This was a terrible idea.
Archie swallowed hard, took one step towards the stage, and froze.
300 sets of eyes peered at the stage. Awoken by the movement in the shadows behind the bright lights.
Archie Benedict looked down one last time at his notes.
How had his business partner, Jeff, considered, even for a split-second, that this was a good idea?
Archie had a strong aversion to speaking in public. So strong, he’d done everything in his power to make sure Jeff was fit and able to deliver this critical product development keynote.
Archie had made sure Jeff’s secretary had booked him on an early flight back from New York, just in case there were delays. He’d called Jeff this morning to confirm he’d woken up in time to catch his flight.
Archie hadn’t counted on maintenance staff striking and blockading the airports.
No more Jeff.
He’d barely looked at the presentation content. Wasting time making sure Jeff could get back to do it.
Archie thought about escaping. Scurrying away to the sanctuary of his quiet office.
He looked behind him, preparing to run. There was Jeff’s secretary motioning for him to hurry and up and get out on stage.
Archie gulped. What a nightmare!
He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and timidly walked on to the stage.
*
Have you ever felt like Archie?
Speaking in public is terrifying. Three quarters of us fear public speaking more than death.
It’s possible to overcome your fear and do standout presentations. It’s even possible for Archie to deliver a great presentation, despite having not prepared.
Here are the 10 ingredients of knockout presentations:
1. Treat your presentation like a conversation
Imagine you go out for a beer with friends.
Imagine one of your friends is speaking. He’s talking word perfect. As if he’s reading from a script.
As he talks you notice the pauses are unnatural or nonexistent. What he’s saying sounds too rehearsed. The tone and associated body language just doesn’t gel.
This is what most presenters sound like.
If your friend talked to you this way, it wouldn’t be too long before you excused yourself from the conversation. The same happens every day in business presentations… We excuse ourselves by switching off.
Good presentations are natural and conversational in nature (watch any TED talk as proof) so don’t focus on perfection. Focus on knowing what you want to talk about and what you would like the audience to take away from your talk.
Be conversational and you’ll be listened to.
INSTANT ACCESS! FREE PRESENTATION SKILLS BLUEPRINT
2. Be yourself
You know when you are talking to someone and something feels a bit off?
A little bit disingenuous? A little bit fake?
Maybe it’s a business meeting and you feel like one of the attendees is acting.
It’s pretty easy to spot, right!
It’s pretty easy to spot when someone is being fake when you’re face-to-face.
It’s also pretty easy to spot when they’re being fake on stage.
The lesson here is: Don’t try and be someone you’re not. Don’t act. Just be yourself.
The audience will respond negatively to acting. The audience will respond positively when you just be yourself.
3. If you make a mistake, move on
This is such a simple rule but such a difficult one for most people to follow.
Everyone wants to be perfect.
We are raised to avoid mistakes at all costs.
So, when a mistake happens in your presentation, it can be tempting to over-apologize, restart sentences, and beg forgiveness.
You mispronounce a word; You forget to say something; You get things mixed up. You are programmed to want to make things right.
But, here’s the thing. Most people won’t notice. And even if they do, they probably won’t care.
If you make a mistake, just move on.
If you forget something, the audience doesn’t know unless you tell them. If you mispronounce a word, the audience doesn’t care. If you get things mixed up, just sort it out and continue.
4. Decide where you are going
Your boss gives you a week off.
You rush home, pack your bags, drive a couple of hours to the airport, and then think: Where should I go?
That’s not the way it’s meant to happen, right?
You decide where you want to go and then everything else flows from there. Buying the tickets. Knowing what to pack. Arriving at the airport with enough time to check-in.
The same should happen in your presentation. Decide why you’re delivering your presentation before you do anything else.
What do you want the audience to do? What do you want the audience to take away from your talk? If you don’t know the answers, then hang around the drawing board until you do.
INSTANT ACCESS! FREE PRESENTATION SKILLS BLUEPRINT
5. Visual communication is everything
It’s not the content.
Well it is… But it’s not.
Your content is important. How you say it is important too.
But if your visual communication displays a lack of confidence and doesn’t inspire the audience to listen to you, then your content is irrelevant.
