How to Give a Dynamic Presentation
Would you like to experience the benefits of being a good
speaker? Speaking before groups offers a tremendous
opportunity for personal and professional development.
Never before have excellent communication skills been more
important than they are today.
This article contains fifteen elements for making a
successful presentation. Use these ideas, and you will
speak with greater self confidence and ease before a group
of any size.
1. BUILD RAPPORT AND TRUST.
Talk with-not at --your audience. Establish some common
ground. Communicate with sincerity and warmth, and make eye
contact.
In speaking to a large group of secretaries, I established
rapport quickly by telling them about my mother's success
as a secretary and how much I admired her. I gave them
examples of why competent secretaries are the backbone of
my successful organization.
2. DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE OPENING.
Grab your audience's attention from the start. Use a
dramatic or startling statement, a human interest or
personal story, a question, an anecdote or illustration, a
relevant quote-or a humorous opening, if appropriate. I
recently heard a speaker open with, "I wrote that great
introduction you just heard. It gives me something to shoot
for when I speak."
3. DEVELOP AN EFFECTIVE ENDING
Close with a bang. Use a relevant quote, a poem, or an
appeal for action. Give your audience a sincere compliment,
a powerful story, or a summary of your main points. Make
sure your closing---whatever it is---is relevant to your
topic. Also, your entire speech and the ending should be
tailored to your audience.
4. REDUCE NERVOUSNESS.
According to the book of lists, public speaking is the
number one fear, greater even than the fear of death.
Before presenting: Thoroughly prepare and rehearse before
your speaking engagement. When you are about to begin, take
several deep breaths. Visualize yourself giving a relaxed
presentation.
During the presentation: Focus on your message and your
audience, not on yourself. Give yourself opportunities for
physical movement. Don't try to be perfect. Make
nervousness work for you. Channel your nervousness into
enthusiasm; let your adrenalin take over. Butterflies in
your stomach? Let them soar, taking you with them.
5. MAKE YOUR PRESENTATION COME ALIVE.
Talk to the audience in terms of their interests, problems,
and concerns. Communicate with vitality and conviction.
Talk to, and make eye contact with individual members of
the audience. Change the pace with vocal variety and humor,
using pauses to emphasize points. Use inspiring human
interest stories, making only a few points and supporting
them with examples, illustrations, anecdotes, and
analogies. Use natural gestures; physically move from time
to time instead of remaining behind a podium.
6. USE VOCAL VARIETY.
Variety speed, volume, and pitch. To emphasize points,
speed up or slow down, speak more softly or loudly, and
allow your voice to rise and fall. Speak conversationally
to an audience, but with greater force and energy.
Appropriate vocal variety and gestures will naturally occur.
7. VISUAL AIDS, HANDOUTS, OTHER AIDS:
Use visual aids only when needed to clarify a point or
idea. Don't show a visual aid to the audience until you are
ready to use it. Use visual media as an aid, not as crutch
or a substitute. Visual aids should be large, clear,
legible, and brief. Avoid talking toward your visual aid or
turning your back to the audience. You might provide a
brief outline of your objectives, the topics to be covered,
and information about yourself. Then supply handouts that
reinforce your points. Distribute most handouts at the end
of your presentation so that participants maintain eye
contact and keep their attention on you during the
presentation.
8. TRY USING HUMOR.
You don't have to be funny. But humor can be effective in
changing the pace, relaxing the audience, building rapport,
and supporting your points. If you are uncomfortable using
humor, avoid it-or practice it on your friends and family
until you become more comfortable with it.
If you use humor, keep it brief, relevant to the topic, and
appropriate for the occasion. Do not tell off-color jokes
or racial, ethnic, or religious jokes. Don't say, "I'm
going to tell you a joke"-just do it. Allow your audience
to laugh before you continue speaking. Have a comeback if
your attempt at humor fails.
Never use humor at the expense of another. However, poking
fun at yourself can let your audience know you don't feel
superior or have an egotistical attitude. I often tell my
audience the following story: A woman and her little boy
came up to me after what I thought was one of my most
inspiring speeches. The woman gushed, "That was a wonderful
talk, and I am so full with your message!" Smiling with
delight, I asked her little boy, "And how did you like it,
son?" He replied, "Yeah, I got a bellyful of it, too!"
9. INVOLVE YOUR AUDIENCE.
Use stories and examples that relate to audience concerns.
Keep your presentation lively, allowing time for questions.
Ask if there are questions, and hold the silence a few
moments. If no one responds, say, "If there are no
questions, let me mention a question I am often asked"-and
then answer it. You might also ask questions and request a
show of hands.
10. APPEAL TO DIFFERENT LEARNING STYLES AND PERSONALITY
TYPES.
People think and learn in different ways. Some are more
logical; some, more intuitive. Broaden audience response by
varying your techniques. Use some human interest stories,
appeal to logic, present general themes ("the big picture")
and appeal to the senses, providing concrete examples. The
success of an engineer often depends upon his or her
objective analysis of a problem. If you're speaking to a
group of engineers, appeal to their logical thought
processes. Present a problem and a logical solution for it,
perhaps using a graph based on statistical data. This is
not to say that human interest stories or appeals to the
emotions are lost on engineers. But they are most likely to
be persuaded by logic.
11. MANAGE THE SEATING ARRANGEMENTS.
Being physically close to your audience increases your
ability to build rapport. If the audience is scattered, it
is more difficult to lead them as one unit. Bring them
together, removing large numbers of empty seats. They will
be less self-conscious if they are sitting close together.
Arrange seats so the audience can easily see you.
12. DEAL WITH DISRUPTIONS.
If you encounter disruptive persons, keep control of your
emotions. Do not show irritation. Wait until they finish
talking; then use active/reflective listening. Lower your
voice; don't try to shout them down. Sometimes humor can
reduce the tension. If they continue to be disruptive and
it is appropriate, ask them to leave or to meet with you
later to discuss their concerns.
13. BE A LEADER.
Your audience expects you to create the atmosphere, set the
tone, assume a leadership role, and be in control. They
want to be treated with respect. Arrive early to make sure
everything is properly set up and ready. Be yourself,
allowing your unique personality to shine.
Remember, you are there to make something happen, to move
your audience in some way. It is up to you to inspire them.
14. KNOW YOUR GOAL.
Every speech has at least one of four goals: to inform or
explain, to persuade, to inspire action, or to entertain.
Know the goal of your presentation, and keep it in mind as
you thoroughly prepare. Lack of preparation reflects
indifference and insults your audience. Careful preparation
is the only way to achieve the results you want. Use simple
and clear language that communicates your ideas in a manner
suited to your goal.
15. EXHIBIT VITALITY.
When Dr. Kenneth McFarlin, an outstanding professional
speaker, was asked what is the most important quality of a
speaker, he responded: "vitality." Vitality includes
enthusiasm, energy, forcefulness, and aliveness. It comes
from a depth of conviction-a deep belief in yourself and in
what you are saying.
CONCLUSION You will be amazed at the positive influence you
will have on others by becoming a good speaker. Public
speaking will enrich both your life and the lives of others.
Take advantage of opportunities to speak to audiences no
matter how small. Remember the words of Demosthenes, one of
the world's greatest orators, who said, "Small
opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises."
Copyright 2007. Raymond Gerson
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Raymond Gerson has over 40 years experience teaching career
and personal development. He is a former Toastmasters
International speech contest winner and teaches college
success strategy courses. Raymond is the author of five
books including, How to Create the Job You Want. This ebook
and an audio recording of Raymond speaking to a live
audience are available as free gifts. Go to:
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