04/30/2021
Tip #1 Show your passion and connect with the audience.
It's perfectly natural to feel nervous when presenting to an audience; add in factors such as the size, whether they are a new audience, and definitely, the topic you are presenting on, which can take up your nervousness a bit.
Be honest and sincere with the audience about why the topic matters to you, and they will connect.
Have you ever been asked to present at a function and be so nervous you thought you would bomb? Then you are up, and you start speaking, and before you know it, the nerves have passed, your audience seems to be engaged, and all that you were worried about when you started are no longer on your mind? The passion and knowledge of your topic shone through and allowed your audience to connect with you.
Tip #2 Focus on your audience needs
Build your presentation around what you want your audience to get out of the presentation.
Are you making it easy for the audience to understand what you are presenting to them? Please focus on the audience and watch their reactions to what you are saying. React to their response.
Tip #3 Keep it Simple; focus on your core message.
When you are planning your presentation, always keep in mind the question?
What is the message? Or what are 3 key points you want the audience to take away? Your goal should be to communicate your message in 30 seconds or less. A good rule of thumb is that if what you are going to say doesn't contribute to your core message, don't say it.
Tip #4 Smile and make eye contact with your audience.
This sounds very basic, but you would be surprised how many speakers don't do it.
Smiling and making eye contact is one way that you are building rapport with your audience. This is a crucial piece of connecting with your audience and allowing them to relate with you and your message.
Tip #5 Start strongly
At the start of the presentation, it is crucial to get your audience's attention and keep it. Some ways of doing that would be to relay to them a story, tell a joke, or, on the first slide, make it a powerful but attention-grabbing picture.
Tip #6 When using slides, remember the 10-20-30 rule.
Your slide show presentation should not use more than 10 slides.
It shouldn't last more than 20 minutes, and the font size should be no less than 30.
Tip #7 Tell stories
Use stories even if they are not your own. Say you heard a story that relates to the topic you are presenting. Go ahead and relay it so that it frames your subject.
We are programmed to respond to stories.
Tip #8 Use your voice effectively
It is essential to use your voice effectively because the spoken word is actually a very inefficient way of communicating. After all, you are only using 1 of the audience's 5 senses.
So being aware of your speaking pace, the inflection, and tone in your voice are some ways making your voice more attractive to your audience.
I am sure we have all had that one experience in college or career where we were forced to listen to a monotone speaker, and it made the otherwise interesting topic a snooze fest.
Tip #9 Use your body too
How many of you are aware that more than three-quarters of communication is non-verbal?
This means that you need to make sure that your body language is welcoming and sending the correct message.
Walking around fluidly and ensure that your hand gesture and arms reflect your open and relaxed.
Tip #10 Relax, breathe and enjoy the journey
There are people we view people as natural presenters and who don't seem to have any issues with the above.
If you are not one of those people, I would recommend focusing on your breathing.
