1. Lose the Power Point – when you put up Power Point slides you ask the audience to look at 2 – or 3 – things at once: you, your slides, perhaps a printout of your slides. That’s distracting.
2. Smile – we all look more attractive when we smile, and studies show we pay more attention to attractive people. So smile – unless you’ve got really bad news to deliver.
3. Talk from the audience’s point of view – a common mistake presenters make is to explain an idea the way they learned it. But your history is not inherently interesting to an audience. Instead, start with the audience’s problem – that’s what they’re interested in.
4. Pause before you start to speak – Wait 3 seconds, making eye contact with the audience, before you start speaking. It lets the audience know it’s time to pay attention, it builds anticipation, and it increases your charisma.
5. Lose the ‘happy feet’ – so many speakers wander around the stage because they’re filled with adrenaline. Plant your feet and make your point. Only move (toward the audience) when you’re ready to make another point.
6. Breathe! — Adrenaline causes us to take shallow breaths. Breathe instead from your belly – a few deep breaths – without moving your shoulders. This will calm and ground you.
7. Don’t orate – talk to us – Audiences expect to have a conversation with and from speakers. Stick to a clear outline, so you don’t wander, but don’t read either from a script, or from Power Point slides. It’s too boring for this ADD age.
8. Get emotional – What makes a presentation interesting? Emotion. We want to see you get passionate about something. That’s how we take your measure and learn to trust you (or not). And don’t tell me there’s nothing passionate in your speech. If that’s true, you shouldn’t be talking. Go find something to be passionate about and then talk to us.
9. Focus on the audience – once you realize that it’s not about you, it’s about the audience, you’ll get over most of your nerves and have a good time. So know your material well enough that you can truly focus on the audience when you’re speaking. Check them out to see how they’re doing and be ready to shift gears if it’s not working.
10. Make it interactive – Audiences get more engaged when they’re allowed to do something. So don’t just talk at us the whole time. Figure out a way to make your presentation interactive.
Lovely. A phenom wrap-up of presenting in the era of social media.
With respect to David Byrne, the days of the talking head is over.
Interactivity and conversation is the current vogue.
Lovely. A phenom wrap-up of presenting in the era of social media.
With respect to David Byrne, the days of the talking head is over.
Interactivity and conversation is the current vogue.
As someone who is currently a member of Toastmasters, these tips are great! I’m currently someone with happy feet and over-expressive hands. If I could redirect my energy from my feet and hands into my emotions, I will be in great shape. Easier said than done, but at least I am aware of my weaknesses. Thanks!
As someone who is currently a member of Toastmasters, these tips are great! I’m currently someone with happy feet and over-expressive hands. If I could redirect my energy from my feet and hands into my emotions, I will be in great shape. Easier said than done, but at least I am aware of my weaknesses. Thanks!
Excellent post, Nick.
One of the greatest things I learned as a presenter is to speak to the audience as if you are only speaking to one person.
When you, as a speaker, use terms like “ladies & gentlemen” or “everyone” etc, the listener is now forced to acknowledge on some level the ‘us and them’ relationship. It may be small and subtle, but it’s the little things that help us better connect with our audience.
Mike Lewitz
blog.mikelewitz.com
Excellent post, Nick.
One of the greatest things I learned as a presenter is to speak to the audience as if you are only speaking to one person.
When you, as a speaker, use terms like “ladies & gentlemen” or “everyone” etc, the listener is now forced to acknowledge on some level the ‘us and them’ relationship. It may be small and subtle, but it’s the little things that help us better connect with our audience.
Mike Lewitz
blog.mikelewitz.com
I would like to thank you for the brilliant tips, and perhaps add a little something to your already sound advice. I noticed Mike’s point about addressing the audience as if it were a party of one, and I would, in most cases, agree completely with that, but I would like to add something more to the same idea: Talk WITH your audience like it was comprised of just one person whom you both know well, and like very much.
Thanks again.
I would like to thank you for the brilliant tips, and perhaps add a little something to your already sound advice. I noticed Mike’s point about addressing the audience as if it were a party of one, and I would, in most cases, agree completely with that, but I would like to add something more to the same idea: Talk WITH your audience like it was comprised of just one person whom you both know well, and like very much.
Thanks again.
Thanks to both Mike and Russell for the great point about having a conversation with one person. I often tell clients that they should think of a speech as ‘simultaneous conversations’ – just one chat repeated many times. Practically, to make that work, what you do is make eye contact with one person and just talk to him/her — like you would in an everyday conversation. Then, talk to someone else. It’s that simple.
Thanks to both Mike and Russell for the great point about having a conversation with one person. I often tell clients that they should think of a speech as ‘simultaneous conversations’ – just one chat repeated many times. Practically, to make that work, what you do is make eye contact with one person and just talk to him/her — like you would in an everyday conversation. Then, talk to someone else. It’s that simple.