charismatic, and skilled in presenting and training has guided her career journey. Her diverse presentation experiences include classroom and corporate training, growing and motivating an independent sales force, developing a team of national presenters, speaking at conferences, and transforming the presentation skill of professionals. She believes everyone deserves the advantage of brilliant presentation and speaking skills. 

If you are tired of giving subpar presentations, frustrated by the opportunity loss you’ve experienced, want to streamline your presentation process, and are motivated to learn and improve, Be Brilliant Presentation Group is ready to work with you! Patti’s four-step process efficiently gets you from the brainstorming phase to completed, well-practiced slides that you’re proud of and a feeling of preparedness for your presentation. Patti has had many people say they accomplish more in 30 minutes with her than they did in two full days without her.