You?ve got a big presentation coming up. How do you feel? Excited? Enthusiastic? Nervous? According to public speaking trainers Simply Speaking, more than half of UK business leaders admit public speaking is the most daunting part of their job. So if you do feel butterflies you?re not alone. To help ease those nerves, we?ve put together these tips on presentation preparation as part of Epson?s Presentation Month:
Six weeks in advance: Do your research
Master orator Winston Churchill spent six weeks preparing for his Maiden Speech in the House of Commons, including learning his speech off by heart. So if your presentation hasn?t been sprung on you at short notice it is worth beginning your preparations early. The more informed you are, the more confident you?ll feel. As Wayne Burgraff, an 18th century American philosopher, once said ?it takes one hour of preparation for each minute of presentation time?.
Four weeks in advance: Refine your learnings
Presentation guru Dianna Booher believes that ?if you can?t write your message in a sentence, you can?t say it in an hour? so prepare the fabled ?elevator pitch? for the topic you?re speaking on. We heard recently from InspiresMe that 80% of the content of a presentation is forgotten within 24 hours so you need to get the bottom line ingrained into your audience. Even consider saying: ?If you only remember one thing from this presentation, it should be??
Two weeks in advance: Prepare your deck
You?ve done your research so now is the time to begin work on your ?script?, consider your visual aids and prepare your handouts. When you?re preparing your deck, make sure the information on the slide supports your speech without distracting too much attention from it ? avoid cluttering them with too much information and select a font and format that is easy to read. We also like this tip from Presentation Magazine: instead of searching for clich?d clip art on Google images, why not take your own photos for your deck? They?ll be much more original and creative.
One week before: Check out the venue arrangements
Contact the venue where you?ll be presenting to make sure they have the necessary equipment, and find out how the room will be arranged, as this will affect how you display information. Request the guestlist and do some research on individuals attending. ?As well as helping you understand their business priorities this will also give you an idea of what to wear to ensure you are comfortable and respected.
One day before: Choose your outfit
?Things do not pass for what they are, but for what they seem. Most things are judged by their jackets?. This quote from writer Baltasar Gracian could well apply to how we see spokespeople. Wearing a suit to present to a creative audience might not be appropriate, while jeans and a jacket may be too casual for a corporate environment so give it some thought and make sure everything is cleaned and washed for the day.
In the morning: Tune into the media
Listen to the radio or watch the news in the morning to make sure you don?t make any faux pas and that you can refer to any topical news which will grab your audience?s attention to start the talk.
5 minutes before: Calm your nerves
Mark Twain once said ?There are two types of speakers, those that are nervous and those that?are liars?. Even with all the preparation in the world it?s inevitable that you?ll feel nervous before a presentation, or at least a rush of adrenalin akin to running a race. Take deep breaths to calm nerves and slow your heartbeat; continue to breathe deeply during the presentation as this will help you keep speaking at a steady pace. Stand up straight to facilitate good breathing, and relax your shoulders to relieve tension. Also, yawning (though certainly not during the presentation) is good for relaxing jaw muscles. For more advice on calming your nerves see these useful articles on BBC and Personal Development blogger Steven Aitchison.
So do you agree with these tips for preparing for a big presentation? As part of a competition to win the latest Epson EB-1775W Projector we?ve been asking @EpsonBizUK followers for their top presentation tips. ?If you?ve got any of your own presentation tips, tweet them to us or write them in the competition post comments section, and you could be in with a chance of winning.
Good luck! And look out for our next post on the best tools for making your presentation a success?
কোন মন্তব্য নেই:
একটি মন্তব্য পোস্ট করুন