In general, inexperienced presenters tend to speak too fast. Pausing is a powerful tool that used in the right places will make look totally confident and in control. Here are three places where you should pause when you present…
One of the biggest mistakes people make is that they forget about rehearsing their presentation. Rehearsing your presentation out loud a minimum of 3 times will give you confidence and ensure you achieve a logical flow between your points.
In many cases, people refer to the PowerPoint slides as the presentation. In my opinion this is a big mistake. When you are presenting, YOU are the protaganist, your slides should be there only to support your verbal messages.
When presenting, we’re often very nervous seeing the audience in front of us, thinking they’re judging us negatively. But the fact is, the audience are really on your side, they want you to do well.
In thisTEDX talk, Mark Robinson shows us an excellent technique which combines asking questions and telling stories to deliver an engaging presentation.
Many people go into ‘presentation mode’ when they stand up to speak. They become very serious and ‘professional’ and by doing so, forget to smile as they present. Unless you are giving bad news, remember to smile. Look as though you are enjoying speaking about your topic. This will engage the audience much more than assuming a stiff and serious air.
Many people worry about their body language when presenting. Clients ask me “what should I…
Is it possible to achieve ‘perfection’ in public speaking? I would say that we need to change the word ‘perfection’ to ‘success’.
To achieve success it is vital that you connect with your audience. And to do this, you need to focus your energy OUT towards your audience and be intent on connecting with them. That is the secret of a great presentation – connection.
Effective rehearsal and knowing that you have spent time really ‘feeling’ your presentation will do wonders for your self-confidence which feeds in directly to you giving a good performance.
Stories make facts in a presentation come alive; stories give facts an emotional context and when an audience is touched emotionally they will remember your message.
