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| Yes, you can become a calm, clear and confident presenter. |
1. Remember to breathe deeply before you commence and to remain conscious of your breathing throughout your presentation. Voice only works with air. If you are breathing from the top of your chest, there is simply no way you will be able to produce a clear, strong voice.
2. Open strongly and close strongly. These top-and-tail parts of your presentation are what the audience absorbs best and remembers the longest.
3. Choose a clear, logical structure that you and the audience can follow.
4. Select only the most important and persuasive points and present them in order of importance. Do not try to tell everything about your topic.
5. Talking too fast means that audience comprehension drops
dramatically. Be vigilant and self-checking for when your pace
increases. Combined with feeling anxious, talking quickly results in
shallow breathing from the top of the chest. Deliberately stop speaking
for a moment and take some air into your body.
6. Think of the people in the audience as your customers. Focus on how you can help them (…to understand, to change, to solve a problem, to improve, to gain certain benefits).
7. Make your messages come alive by peppering your presentation with vivid stories and examples to illustrate key points.
8. Add light and shade by varying your pace (fast-moderate-slow) and the loudness and softness of your voice.
9. Occasionally stop talking after a key point or question and silently look around your audience, giving everyone the time and head space to take in your message.
10. Keep driving home your core message(s) by using repetition, linking one key point to another, recapping on previous points and summarising what you’ve covered.
The above ten tips and techniques (along with many others) are covered and practised in People Results' Confident Presentation Skills One-Day workshop which has been running for a number of years. Hundreds of managers and professionals have completed this experiential program and graduated with flying colours.
If you or someone you know or who reports to you wishes to become a competent, confident presenter, People Results has workshops coming up in April in Brisbane and Rockhampton.
Please note we also deliver this Program in-house for clients in groups of 8 to 12 team leaders, managers and executives. Contact us at People Results for more information on 1300 167 981 or enquiries@peopleresults.com.au