Encourage the audience to listen to your great content by projecting credibility and confidence.
You project credibility and confidence through an open body position; strong posture; eye contact; gestures; and purposeful, but limited, movement.
6. Empathy
The ability to empathize with others is important in every area of life, including your presentation.
If you don’t care about the audience they can tell.
Show them you empathize by demonstrating you understand the challenges they face relative to your topic.
If you’re asking them to take some action which will be bothersome, empathize with them and at least attempt to show them a better future as a result of the bother they have to go to.
7. Your first words
The audience will be quick to judge you. Make sure your first words count.
Make a strong statement which intrigues them and displays your confidence.
Avoid boring your audience with standard “Good mornings” and “Thank yous”.
Fire them up with something which gives them a reason to listen, like “From next week your administrative workload gets lighter.”
8. Your final words
Your audience will most easily remember the first and last things you say.
In your final few words give them something positive to associate to your presentation.
“Together we can do this. Thank you.” sounds nice, but this kind of positivity often feels hollow in business presentations.
Try something like: “Remember, all you need to do is make this small change when you get back to your desk. Next week, your workload become easier. Thank you.”
INSTANT ACCESS! FREE PRESENTATION SKILLS BLUEPRINT
9. Prepare your presentation in a specific order
This one’s tough.
Most people will not be able to do this. And that probably includes you.
And why is this point so difficult?
Because it takes time. Because it goes against everything you are conditioned to think.
Here goes. Prepare your presentation in the following order:
- Decide what the take-away is for the audience.
- Draft out what points you need to cover to get the audience there.
- Make a basic outline of your presentation (not a script).
- If there is part of your presentation you are not sure about, start learning, start getting familiar with it.
- Commence practice. Practice talking about each of the points in your presentation until you have a cohesive speech that you can deliver without prompts like notes and cue cards
- Video-tape yourself and watch it back with a critical eye. Address only the two biggest problem areas you found, no more.
- Time permitting, repeat step 6.
- Build your slides. At this point use your latest video recording and only create slides which emphasize key points in your speech.
- Practice your speech again with slides. At this stage your focus should be on not looking at the slides as you talk (this should be easy because you’ve already got your speech down).
10. Silence
If you take my advice in point 9, you’ll notice something during the video playback in step 6…
Filler words.
The amount of “umms” and “okays” and other fillers in your speech will make you look unprepared, unpracticed, and unconfident (is that a word?)
Whenever you feel like you are not sure of what to say next, pause. Be silent.
Identify the times you use filler words and the feeling you have at that moment. Practice being silent instead.
Pauses are extremely effective in presentations and, counter-intuitively, make you look confident.
You’ll appear cool, calm, and collected because you’re not using filler words and you’re comfortable with moments of silence.
What do you think? Let’s chat in the comments below.
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Really interesting article. I especially like #9 – a very useful approach to ‘polishing’ a presentation.
This is a fabulous article so well thought out.
Every point is a stand out
Bravo!
Exactly what I’ve been saying teaching public speaking for 35 years at the college level, and now in my business Sage Forward Training! Thanks for the confirmation. I’m sharing this with the students this term! Michelle Moore Brady.
Refreshing. Let’s face it folks, there are only so many pieces a Speaking/Presentation can be divided into and then examined… in excruciating detail. And yet I/we continue to look for something “new”. Usually disappointed. This article is well presented and I’m glad I stopped for a moment to read it. Nice job. Conversational. Friendly. And I too am a big fan of “Silence”. Thanx.
Excellent article – my perspective is always if I was in the audience what would I think of the content/presentation. A presentation is not about me but about the audience.
Great, concise article with excellent advise.
Perfect timing as I am preparing for a presentation, I am sure will use your advice
Excellent article! Simple and easy to follow with some solid points. It’s always important to see public speaking as a two-way process so I appreciate point #1 and will add that practice makes perfect. Practice the presentation aloud, it makes a huge difference!
Excellent advice about being silent. Many filler words seem to come between sentences. If you take a breath at the end of each sentence, it’s nearly impossible to say any filler word. The pause while you’re taking a breath allows you to gather your next thought; allows you to fuel your brain with oxygen; gives your audience time to process, absorb and/or digest what you just told them or showed them.
