Posted by Sundi Hayes in Even if you are a professional public speaker with many appearances in your history returning to basics is a great place to catch a fresh breath. If you are new to public speaking these eight items should be at the top of your to-do list!
#1 Prepare. I think the most important part of being a speaker is you have to look comfortable. Granted, I, as an audience member, don’t really care if you are but you need to looklike you are. Being comfortable means being yourself. If you aren’t acting yourself you’ll appear to be stiff and controlled rather than relaxed and casual. The quickest way to get to relaxed is know your stuff! When you aren’t worried about remembering your next point you’ll have more time to appear yourself.
#2 Check the digs. Is the projector working? What about the mic? How do you get on stage? The two people who can make or break your performance are the person doing your intro and the AV person. Make sure you know them both on a first name basis.
#3 Be an early bird. Don’t hide outside the venue. Get in there! Meet some people and become familiar with the room. If you wander while you talk then you’ll want to find a path which is comfortable and you’ve moved through before.
#4 Respect = Nervous = Normal. When you aren’tnervous you should worry. You’ve reached a comfort zone and you aren’t pushing your inner excelerant any longer. Nervous is good. Don’t try to dull it with food, beverage or other chemicals. Specifically caffeine or alcohol. For a T on the MBTI I’m pushing it here so bear with me…just be in the emotion and enjoy it. You heard me. Enjoy it and be appreciative of the fact you are a challenged professionally and care about what you do.
#5 Plan B is just as good as Plan A. Do you know why? Because there simply is a Plan B. Ask any speaker who didn’t have a Plan B (and ended up needing one) how good it would have been and the answer will always be great! Think of anything and everything that can go wrong and have a plan for it. Easy ones like your presentation time being cut in half. And even the harder ones like the bulb in the projector goes out.
#6 Cut your stuff in half. I’m not talking about your words. I’m talking about your handouts and your presentation. PowerPoint can be a slave driver so learn your presentation without it and realize everything you say doesn’t need to be on the screen. I’m more a fan of transitions and time to absorb a thought than paper and pictures! Besides, the planet would love less handouts.
#7 Start and end together. Who likes to lose audience members as you go along? I thought not. Start slowly with simple points, build through the middle and wrap up with a crescendo. If you begin with your heavy thoughts you might lose half your audience. At the end they’ll be looking at each other for the finale!
#8 Snub your unwanted self-talk. Look for a good time to be had by all. You set your self up for failure when you expect p.e.r.f.e.c.t.i.o.n. Your audience doesn’t expect that. You forget your second point and your notes suddenly flutter to the floor – the back door to the room opens and in walks your self-talk. I’m not talking about the one with the halo. I’m talking about the dude with the pitch fork. The audience wants to be engaged, entertained and taught. Now that…THAT you can do!
Nibbling away -
Sundi
