Ok, so you've got it all in your head, and you tell yourself that the minute you get a willing audience, everyone's going to know all about it too.

Still, when you face an important crowd at a meeting, an interview board, or an auditorium of people, you feel like a bunch of bananas about to be eaten. So what's the solution? You either duck or run before they start throwing bad eggs, or you open your mouth enough to say you'll be back later.

Meanwhile, how about picking up some communication skills? You're going to need all of them when you set out on a new job.

How to open your mouth when you need to (and close it too)...

• Visualise: Close your eyes and think of the time you have to face people. What comes to your mind? You. Do you think of a smart, confident wizard with all the answers, or do you find a poor fish with his mouth open? Most probably, the second. Well, don't. Just think of yourself as the smart type, and you will begin to get there.
• Talk a lot: Do a lot of it; keep telling yourself how important it is to learn how to speak articulately, effortlessly and continuously. Talk to a friend, a parent, a child, to yourself, to the walls, if need be, but talk. Describe a scene, a mob, a touching scene.
• Prepare: Yes, it's important to jot down what you want to say, how you want to say it and what your opening line will be. This is not to get you to fake things, but to prevent anyone from catching you off guard at least for a while.
• Be sure of what you say: If you don't know what you are talking about, not all the tips in the world can help you save your face when you trip with a crowd of friends. So if you don't know something, admit it at once.
• Learn to listen: You've got a lot of things to say, but let the other fellow in first. The best way to talk is to listen.
Be natural: Everyone likes Cary Grant, and everyone likes the way he talks. But no one wants you to talk like that. They'd rather see you doing a better job being yourself.
• Feel right: Remember the last time your friend dropped a stone on your toe? Did you need anyone to tell you how to communicate? No sir, you just did it, and you yourself could have given a few tips on how to talk. What's important is - talk with feeling.
• Learn to trust: People are nice on the whole, and wouldn't want to make a fool of you unless you help them with proof. You know that story about the dog and the mirror - if you like people, they like you back.
• Do not show off: Talk to other people about what they're good at - themselves. Nobody likes to waste an afternoon hearing about you - they'd rather waste it on themselves.
• Quit bossing: Why should you tell people what they should do? They want to find out themselves, even if it means that they trip up first.

That about sums it all up. Communication, I guess, is really about being a nice human being and deciding that others are nice too. Just try it out.