The ability to make presentations is not a skill that you are born with. You may know people who seem to be perfectly calm and natural in front of groups of people; maybe they are, but I am willing to bet that they can still be a little uncomfortable in front of a crowd. They have simply practiced the skill of public speaking. This post will give you some tips and tools that can help you get better at presenting in front of people.
First thing, remember that everyone gets nervous, even people who do presentations all of the time. I have done hundreds of presentations for large and small groups (and everything in between) and I am always nervous until I get going.
The best way to fight attacks of “the nerves” is to be prepared and to have practiced your presentation. Prepare a draft; test it in front of the mirror or a friend. Critique it, modify it, present it again; do this as many times as necessary until you are happy with the final result.
Expect to be nervous at the beginning of the presentation. As it progresses, you will find a rhythm that will help you become more calm and comfortable.
Try to know the information from your presentation to the point where you don’t have to read it. It’s not memorization as much as becoming comfortable with the topic and the items to be presented. This will show your engagement with the subject and allow you to be flexible if things don’t go according to plan. You can still use notes, but use them to stay on track rather than as a script to follow exactly.
Avoid the “PowerPoint Trap” of reading word-for-word from your slides. A PowerPoint is a tool to aid in your presentation, but it is your accompanying speech that brings your subject to life. When creating a PowerPoint or other digital presentation, write out the text that you would like to present to tie it together with what is on the slide. A key point of any presentation is to make it interesting to your audience.
Don’t look at everyone at once. Find one person, talk to them for 20-30 seconds, and then pick another person in a different section of the room and do the same thing, repeatedly.
Try not to hold onto a piece of paper. If you are nervous, your hand might shake or you may fidget with whatever is in your hand, distracting you and making you appear nervous to your audience.
If you make a mistake, correct it as well as you can and keep going. Do not allow one mistake to cause more mistakes. Mistakes are going to happen and it is not the end of the world. If it is small enough, your audience will likely not realize you made it.
If you have trouble-keeping eye contact, imagine looking at a space about 4-6 inches to the left or right of a person’s ear. From a distance, it will look like you are making perfect eye contact.
Add passion to your presentation by changing the inflection of your voice, and use your hands while you speak. Visual and verbal enthusiasm will help engage your audience.
Encourage questions. When answering, always pause and thank the person for asking by saying, “That’s a really good question,” then proceed to answer the question as concisely as possible. Be conscious of the audiences’ time, if you can’t give a succinct answer, plan to follow up with that person after the presentation.
Act as if you are comfortable even when you are nervous. Someone once said, “If there is an attitude you would like to possess, pretend that you have it, and soon you will.”
Volunteer to go first! Rarely will anyone willingly volunteer. If you do, the following may be true:
- It will be done and over with so you can stop worrying about it.
- By volunteering to go first instead of being asked to do it, you may be marked easier by the instructor (never hurts).
- Nobody is really paying attention because they are all worried about being chosen or told they are next. Going first gets the pressure and anxiety out of the way. Ironically, the most pressure is actually on the person who goes last.
Be well organized. When presenting, only have the items that you absolutely need to have with you; everything else should be left behind. Your cell phone should be turned off to avoid potential interruptions.
Stay hydrated. Have a glass or bottle of water available to help with the dry mouth that comes with feeling nervous. Pausing to take a sip every so often also allows for short breaks throughout the presentation, giving you a moment to rest and your audience a chance to process the information.
Check your appearance prior to making the presentation. It doesn’t matter the subject; you want people to remember the presentation, not that both your shoes were untied.
Enjoy it. This might seem impossible, but speaking in front of people can be a very liberating experience. The more you do it, the more you will enjoy it.
Public speaking or making presentations effectively is just a skill. It is a skill anyone can master with practice. Don’t get discouraged when things don’t go exactly as you planned – rarely does it ever. Keep at it, and ask for your teacher or instructor to tell you the things you did well, the things you didn’t do as well, and suggestions on what you could do differently next time. It will be hard, but it will be worth the effort.
Good luck,
Paul.