DentaltownUK October 2017 - 64

students

Fearless Public Speaking: A Final Year
Dental Student's Top Tips
by Kishan Sheth, BDS5 dental student at King's College Dental
School and DentaltownUK honorary student editor
Whilst public speaking may not be
something that every dental student is
currently involved and engaged in, it does
present a great opportunity to connect with
and spread your opinions and experience with
other members of the dental community.
In my experience, many more members
of the dental profession are beginning to
connect with and engage with organised
dentistry events, and the support for getting
involved is immense.
I began my journey through public
speaking as being quite an anxious public
speaker, and four years on, I'd never have
imagined being able to address professional
dental audiences at events around the world.
When we see some of the best public
speakers on the planet talk, we automatically
assume that they are born that way. Whilst it
may be true that some individuals are born
with a gift for being more vocal, the art of
public speaking is not a gift, but an ongoing
and developing characteristic.
I am not an expert in the field, but I have
been privileged to put on talks with some
of the high profile dentists in the UK, and
I have represented the UK on two occasions
at international conferences, as well as
having taken to the stage several times at
national conferences.
I don't believe there is any secret to
public speaking, but having a few tips and
tricks in mind will definitely help, as well
as having experiences; the more you take to
the stage, the more effective you can be at
calming your nerves.
As a final year dental student, I look
back proudly at the personal and professional
transformation I have just had during the
four years I've spent at dental school. The
overarching learning point is that the study

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OCTOBER 2017 // dentaltownuk.com

of dentistry is more than diagnosing oral
diseases and performing treatments.
You are, for the most part, in an
environment packed full of helpful tutors,
supportive colleagues and receptive patients.
Being a student allows you to ask others for
help. Surround yourself with positive mentors
and tutors and ask questions. Familiarise
yourself with the changes taking place in
the profession, and try your best to master
the additional skills that'll help you stand
out from the pack upon graduating.
For me, I analysed what I was weakest at,
and this was public speaking. I then religiously
sought mentors and speaking opportunities,
and took part in numerous speaking events,
before giving oral presentations to professional
dentists at conferences, and even organising
my very own events at King's College London.
The major learning point of mine through
public speaking was that if you're on that
stage, your audience will make the assumption
that you're the top dog and will treat you
as an expert.
Public speaking can be scary, but for
those individual who want to learn to take
to and own, the stage, the benefits are huge!
In my experience, people trust fluent
and connectable/relatable speakers more
than honest ones, even when the powerful
speaker isn't telling the whole truth.
Even if you aren't a natural, and I was
definitely not at first, you can improve
your public speaking skills with practice.
Every time I approached a public speaking
event, I learnt my script word for word and
this enabled me to feel more confident and
less anxious.
Once you push past your anxiety, you'll
realise that public speaking has very many
merits about it. I met several of my largest

Kishan (second from right) with the other
speakers at the King's College London charity
fundraiser for Evelina Children's Hospital, from
left to right: Dr Alun Rees, Dr Anoop Maini, Dr Raj
Ahlowalia, Dr Helena Lewis Greene, Mr Kishan
Sheth and Dr Subir Banerji.

mentors after speaking with them after a
speaking opportunity.
They say that 'practice makes perfect'
and I've learnt that if you invest a bit of
practice into your speaking skills, you'll
find that public speaking can help you meet
new people, mentors and strengthen your
presentations and build up your professional
brand, helping you attract new clients and
customers. This may benefit some students
who have entrepreneurial endeavors at school
but it will be sure to aid us all as dental
professionals upon graduation.
Listed below are several of my top tips
to help you become a fearless dental student
speaker:

Be yourself
In the normal, day-to-day conversations
we have every day, we have absolutely no
problem being ourselves, but when the time
comes to stand up and deliver a speech,
something dramatically changes! We shift
our focus from our content and our selves,
to the public audience.
I believe in order to engage an audience
effectively; we must focus on the speaking and
let go of the "public." There are several tricks
my mentors have shared, such as imagining
the audience are all 'naked', but I find that
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Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of DentaltownUK October 2017
