I’ve had to do public speaking as a part of my work for many years. While I’m not the most polished presenter out there, I have had the opportunity to go through a couple public speaking training programs such as Dale Carnegie and Fusion that have taught me some valuable speaking skills and techniques.
Next to the technical skills necessary for your job, I believe good public speaking is the most important business skills that you can develop. Most people never invest in developing public speaking skills because (yes) they’re hard, they take work and they get us out of our comfort zone. But if you know how to communicate and connect with an audience, small or large, you have a serious competitive advantage over most other folks.
Of course, I still get nervous about getting up in front of a group of people to make a presentation. But because I’ve had the benefit of learning a number of strategies to work through a presentation, it’s much easier for me now than in the past. Here’s a list that might help you.
#1 Design your talk.
Listen to an experienced public speaker and you will begin to see patterns in their presentations. Get the basics down and learn to present based on a 3 point pattern. Once your experienced, you can vary the design and throw the “rules” out the window, but if you’re like most of us, use a design that’s tested and proven.
A simple basic presentation starts with an introduction, 3 main points and a conclusion. In the introduction, tell your audience what your going to tell them. Use the 3 main points to tell them. Then, in the conclusion, tell them what you told them.
The structure goes like this: Open with an example or story to capture the attention of your audience, something they can relate to. Then introduce your topic and tell your audience what the 3 main points are. Transition into point 1. Tell them what point 1 is, elaborate, then conclude by reiterating point 1. Do the same thing for points 2 and 3. Conclude by restating what you’ve just told them (yes, that’s points 1, 2 and 3 again!). Finish with a call to action.
The system works. Take advantage of it. Be obsessive about it.
#2 Use examples and stories that connect
People are emotional creatures. We are captivated by stories. We connect with experiences more than with statistics. Even presentations that are technical and data heavy can be transformed by relating stories that personalize the data. I was recently in a seminar and completely captivated by a speaker talking about Social Security requirements because he worked in story after story of people like my parents and their experiences with Social Security t o drive home his points. And it doesn’t get much more boring than Social Security law!
#3 Inject your personality
Anyone can stand up in front of a group and read content off of a PowerPoint slide. What makes your presentation unique is not the topic or the idea you’re presenting, but you as the presenter. Unless you’ve discovered the cure for cancer and you’re presenting it for the first time, chances are your content isn’t new. But your personality, interpretation and delivery of the content is. You’re view of the world and the experience you draw upon are unique to you. Taking your content and injecting your personality into it connects you to your audience.
#4 Treat it like a performance
Good public speakers are not that way naturally. Sure, some folks may have more natural ability than others, but speaking skills can be developed by anyone with a little commitment and some hard work. I’m sure you’ve heard stories of athletes that didn’t have as much natural ability as others but worked harder. Public speaking is the same way. There are techniques that work and if you commit to using them and practice at it, pretty soon you will gain a confidence level.
Professional actors don’t make their lines up as they go. They got to be professionals by honing their performance skills and understanding that when they’re up in front of others, they are acting. When you are in front of a group, you too are in a performance. The audience has an expectation that you’re there because you know what you’re talking about and will deliver your lines. Understand a public presentation for what it is and you’re on your way to success.
#5 Write it Out, Word for Word
Sure, I know that goes against the idea that we should be spontaneous and get in the zone and just talk from the heart. That might work once in a million times, but it’s far more likely that you and I will get up in front of that group and zone out. And it’s at that point that our preparation kicks in.
When I’m preparing a talk, my starting point is to write my speech out exactly like I want to give it. This does a couple things for me. First, it helps to crystallize my thoughts. If I don’t leave anything to chance, then I’m forced to think through my talk from start to finish. It also helps me with the flow. Is my argument consistent? Do my examples make sense? Do the thought patterns connect or am I rambling and babbling. You can easily fake it with bullet points. Mentally you think that you’ll cover this and that and that. But write it out word for word and you’ll see if you’ve got a decent speech. This is the starting point, and I find it to be incredibly helpful.
#6 Practice by reading aloud
Once you’ve got your speech written out exactly how you want to deliver it, read it out loud. Go hide in a closet if you have to or stand in the woods where no one will hear you. But read it out loud. Don’t mumble, whisper or think it. Out loud, in a commanding voice, just like you’re going to present it. Does it flow? Is it conversational? Are you using words, phrases and grammatical construction that you would never use when you were talking with someone? Does it sound like Shakespeare?
Reading your talk aloud after you’ve written it exactly as you’d like to deliver it begins to train your brain on what it’s going to be like. It has the added benefit of showing you ahead of time where you sound like a goober or your talk doesn’t make sense. Some words and sentences just don’t go together. Does it sound like you’re rambling?
Here you have the opportunity to edit and revise so that it sounds like you want it to in a test environment. Work out all the kinks. Get it to flow. Use language and words that you can pronounce and that sound like you’re giving the talk, not reading from a textbook. Do this a bunch of times. Is this an 18 minute TED style talk? Do it several times a day, every day before your presentation. Is it a 5 minute book report for school? Do the same thing!