Standout… Precise Guidelines….
Great content as always Dave!
The overall message is certainly the number 1 priority – an area we always focus on first. So many people neglect it!
Great article and tips !
Practice, practice, practice! And know your audience – what is their greatest fear about your topic? If you can help them get past that, they will love you.
Nice article to read and re-read until we incorporate these ingredients in any of our presentations! Certainly will make use of this.
Thanks for sharing.
Spot on regards filler words and silences. I always advise my clients to pause and allow the audience to absorb what you have said.
Wow! Spot on.
Very good article to read and follow.
A great article. Excellent suggestions. I love the silence instead of umms idea. Not sure how to make the conscious transition.
Great article with applicable advice! I really like the idea of video taping yourself and addressing the 2 biggest areas of concern.
Excellent article but my problem is stage fear.. i cannot talk in front of so many peopl whose eyes are grazing at me.. any way i can overcome it?
Hi Ayesha,
Check out these two articles about stage fright and anxiety:
https://www.presentationblogger.com/public-speaking-cure-your-anxiety-in-one-sentence/
https://www.presentationblogger.com/overcome-stage-fright-with-1-simple-trick/
I have the same issue but after speaking for 10 minutes I keep gaining confidence.
Great article. Here’s another suggestion: try Toastmasters. If you’re not comfortable with public speaking, this is THE place to help you overcome stumbling blocks. We can assist you with your catch words such as “uhm” and “so”, and help you with visual presentations as well. We are nationwide. Look us up. Stop in for a meeting. You won’t be disappointed.
100% accurate. Loved #9. I also believe practicing and experience can improve our presentation skills. I always taught being silent at the middle of a presentation is awkward, but you cleared my doubt.
Well Done! Simple and to the point! I have shared same experiences, very good tool for newcomers
Great article. Effective communication is so critical in every aspect of life. The key points regarding this were articulated well. If heeded, it will certainly improve both our private and public presentations.
An interesting / greatread, all very valid points and almost exactly what I was taught and have used since 1972.
I have sat through a lot of presentations in the last forty years and a significant number have been scripted monologues where difficult questions are avoided by the phrase, “let’s chat about your points later”
I think the most important thing has to be treat your audience as if they were your friends and you must be sincere. Make sure your key take always are delivered and do not be afraid to go off script; just make sure you get back on course. If you have practised delivery you will know exactly where you are and can recover quickly without an ummm.
Brilliant title, Dave. The mind cannot stand an incomplete puzzle. Curiosity is one of the best techniques to get us to read an article (you just proved it) and it works in live speeches as well. Well done.
The only thing you missed was what I said to do on page 97 of my Step Into The Spotlight! book. (See, 2 can play this game, Dave! LOL)
Tsufit
Author, Step Into The Spotlight!
http://www.SpotlightSecrets.com
Loved your concise summary. Knowing your topic and practicing even one or two of these tips would greatly improve anybody’s presentation.
well written.. i recently draw interest in presentation skills… i think it is of great help.
Seems to me that it might be important to Challenge the audience in some way during the presentation, in order to create actual engagement. What do you think?
Totally agree, Amanda. Interacting with the audience is extremely important.
Very good recipe and very valid points.
If I may add; making a presentation is like telling a story. it has to have logical flow, you must sound confident and most important is the demonstration of conviction of what is being said.
Hi Everyone,
I like the content and the advice, especially 8 & 9. Only I would only careful with the TedX as instructinos – I have seen some really artificial presenters there. I mean that it may not always be as natural, as with a friend in a pub. However, there are some masterpieces too.
Thanks. Andy
As from next week my public presentations will be great. 😉 Thank you for these golden tips.
I had a adjunct professor, detested the Umms, in regular conversation as well as presentations. He used to be in the army and in front of everyone in class he would stop me every single time I said an Umm. As a instructor myself, I didn’t have the heart to tell him how wrong this was for young children and adult learners. It took me about two grad classes later to get over the Umms in my presentations. Every class member I had in his class would remind me of my Umms. Correcting someone publicly does not help anyone trying to present. Great article.