Here I am at an event I am excited about. The advertised speaker and topic look so interesting. I am so looking forward to hearing her and getting that valuable information. The speaker is introduced and begins. Very soon after she starts speaking, I am bored, I check my phone, secretly hoping that an email or text has come in that will have me leave. Alas, no such message arrived and I endure 30 minutes of mind-numbing power point slides and monotone reading of her speech. She may have delivered the valuable content that was promised, but I could not receive it with her presentation.
Has this ever happened to you? Or are you afraid that this speaker will be you? It is often said that many people fear public speaking more than death. And yet, today, in our careers and as we build our businesses, we are called on more often to speak publicly.
When I was a young child, I won speech contests and dreamt of a career where I would write, travel and speak. Then, when I was in high school, I took an upper level speech class and had an embarrassing moment. I was made fun of. I dropped the class, and gave up that dream. I became a registered nurse instead. When I was working for the State of California in the High Risk Infant Follow-Up Program, I was the chairperson for a fund raising event. Here I am with hundreds of people and the master of ceremonies calls me up to the stage to acknowledge me. I turn to my boss and say, “I hate speaking in public” and walk to the stage, trip on my way up and land flat on my face. I sat up and giggled with the rest of the room, but inside I was embarrassed and said to myself “I will never speak in public again”. And that was that.
Many years later, I got over that. The embarrassment was simply holding me back from fulfilling my dreams and I went about getting myself trained to be a great public speaker. I have now spoken in front of thousands of people and consistently receive great feedback. I have also trained many speakers to be great and I want to share some ways you can enhance your presentation skills.
1. Prepare. Prepare. Prepare. Write out your speech, practice it ALOUD many times. Practice it in the mirror. Practice it aloud to another person. Preparation is not about getting every word down, or getting it perfect. Preparation allows you to be comfortable so you can speak with people and interact with them. They came to hear you, so preparation allows you to be fully you.
2. Be Yourself. You may make mistakes, you may say something stupid, you may trip or do something you had not intended. So what? You are human. Your humanity makes you relatable. You want people to experience being with you, and if you try to not be you, you rip them off of the real opportunity of being with you.
3. Talk with People, Not At Them. You are speaking to PEOPLE. No one really enjoys being talked at- like a stern parent giving a lecture. We all like to be included in the conversation. That is the key to great speakers- have the speech in a conversational manner, including interaction with your audience.
a. When you are speaking, look at people- not above their heads, not darting around the room, but actually look someone in their eyes and talk to them for a while and then move on to another person in another part of the room and talk to them for a while, and repeat this. (We all tend to have a favored side that we look to- I recommend having someone support you in making sure you are speaking with everyone on all sides of the room. This simply can be having someone on your support team move to a side of the room you are neglecting, for example.)
b. Let what you say land. Do not talk to fast- if you are having a conversation, and do achieve a conversational tone, this is natural. However, nervous energy often has people talk fast. Slow down. If you have something important to say, say it and then be quiet. Let people process what you said.
4. Make sure you can be heard. If you don’t have a microphone, make sure you project so everyone can hear you. You may sound like you are yelling to yourself, but you are not. I often ask, “Can everyone hear me” in this situation. If you notice the people in the last rows, seem distracted, consider you are not loud enough.
5. Do NOT READ your script or your slides. This is boring! If you have slides, they can read them, you should be expounding on your points. If you forget some of what you intended to say, it is fine. Remember, they don’t have a copy of your script, so they don’t know. I always know that everything that should have been said, was said- and if you are being interactive, it always goes this way!
6. Humor is good. We all love to laugh, so sprinkle in some humor. Be sensitive to off color jokes or any humor that might be offensive. Self-deprecating humor is great.
7. Be willing to dance in the conversation, AND don’t give up your room! This is one of the most challenging aspects of public speaking for newer speakers. You want to be out with people and may answer questions or go different directions during your speech. Most important, however, is to remember that this is your speech and not to let someone derail your direction. This takes finesse, at times, when someone is trying to take the conversation where they want it to go. I find if that happens, you can simply say “Let’s discuss this after we are done here so I can make sure everyone gets what I promised”. And then be available to meet that person at the end of your presentation.
8. If something embarrassing or unexpected happens, use it. This is when all that preparation pays of big time. I once was speaking and my blouse had come undone… after buttoning up my blouse, I used the incident to make a deeper point in my speech.
9. Join a public speaking practice group, like Toastmasters, or take opportunities to practice with a speech coach or even among friends or masterminds.
Have fun! Being center stage and having a conversation with a larger group of people at one time on a topic that you are interested in can be fun if you simply go with the flow and enjoy the ride.