Download the article
This article was written by Maureen Taylor. Maureen Taylor is the CEO and founder of SNP Communications, a leading communications company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. She has been helping leaders, founders, and innovators across industries improve their messaging and delivery for nearly 30 years, working with leaders and teams at Google, Facebook, Airbnb, SAP, Salesforce, and Spotify. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. wikiHow marks an article as reader-approved after it receives enough positive comments. This article received 19 testimonials and 89% of voted readers found it useful, earning it Reader Approved status. This article has been viewed 571,116 times.
Giving presentations is an everyday art form that anyone can master. To capture the attention of your audience, present your information with ease and confidence. Act like you’re talking to an audience and they’ll pay attention. To achieve this level of fluency, write compelling narrative, use more visuals than text on your slides, and practice, practice, practice.
Give it the “bar” test. The “bar” test ensures that your idea is clear and that your storytelling is effective. Before writing your presentation, take notes outlining your message. Think of it like a story, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Then ask a colleague or friend who knows nothing about your project to listen to your summary.[1]
- Give them your summary in friendly, direct language, as if you were telling a story to a friend in a bar.
- In fact, you can tell a story to a friend in a bar. However, talking to a colleague over coffee can work just as well.
- Have them tell you what they brought. If they can accurately summarize your message, that’s a good sign.
Practice your speech in front of a colleague while you’re still developing it. Find a trusted friend, colleague, or mentor to provide helpful feedback. Instead of waiting for your presentation to be “done,” give it to them while it’s still a draft. That way, I can give you tips not only on delivery, but also on organizing your content.[2]
- Ask them to be your coach.
- Give them your presentation once or twice and let them ask you questions and give you feedback.
- Ask them to highlight moments that are boring or confusing.
prepare for nerves. It is important to practice in front of people because you will be less nervous when the time comes. If you tend to be nervous when giving a presentation, you can go the extra mile during rehearsals to reduce your nerves.[3]
- Write what scares you. What exactly do you worry about when you give a speech? Do you look stupid? Have you asked a difficult question? Write down your exact fears, and then consider them individually.
- Think about what you will do in each situation. For example, if you fear, “I’m going to forget what I’m saying,” you can make a plan like, “If I forget what I’m saying, I’m going to pause, review my notes, and find the next important point I need to make.” .
- Catch your negative thoughts and calm them down. If you’re thinking, “I’m going to get nervous and sweaty,” replace it with, “I have important information to pass on, and everyone will pay attention.”
Time carefully. You don’t want to overstep your timeline and be cut off, or exhaust your audience’s patience. Schedule your essays, especially those you do in front of others, to make sure you stay within the time you have.[4]
- Allow yourself more time if you plan to answer questions or if you anticipate a lot of digressions.
Practice more than once. Try practicing in front of your dog, a mirror, or your family. Practice speaking in a captivating tone. Movement and emotion as if you were addressing the audience. Know your presentation inside out and inside out.[5]
- This does not mean that you stick to a strict script every time. Instead, feel free to improvise when you practice. Get your main points across, but include jokes and anecdotes that come to mind as you go along. You will remember the best ones when you make a presentation.
false confidence. It’s okay to feel nervous, but you don’t have to act like that. The more confident you act, the more confident you will feel. This does not mean that you should act arrogant. Try to calm down and remember that what you are doing is not unusual. Rather, it is necessary, interesting and ordinary.[6]
- Remember that your audience probably can’t see your nerves.
- Take a deep breath and exhale before taking the stage.
Show your emotions. Smile, raise your eyebrows, and otherwise tell your story through feelings and facts. Show your audience your own passion for the topic. Say everything like it’s interesting to you and expect them to be interested too. Your enthusiasm will be contagious.[7]
Reach your audience. The more directly you speak to your audience, the more engaged they will feel. Be relaxed and talkative. Rather than ramble on about your points, deliver them to your audience as if you’re sure they’ll be interesting. Look directly into the faces of the people you are addressing.[8]
- If there are too many people to really see the faces, just bravely look out into the crowd.
watch your body language. Stand up straight and fully face the audience. Keep your head up and your shoulders back and relaxed. Do not turn any part of your body (shoulders, hips) away from the audience.[9]
- Move your hands while you talk. Don’t shake them because that will make you look nervous. Instead, try gesturing calmly with your palm outstretched when you say something. If you are describing a shape, draw it with your hands in the air.
Think of your presentation as a story. As you write, instead of organizing your presentation by topics and subtopics, organize it along story lines. She begins by setting the stage, then draws her audience into the story with a thrilling climax. It can be helpful to start your presentation with a question or dilemma so they feel involved from the start.[10]
- Have a clear line that runs through all parts of your presentation and leads to your main point.
- Include stories that put your listeners in a situation. Get your energy with tactile details (sound, sight, smell, taste, touch) and emotional state descriptions.
- Include moments of reflection where you say how you felt or felt.
Make your slides as visual as possible. Avoid bullet points that explain everything you are going to say. Instead, present tables, graphs, photos, or illustrations that only you can explain. That way, your audience stays focused on you.[11]
Pay special attention to the key points. Before you offer something you want your audience to pay attention to, warn them about it. If you can, make your audience feel like they have an interest in whether or not they get your point. Say something like “we’re losing a lot of people here” or “this is one of the hardest parts to explain.”[12]
Includes humour. Make jokes and tell funny anecdotes. Try to get your audience to a point that seems serious, technical, or even dangerous, and then surprise them with a joke. If your presentation has a lot of information, you can change the subject with fun images.
- As always with humor in the workplace, remember that humor varies greatly from culture to culture. Avoid any joke that makes fun of someone’s sex, gender, race, class, or ability. Don’t forget to “inflate” yourself: if your jokes attract someone, look for someone with more power than you, not less.
- If you get nervous, try starting your presentation with a simple joke or funny story. It will relax you and your audience.
Find ways to make your presentation interactive. If you’re working with a small audience, you can speak directly to audience members. Ask someone to tell you a joke to warm you up, or poll audience members about their experience with something related to your topic. If the group is large, ask questions that each audience member can answer with a show of hands. Vote or survey.
- Ask the crowd to think or imagine something and hold a moment of silence as they do so.
- Interactive moments make great transitions from one part of your conversation to another.
Consider your audience. Write a presentation that will help you communicate effectively with your audience. ask yourself:
- Will they be experts or newcomers to your ideas? If they are experts, you will need to introduce them to specific, technical, and new ideas. If they are beginners, plan to present your topic in general terms and avoid technical terms.
- Will the audience be on your side from the start or will you need some convincing?
- Will you have a large, impersonal audience or a small group? If you are working with a small group, you can engage them in parts of your presentation through questions, personal digressions, and conversation.
Categories: How to
Source: HIS Education