Out-of-class speech

For my out-of class speech I chose the topic of "Building relationships in a business environment" for my company's sales team. This speech closely follows the requirement of being philosophically informational. 

The company I work for is a networking company where the slogan is "business is about relationships."  Corporate Alliance is teaching business owners how to take relationship building to the next level. Even while being surrounded with a great culture of how to do business, our sales teams occasionally forget the art of connecting and relationship building, and they use an outdated business technique of "kill or be killed."

In my presentation I gave an overview of the basic principals which my company teaches its members. At Corporate Alliance we have designed an attractive business environment where leaders can meet together to brainstorm and talk about their issues in a safe and intelligent environment. The CEOs and executives are matched up so that they experience similar concerns — to maximize their most important investment — their time. 

In my speech I focused on three key-points: becoming genuine; learning to be vulnerable with business challenges; assisting others with their own business needs.  These points create opportunities to help others grow their interpersonal relationships. After taking these steps, business relationships grow neutrally, especially when they are supported by what is called "relationships just because", which are successful relationships that are built without initial expectations and that provide future building opportunities. This principle is built on the premise that people naturally do business with individuals they like and trust. Many successful salespeople incorporate these principles into their business models.  Likewise, it is important for the sales team at Corporate Alliance to remember these valuable tools.

The feedback from my first presentation helped me to improve this out-of-class speech. After evaluating my audience (which was a mixed group of males and females, middle-age Caucasians) I focused on getting their attention with my first few sentences by asking our sales team if they would like to have the needed tools to accomplish their sales goals every month. 
The visual presentation I used for my speech was simple, focused, and chronologically built. Also, within my slideshow, the quotes which I used from my research were cited.
My physical gestures did not detract from my message, and I was conscious about keeping self-checking to a minimum.

The evaluation of my speech from the audience gave me feedback on how helpful and inspiring my topic was. They also made mention of the fact that I seemed a little nervous. However, I hope to overcome the common public speaking anxiety with more practice. Overall, I am satisfied with my audience feedback and my speech in general.