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READING TIME: ABOUT 5 MINUTES
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In two days you're giving
a presentation at the Chamber
of Commerce about the importance
of parent participation
in well-child programs.
That's why you're sitting in front
of your computer right now,
with half a presentation
and a BIG case of nerves.
Sound familiar?
The ability to successfully present to people you barely know is a key business
skill. And that's true whether it's conference calls with
prospective customers, webinars, speeches to civic groups, or conference
presentations.
Many people feel nervous
both before and during a
presentation. In fact,
some estimates say that stage fright is the #1 "personal
fear" in America.
Below you'll find practical advice on getting rid of those butterflies:
While you're creating and rehearsing
your speech:
Know
what you are going to say.
We're amazed at how little preparation most presenters do. No wonder
people find presentations stressful! Scientists know that the storage of
information in memory requires sleep and the passage of time - so you can't wait
to the last minute and expect to instantly be comfortable with your material.
Start by actually writing down what you want to say for each slide.
Practice presenting - out loud, in an empty room - using that written script and
a stopwatch. After you've done that a couple of times, condense the
written script to the 3 or so key points you want to make on each slide. This
approach will get your familiar with the material - but you won't sound overly
rehearsed.
It's especially important to nail the first five minutes or so of your speech.
If you're so familiar with your material that you can deliver the first five
minutes without hesitation anytime, anywhere, the rest of your presentation will
almost always flow much more smoothly.
And remember that you need to adjust your content to fit the available time
while still allowing room for Q&A at the end.
You're an expert.
Remember that YOU are doing the presentation because you know more about the
subject than the audience. Don't worry about how you sound to people, or whether
you're going to look like an idiot, or blank out.
Name your worst fears.
You're probably most worried about:
- Finishing too quickly
- Going over the
allotted time
- Sounding clueless or nervous
- Forgetting
what you were going to say
- Dropping your notes
- Going black or losing your place
- Failure of your laptop or projector
- An audience question that derails your main points
Add your pet worries to the list if we missed them.
Practice screwing up.
Decide what you'll do if
one of your worst fears DOES happen. Should you pack spare batteries?
Do you need to practice a Plan B? For example, you could practice getting
a late start and having to cut
some material so that you can still finish on time. That way you know what you'd skip
well in advance of HAVING
to skip it.
If you
forget what you were going
to say, know which client stories would fit with each section of your
presentation and just talk about one
of those for a short while.
Chances are pretty good
your original point will
resurface. If you think someone
may derail the presentation
with certain questions,
practice exactly what you'll say to defer additional
questions for the follow-up
period.
Worried about your computer crashing? Have a paper copy of your slides
that you can glance at to get you back on track. And make sure your
computer battery is fully charged, just in case.
Once you've
encountered a problem in
practice and dealt with
it, it will be familiar
territory, not a new threat,
during your "show".
Before the presentation:
Get there early.
You'll feel more comfortable if you know the "little stuff" is OK.
- Check
that the audiovisual equipment works - computers, microphones, projectors, etc.
- Make sure no power cords or computer cables are in areas where you're at
risk of tripping over them during your speech.
- Do you need a bottle of water
near your speaker's stand? That's better than a glass because you can cap it.
- Have paper and pen handy.
- Make a quick restroom trip.
- Check pant
zippers and blouse buttons.
Get to know
the audience members.
Now, of course you can't get to know
a thousand people during the half-hour before you start.
Chat with as many people as you can to learn more about their special interest in your topic.
Simply introduce yourself: "Hi, I'm Joe Smith, today's presenter." They'll
usually introduce themselves in turn. Then you say something like "What are you
hoping to find out more about today?"
Then, when you present,
tie your points to the real-life
stories and examples
you heard from attendees. Chances are that many people in the audience
share those needs
and expectations.
During the presentation:
Remember the people
you met when you got there.
Even though you're now
speaking to a larger
group, you're no longer
guessing at what "clicks"
for people -- you KNOW.
If for some reason you didn't get a
chance to talk to anyone during the minutes leading up to your speech,
it's still useful to
tie your points to people
and situations you know
about that are likely to resonate with your audience.
Keep track of time.
Simple principle, often
ignored: All other things
being equal, if you
start and end on time,
your audience will think
more of your professionalism
and expertise.
They won't get restless
and you won't get distracted
by the rumbling of the
next group outside the
door.
Two points about humor.
First, don't "try" to
be funny. Unless
you are a professional
comedian, it won't work.
People not laughing
at jokes will probably
just make you more nervous.
On the other hand, sharing an actual customer experience that's naturally humorous
and fits in the flow of your presentation is a good way to relax the audience
and show them that you "get it".
After the presentation:
Always allow time for Q&A.
That's one reason you must NOT let your formal presentation run late. Now it's
time to check in with audience members and find out where their interests really
lie.
There's no shame in "I don't know".
Your audience doesn't
expect you to know EVERYthing.
But you DO know
something they don't,
which is why they're
there to hear your
presentation.
If you get stumped
by a question, write
it down and promise
to get back to it
later. If
you have an answer,
follow up when you've
got it. It's
a presentation,
not a game show:
you're not a loser just because you
don't have the answer
on the tip of your
tongue!
And if you need to buy time to organize your thoughts for a minute, open the
question up to the audience - "Who else is facing this challenge?", for example.
Learn from the questions you get.
If the Q&A makes it clear that you missed the boat somehow, make notes as soon
as you're back in your office on what you'll change next time. It's
tempting to move on immediately to another project so you can forget a painful
experience - but don't do that until you've learned from it!
Consider whether recurring questions should simply be incorporated into your
formal presentation. There's no need to anticipate every question - in fact,
that would be counterproductive because it would prevent audience members from
fully engaging. Yet it's important to continually improve your subsequent
presentations so that they're ever more relevant and meaningful
to your intended audience.
Use this pointers to
prepare for your subsequent
presentations, and you'll
find over time that your familiarity
with your content and your
confidence as a presenter will increase.
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