1. Dealing with nerves

Nerves are good.  Without nerves, you have no chance of performing to your potential.  Yet uncontrolled nerves can make the difference between polished fluency and scratchy inadequacy.  The key lies in control.  Nerves need to be replaced by confidence – confidence you may not feel.  Therefore, control and confidence need to be manufactured.  Take their mutual first syllable as a guide:  con yourself, to con your audience!

That can mean visualising your goal.  Just as great athletes imagine victory before pursuing it, so you can motivate yourself by trading in your fearful self for the image of a confident and competent performer, revelling in plaudits at the close of a presentation. 

As the best actors and orators have found, it is impossible to kill off your butterflies, but you can make them fly in formation.  Think of yourself as a good speaker and you will improve. Most of our clients, after watching themselves on video, are pleasantly surprised to find that they look much better than they feel when presenting.  Nerves often don’t show.

2. Put yourself in the audience’s shoes

No audience ever enthused about an irrelevant subject. Therefore,  resist the temptation to convey all you know about a topic. They want to hear “what does this mean for me?”.  This means approaching the subject from their point of view. 

Refer to the audience’s concerns and give examples pertinent to their lives.  Don’t run through a series of features – explain the benefits that they can derive from a course of action.  Talk in the audience’s language, avoiding the barriers created by jargon.

3. Keep it simple

Most presentations go wrong well before they are made.  I often find participants on our courses produce content without any consideration for the real needs of the audience.  Terrified of looking lightweight, they pack in all the information they can master.  They produce a stream of facts, assuming that the audience will be able to follow every detail. 

The purpose of a presentation is to put across key messages, convince your audience of your competence and generate enthusiasm to take the next step (such as to do what you recommend, buy your service or product, or change behaviour).

So, instead of an unfilleted slab of data, strip down your presentation to digestible morsels.  Garnish it with examples, anecdotes, repetition and references to the audience’s own experiences so that facts have sufficient time and evidence to be remembered.

4. Signposts

You know where you are in your talk.  But unless you clarify your position and progress to your audience, you will lose them.  All too often, speakers fail to explain the purpose and direction of their talks.  They witter on, leaving the audience unaware of where they are in the unfolding tale.  Yet listen to competent speakers and you always know where you are.

They explain what they are going to cover – and how.  Then they cover it, reminding you regularly of where they are in the narrative.  And finally, they reiterate what has been said, so that key messages reverberate as you leave.

5. Words that win support

Your  choice of words can be crucial in achieving the objective of every talk:  persuasion. 

One of the most powerful words at your disposal is “you”.  It is astonishing the difference that arises between a passive statement of fact and its active personalisation.  Peppering your presentation with “you” and “we” is inclusive and empathetic.

Otherwise, choose words that are recognised by your audience.  It is the obvious way to show that you speak their language – a fundamental way of gaining their endorsement.

6. Visual impact

It is an understandable elusion that presentations are about content.  The truth is startlingly different.  Relatively speaking, what you say is of low importance.  How you say it is crucial.  When our trainers analyse how speakers are judged, they find that audiences do so on the basis of the visual impact generated by a speaker.   For some reason, stilted formality is the base standard for presentations.  In one regard, this is excellent news.  By mastering the fundamentals of visual impact – good eye contact, natural hand gestures, relaxed stance and a friendly face, you will be outstanding. Avoid noisy jewellery, dangling earrings and uncomfortable shoes – the pain will show on your face.

7. Visual aids that add value

Visual aids should do just that:  help the audience visually.  They are there to reinforce your message, provide cues for your presentation and in some instances make points with greater impact than words could achieve.  What they must not do is take over.

Technology can be a mixed blessing.  Clever presentations rarely need clever visuals, though almost all can be enhanced by them.  So make sure that your visuals are concise, allied to your material and never distract attention form the core of your presentation – you.

8. Vocal impression

Making the best use of your voice is almost as important as visual impact.  Listen to a good speaker.  You will hear modulation, often as  a sentence starts in one register to end on another.  Words will be stressed.  Enthusiasm will be conveyed as the real meaning of words is underlined rather than skated over monotonously.

Identify the very best speakers by their control of the pause button.  It’s a technique for bringing the audience’s attention level back to peak.

9. Answering questions

There are no impossible questions.  Because you know your subject, you will be able to respond to all sensible queries.  If you get thrown a nasty delivery, you can always deflect it.  Ask a question back to play for time as you think of a response. If you don’t know the answer, admit it candidly and calmly.  Never guess, never waffle.

10. Practise – then practise more

“It usually takes me more than three weeks to prepare a good impromptu speech.”  If that was true for MarkTwain, we should take note.  The more time you spend on preparation, practice and training, the more likely you are to be on the road to being a confident and successful presenter.

Cristina Stuart is Managing Director of Speak First Training, www.speakfirst.co.uk

Do you have comments or suggestions or other ideas in this field? Give us your feedback.