Speak Easy: Become a Better Presenter
In the boardroom or the classroom, at a wedding or a retirement party, in front of a few colleagues or a few hundred conference-goers, you are sure to be tapped to speak or perform in public from time to time. Here, Bentley experts offer some tips on improving your powers of presentation.
1. Practice the night before. “We continue to process information as we sleep,” says Leslie Doolittle, assistant dean and director of academic support services. “If you don’t practice the night before, you miss the opportunity for your brain to keep working and getting comfortable with the information.”
2. Use technology to organize. “I always use PowerPoint to prepare, even if I won’t be using to present,” says Amanda King, manager of sustainability. “It’s a great way to organize my thoughts. It forces you to be concise and keep things clear.”
3. Involve the audience. “A passive audience means death for a presentation,” says Andy Aylesworth, associate professor of marketing. “Ask people to raise their hands or move to one side of the room to show which side of an issue they’re on.”
4. Get personal. “Put as much of you into the performance as possible,” says Adam Payne, assistant director of student activities and director of arts and lectures, who often takes the stage as a vocalist and guitarist. “The more you make the performance your own, the better it’s going to be.”
5. Pace yourself. “People in front of an audience – particularly if they’re nervous – tend to speak very fast,” observes Bill Gribbons, professor of Experience Design. ”It’s important to pause, and to reflect.”
6. Keep things real. “I build in real-world examples for every major point I’m trying to get across,” Doolittle says. “It’s astounding how often speakers don’t do that. Giving examples of the concepts you’re discussing makes the information real.”
7. Hear your listeners. “Size up the audience’s needs and goals – what they value,” says Gribbons. “You should always try to get at their goals and what they’re trying to accomplish.”
8. Remember to breathe. “Breathing is incredibly helpful in calming the body systems down,” says Doolittle. “Taking a breath and slowing down your speech makes you appear very collected,” adds King.
9. See eye to eye. “I make a point of establishing eye contact with someone in the 20th row, and then keep moving around the audience,” Gribbons says. “When you do that, everyone feels you’re looking at them. Then they’re engaged, and they’re more likely to be listening.”
10. Find your comfort zone. “It’s important to be OK with who you are – whether or not the image fits the classic picture of a ‘professional’ public speaker,” Doolittle says. “Use language that’s real to you. If you are comfortable, the audience is going to be comfortable.”
11. Dodge avoidance. “Those who are most terrified of public speaking are the ones who should be doing it,” Gribbons says. “To get over the fright, don’t avoid those opportunities – seek them out.”