Overcome your fear of public speaking so that you can conquer your next presentation like a boss!
So how do you really know if you just delivered an impactful presentation? Do you find yourself fearful to talk to a room full of people? Talking to a room of 10 people or 100 people is no easy task. Adding to that, the transition to remote work has changed the dynamic of presentations. So here are three tips to overcome your fear of public speaking so that nothing stands in your way of delivering an impactful presentation.
1. Know Your Audience
Knowing your audience is just as important as knowing what you plan to say. In many ways knowing WHO you are talking to, may define WHAT you will say.
One of my favorite sayings my mom used to tell me when I was younger was “Who are you talking to? I’m not one of your little friends.” Ironically, my mother has indeed become one of my closest friends (so the joke is on her ha!). But more importantly, the aforementioned adage has prevailed into adulthood as some of the most helpful, unintended, career advice I ever received. It is important to factor in who you are talking to when thinking about what you plan to say. The presentation you give to elementary school kids about physical fitness may look different than the one you give to college students.
What is important to know when defining your audience? With presentations becoming increasingly virtual some of this information may be collected during registration or when meeting information is email to attendees. So here’s a few things you should find out:
Size
How many attendees are expected? The presence of 5-10 attendees is very different from 100s of attendees. With smaller audiences there’s a certain level of closeness that you can use to your advantage. If time allows you can go around the room and have each attendee introduce themselves. This captures a level of participation from the very beginning that you can leverage throughout your presentation.
Larger audiences require different approaches for establishing and maintaining connection. Larger audiences can evoke fear due to the concern that you may not be able to connect with every single person in the room. Not to mention hundreds of people looking back at you while you speak can be a lot to handle. With hundreds of people you won’t have time for everyone to introduce themselves.
One way to counteract this issue is to create connections within the audience. Have attendees introduce themselves to the person next to them. During one presentation, I included a question for the audience. I used this as an opportunity to have attendees share their answer with their neighbor or if using a video call, they can write their response in the chat box. This gives the attendees a few moments to engage in conversation while also giving yourself a minute to pause for a drink of water. The goal is to connect with your audience, no matter the size.
Purpose for attending the presentation
Why are people attending? Don’t worry, you may not be able to completely answer this question. People have all kinds of reasons for attending conferences, events or seminars. But overall there tends to be a few main reasons why a person would attend. Is this a conference that focuses on a specific subject? Is the event industry or role specific? Find out what that commonality is. You can highlight it in unique ways during your presentation. Additionally it is important to think about the people that might be hearing about the topic for the first time. I’ll talk a little more about this in the next section.
2. Organize What You Plan To Say
Think about what you plan to say. Take into consideration how much time you have for your presentation. Are you the only presenter? Or will there be multiple presenters? Do you have 5 minutes to speak or 45 minutes? You want to make sure that you have a central theme that guides the presentation. Knowing how you want to deliver your presentation in advance will prevent you from feeling flustered or overwhelmed. Organize your thoughts and supportive arguments with a clear beginning, middle and end. If there is limited time for my presentation I may go as far writing out a run of show.
Knowing how much time I have for each section will keep me on track. There will always be a few incidents that are completely unavoidable on the day of. Nevertheless, having a general approximation of how much time you want to devote to each slide or section of your poster will do wonders for keeping you on track.
Rehearse, rehearse, REHEARSE
I rehearse for almost all of my speaking engagements. Whether I am super comfortable with the group or meeting them for the first time I like to rehearse my talking points. For me, it is very important for me to hear the sentences I plan to say out loud — before they are said to the audience. There have been times when something made sense written down but sounded off when spoken out loud.
Rehearsing also gives you an opportunity to get comfortable with your presentation. I can be at ease knowing the direction of my presentation. In my experience, that ease has translated into a stronger stage presence. This next idea is optional, but I like to rehearse with people who may not have the same awareness of the topic as I do. I value the fresh perspective they can provide.
3. Maintain A Comfortable Pace During Your Presentation
Keep a flow throughout your presentation that feels manageable and realistic. You don’t want to spend a lot of time on one topic at the start and then rush through other topics towards the end. I tend to orient my presentation around a goal or theme. I use subtopics and key discussion points to divide the presentation. This way I can give equal time to each subtopic.
No matter how much time you prepare to have, it will always feel like you are running out of time on the day of. But slow down, you don’t want anyone to miss an important point because it went by so quickly. I tend to speak quickly so I try to be especially mindful of my pace during presentations. Another important consideration is your pauses and use of repetition. When used correctly both of these tools can emphasize your take home message.
I hope these tips are helpful for your next presentation!
Live abundantly,
Bethany
For more career tips check out my recent post
