12 Public Speaking and Presentation Tips
Ever have to give a speech or presentation? Here are some tips I use and give to others that need to get up in front of people . . .
- Have a logical order and flow-- Also use transitional words and phrases
- Think of your audience and objectives
- Make it informative and interesting
- Make connections and eye contact
- Projection and inflection in your voice
- Enthusiasm
- Appropriate gestures and pauses
- Practice-- Know your material and presentation
- Act confident
- Visual Aids—KISS (Keep It Simple Stupid) and 6 Words (per line) x 6 Lines (per slide) Rule
- Anticipate questions and objections
- Dress your best
Finally, I prefer shorter, upbeat presentations that are well rehearsed and so do most audiences.
Good luck . . .
Posted by DDFD at 11/29/2008 8:31 AM 
Categories: Self Improvement
Tags: Self Improvement How to ideas Tips Tricks Techniques Public Speaking
Categories: Self Improvement
Tags: Self Improvement How to ideas Tips Tricks Techniques Public Speaking
Hi - all good points! Don't forget though that you can *over*dress sometimes. Best practice is thought to be to dress more formally than your audience but not *too* much more formal. If you do, you risk putting a big psychological distance between you and them.
You want to be authoritative (so smart) but not distant (so not too smart)..
Cheers.... Simon
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Precisely Simon-- everything about a presentation should be geared toward meeting or exceeding your audience's expectations . . . thanks for your contribution.
-DDFD
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This is all good advice, especially consider your audience and what they would like to hear. There is nothing worse than being part of an audience that looks at one another after the talk and says: "And, why did we need to hear that?"
F.D. Roosevelt once said there are 3 Bs to speaking: be brief, be sincere, and be seated. It's good advice.
I like to give my audience something to think about, and allow plenty of time for questions. Your cogent responses to questions will buy you more credibility than any prepared remarks ever will.
Clair
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... and Rosevelt was spot on!
WRT your first paragraph, I remember once sitting through a 20 minute presentation in which the head of a government agency started off by saying his organisation was the first point of call for X and the only people we needed to contact. He then spent 20 minutes telling us about how he was funded, how they were internally organised and being re-structured etc.. but at no point did it occur to him to give us a website or a phone number!
We *litterally* turned to each other and said "WTF was that all about?!"
Simon
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