If
we all have something in common it is that we all
suffer from stage fright, butterflies in
the stomach appear when we have to perform presentations
and speak in public because as Mark Twain said,
“There are two types of speakers: those that are nervous
and those that are liars.”
However,
speaking in public is something that we must master
if we wish to succeed in our professional career: It’s always
present, e.g. at job interviews, sales presentations,
work groups, project presentations, etc. In many
varied situations we must use our most valued tool – ourselves,
together with other aids to get our message across and try to cause
sufficient impression on our audience so as to
cause them to carryout the action we propose.
Now
apart from our nerves, which we must canalise in
the right direction, we must consider many aspects in order to be
successful public speakers and perform effective presentations:
Plan. – First of all you must
plan, by failing to plan you are preparing to fail… so you
must have clear your objectives and decide what effect you want
your presentation to have upon your audience. Define the key
message based upon these objectives and make sure to
take into account your audience; to reach your
goal you must know what makes your audience
tick.
Design.
– Once you have planned and carried out the necessary investigation
you must design your presentation: what you are going to say?
How you are going to say it? and with which aids?
such as PowerPoint presentation, flipcharts or
handouts. As you develop your speech you must
provide it with a structure that helps you audience follow you
and gets your message across. There are many structures from which
you may choose, but you must have an opening,
a main body and a conclusion.
A good tip here is to consider that the most important part of
your presentation is the first 30 seconds and the last 30 seconds,
plan these carefully.
Rehearsal.
– One way to get over your shyness is to
relax by doing some relaxation exercises, but nothing beats being
confident and this can be achieved by rehearsing
your presentation again and again. Another thing
you may also want to eliminate from your presentation are those
annoying habits – Uh, ah or you know and
even jingling keys… by rehearsing in front
of friends or recording yourself you can minimise these habits.
Delivery.
– When the moment arrives, and although you may have other
tools to help, remember that the most important aspect of your
presentation is you. So, you must bear in mind
various aspects: eyes, voice, expression, appearance and stance
- all these make up your presentation and are much more important
than your PowerPoint. I would also add that if you feel confident
enough add some humour, this will create the rapport
you need to get the audience on your side and
destroy any barriers.
A
tip. – Pay attention to detail.
I remember once that I had a very important presentation. I had
prepared a detailed report to back up my presentation, and as
this report had all the detailed information it was obviously
crucial to achieve my objectives. Well, just before leaving my
office I decided to confirm how many people would be assisting
the meeting and to my surprise, they told me that there would
be two more than I had expected. So, I hurriedly
printed out two more reports before leaving for the meeting. This
small detail, if omitted, would have caused an uncomfortable situation
that could have damaged the outcome of my presentation.
So,
only improvise upon a well prepared, organised
and more than practised presentation and mainly to adapt to your
audience’s reaction and develop a rapport, but definitely
don’t leave anything to chance if the objectives
you pursue are important.
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