#7 Record yourself reading it exactly the way you want to deliver it
Ok, now it’s time to listen to yourself. Don’t be bashful about this. After all, you’re going to have to deliver this speech to real people so you might as well get used to hearing it yourself!
At this point, the idea is to record yourself giving your speech exactly the way you want to deliver it. That’s why you’re going to read it, not attempt to say it from memory or use a bullet point outline. You want to deliver it as though it were perfect, which means reading it verbatim, including your voice inflection and emphasis. You should be standing when you read it. Use a digital audio recorder or your iPhone or the microphone on your computer. Just get it in a format that you can play it back.
The point here is crafting your perfect delivery, or as close to it as you can get. This isn’t practice; that will come later. You’re the musician creating her demo tape. By doing this, you’re training your brain and ears what the ideal delivery is.
#8 Now, go listen to it
It’s just like learning the lyrics to a song you like. To do that, you listen to the song over and over again, thinking about the words, internalizing them. This is the same principle. Once you’ve recorded your “perfect” speech, you will of course practice it over and over again. But in the midst of your practice, listen to your talk again and again. Copy it onto your MP3 player or your smart phone and listen to it in the car on the way to work.
#9 For each section, identify one keyword
If you’ve designed your talk like I suggested, this should be fairly easy and straightforward. Don’t make your talk more complicated than it needs to be. Your audience probably won’t follow it and you’re likely to forget it. The 3-point topic structure is designed as much with you in mind as your audience.
So for each section of your talk – introduction, points and conclusion – select a keyword that identifies the essence of what you want to communicate. One word is preferable; “keyword” is the operative word, not “key sentence” or “key paragraph.”
#10 Practice your talk using only your keyword outline
There’s no substitute for practice. It doesn’t matter if its sports, music, or speaking, practice trains you for your delivery. Remember practice doesn’t make perfect, it makes permanent. Perfect comes from structuring, writing and reading your speech. Do that first, then practice delivering your speech using nothing but your keyword outline. Fumble through it. Make mistakes. Forget and remember. Go ahead and use up all your “uh’s” and “um’s.”
Practice it, then listen to it, then read it, then practice it again with nothing but your keyword outline. I recommend standing when you do this.
#11 Listed to your audio recording over and over
Training your subconscious is a powerful thing. The keywords will begin to recall what’s been etched into your mind through auditory training.
#12 Throw away your notes & your keyword outline & practice your talk out loud
Do it now so that you won’t get to speech time and realize that you’ve never given your talk without help. You’re not there to read your content to your audience. You’re there to deliver your performance which you’ve prepared for. So go ahead and prepare. Pretend that you’ve showed up, but your notes and your presentation didn’t make it. Get mentally prepared to deliver your talk mano-a-audienceo.
#13 Use effective visual aids
Now that you’re almost there and have your talk designed and delivered, you don’t need to type it in bullet point format on PowerPoint slides. People respond to pictures. Are you using a computer with PowerPoint? Select pictures that communicate the concept. Here’s a great way to inject your personality into your presentation. Don’t fall into the trap of using PowerPoint as a crutch.
If you are using a flip chart, draw your illustrations before your speech. Don’t try to draw them as you go. You will probably forget your lines while you’re thinking about what you’re drawing or writing and it will very likely look like a 3 year old’s writing on the flip chart. Prepare everything ahead of time. Fold the corners of your flip chart pages so they are easy to grab and flip over. There’s nothing like getting a page caught on the little metal brackets that hold the flip chart up to break your flow!
#14 Master movement and expression
A huge part of communication is non-verbal. It’s your body language and expression. You’re audience isn’t there to be bored to death by a monotone presentation from someone who’s clinging to the podium for dear life. They are there to learn something or at least to be entertained. That’s the result of having grown up in a media saturated culture!
It may sound kind of basic, but smile when giving your presentation. Express emotion in your voice. Sound like you want to be there (even if you don’t… it’s a performance, remember?) and that you care about your subject. If you don’t, consider choosing a new subject!
Use economy of movement to emphasize points. That means be deliberate in your physical movement, whether that’s walking to another spot on stage or using hand gestures. Don’t make your audience dizzy with your movement. Don’t make them think you have something to hide by being fidgety or shifty. Make your movements bold and deliberate.
Don’t wave your hands around with your elbows firmly at your side. This looks goofy to the audience, like you’re the robot from Lost In Space or like one of those weird characters from Yo Gabba Gabba! If you make hand gestures, move your arms from the shoulder, not the elbows. Sure, it feels a little awkward at first, but doesn’t the whole thing?
#15 Visualize a successful presentation
Do this. It’s not hokey and it’s not optional if you want to nail a successful presentation. See yourself delivering the presentation exactly like you wanted to. See the audience engaged with your topic. Connect with the audience by looking them in the eye. Imagine finishing your lines just like you practiced and hear the audience clap. Visualize the moderator shaking your had and thanking you for your presentation. Mentally walk off stage or sitting back down.
Visualization is a powerful tool. Harness it to make your presentation successful!
I hope you’ve found these strategies helpful and I hop that you crush your next presentation. And after you do, come back and leave a comment letting me know how you did!