We all stumble into public speaking in business. We don’t start our first job with a grand plan for our future public speaking career. We just work as hard as we can. If we knew at the start how important this facility was, we would definitely plot out the path forward, corresponding to each stage in our careers. However, we are left to our own devices and we have no guidelines for presenting. Let’s fill in that gap in our business education and take a look at some useful guidelines on the basis it is never too late to start becoming a better presenter.
Here are nine guidelines to adopt.
1. Make brief notes in the order you want to mention them.
This is your navigation and could be on notes sitting on the podium or you might place a big sheet of paper on the backwall, behind the audience and use code words that only you understand. There is nothing wrong with quickly consulting your notes if you need to. Audience members will not jump to their feet and start denouncing us as frauds just because we took a peek at our notes. No one cares that much.
2. Unless absolutely necessary for legal reasons etc., do not read your speech. I have had the experience of representing my boss and reading his speech word for word. So painful. Yes, preparing the whole speech as a document is fine to help you practice. Just don’t read it to us. You can send it by email instead and we won’t need you or your presentation.
3. Never memorise a speech word for word.
This is no fun doing it this way because of the enormous mental strain it places on us. A thirty minute speech fully recalled from memory is pointless. We should enjoy giving talks so let’s not burden ourselves with that massive memory expectation. Just have the key points you want to cover and talk to them.
4. Use evidence to substantiate your points
We have to be very careful with general sweeping statements we may make. We will attract skepticism from our audience and we may find ourselves under attack during the Q&A. Always back up what is being said with evidence, proof, statistics, expert testimony, etc.
5. Know far more about your subject than you can use.
We don’t know what we will be asked in the Q&A, so we have to make sure we can answer any reasonable question, otherwise our personal and professional brands can be damaged. If we can’t answer a relevant question on our topic, then people will immediately doubt our credibility as a business professional.
6. Rehearse your presentation in front of your professional associates.
However, never, ever ask them “what do you think?”. All you will hear will be annoying negative comments that will ruin your day and your confidence. Instead, ask them “what was good” and “how can I make it better?”.
7. Use visual aids where appropriate.
We don’t automatically need slides. If they add value then absolutely use them. Visual aids are helpful because a picture is worth a thousand words, as we say. Pictures with people in them are the best. Also the visuals provide our navigation through the content of the speech, so we don’t have to remember all of the detail. We only have to talk to the information or the point on the slide and this is much easier.
8. Control “butterflies” in the tummy by taking in deep, slow, lower diaphragm breaths. This will help lower our pulse rate, reduce body heat and calm us down. We can also do some strenuous walking around, out of sight, to burn off excess nervous energy. For other people, they may need to lift up their energy levels, by giving themselves a pep talk.
9. Don’t imitate others: be yourself
It is tempting to copy other speakers, but we don’t need to do that. Life is short, so why try and become a facsimile of someone else? Be you every time and be the best version of you possible. If we work hard on the design, rehearsal and delivery of our talk we will develop our own natural style.
These guidelines are not exhaustive by any means, but they encompass some basics we should apply to our talks. I ran away from public speaking for my first thirty years. Why? Because I didn’t know what to do. I had no guidelines, no training and no clue. Even worse, I didn’t understand that I should go and get the training. I got there eventually, but I wasted so much time and opportunity by being in denial. Don’t be like me – don’t wait, go and get trained.
We all stumble into public speaking in business. We don’t start our first job with a grand plan for our future public speaking career. We just work as hard as we can. If we knew at the start how important this facility was, we would definitely plot out the path forward, corresponding to each stage in our careers. However, we are left to our own devices and we have no guidelines for presenting. Let’s fill in that gap in our business education and take a look at some useful guidelines on the basis it is never too late to start becoming a better presenter.
