1. Lose the Power Point. PowerPoint slides force the audience to look at 2 or 3 points at once: you, your slides, and perhaps a materials handout. That’s too distracting. If its possible, don’t use PowerPoint at all during your presentation. However, we all know that often a PPT is expected of you…just keep it as background, with a bare minimum of information. Promise everyone a digital copy if they give you their card, and if resource handouts are required, don’t distribute them until your speech is over. Keep everyone’s eyes --- and attention --- on you and your subject matter.
2. Smile. Practice a natural smile in front of a mirror…sounds silly but we all need practice to get it right. Smiling helps us look more attractive, and studies confirm that an audience pays more attention to attractive people. So concentrate on your smile (unless of course you are delivering bad news…).
3. Talk from the audience’s point of view. Start with the audience’s problem, and speak from that perspective. A common mistake presenters make is to explain an idea from a personal viewpoint, and that may not resonate with our audience. Keep their interest up by taking their point of view…and stay there.
4. Pause before you start to speak. A good rule of thumb is pause about three seconds, making and keeping 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”. Many speakers wander around the stage as an outward sign of their adrenaline rush. It’s better to plant your feet when you are making a point, and move only when you are ready to make another. And finally, keep your wandering within a tight circle. No one likes following a bouncing ball!
6. Breathe! Adrenaline can cause 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. The best speakers create a conversational tone with their audience. Stick to a clear outline (to keep you on track) but don’t read from a script or PPT slides. Assume all audiences have ADD…you have to work to keep them engaged.
8. Get emotional. What makes a memorable presentation interesting? Emotion. Audiences will often latch on much more quickly when you can show passion about your subject. And be truly passionate…false enthusiasm will shine the PHONEY beacon on you like a spotlight. Keep it upbeat, passionate, and measured, and you’ll wow them.
9. Focus on the audience. Realize that it’s not about you, it’s about the audience. That realization will settle your nerves and let you have a good time. Know your material cold so you can focus completely on the audience while you’re speaking. Really SEE the audience as well so you can identify positive and negative body language and shift gears quickly to mix it up if it’s not working.
10. Make it interactive. Audiences feel more engaged when they’re allowed to do something. Interact with a specific audience member, ask a question and wait for an answer, tell them to write something down...don’t just talk to the audience the whole time. Throw something out into the audience from time to time (an inexpensive memory stick with your digital presentation on it is a good tschotske). Take some hints from professional speakers you see, and put your own brand on it.
There you have it. I’ve been doing formal and informal speaking for a long time, and I picked up a couple of good tips. I hope you did the same.
Think “P.I.G.” -- “P” stands for persistence, “I” stands for integrity, and “G” stands for guts. These are the ingredients for a successful business… and a successful life." --Linda Chandler, corporate motivational speaker