How to Smash That Presentation (and not be scared anymore)
Presenting in public can be pretty daunting but with these tips you can totally smash it and maybe even start to enjoy it!
In Never Stop Learning this week I will be covering the following 1-2-3:
One Big Thing - How to smash that presentation
Two Recommendations - Lessons on health and navigating the AI Apocalypse
Three Actions to take this week
One Big Thing - How to Smash That Presentation
I’ve always been relatively academic. Although I was a late developer at school I eventually got the hang of Maths and Science and finished pretty near the top of my school. But throughout these years and for a large chunk of my early career there was one thing that scared the living day lights out out me.
Presentations!
Public speaking is one of those things that scares many people. It’s often a real shame too. These people are often very talented in their field and the world would be a better place if they could just stand up and present their ideas. People would queue up to listen to them but often it’s like a mental block.
It constrains the development of so many people.
My story didn’t end there though. Over the last ten years I have slowly managed to overcome that fear to the point where I now kind of look forward to presenting.
I know, weird ay.
So, in this post I run through all the big things I’ve learned over those ten years that have taken me from a trembling mess to confident presenter.
So here goes.
Before we head into these ideas, please remember to hit subscribe for more weekly thoughts on how to improve your life…
1. Find out as much as you can about where you’re presenting
This is about preparing your mind for what the experience is likely to like and takes away some of the unknowns that you might have otherwise started to worry about ahead of time.
This covers basic things such as ensuring you know how to get to the venue.
You know you’ve got the right dress code.
You know you will have a screen there to present on.
You know if there will be a microphone or not.
You have a basic understanding of how many people will be in the audience.
All these things help you take away some of the unknowns on the day. You will feel more at ease and ready to focus on why you are there.
Time to nail that presentation…..
2. Don’t try and cover too much
The trick to a good presentation is to pick three big things that you want your audience to take away and remember.
It is so easy to fall into the trap of trying to use a presentation to show how much you know about a subject so that everyone thinks you’re super intelligent. As someone who has sat through many presentations such as this - its really annoying and it has the capacity to bore the pants off your audience!
So think about why you are presenting and pick those big three things to really nail in the presentation.
3. Do not write out everything you are going to say
If you attempt to read everything you’re going to say from a piece of paper you are doomed from the start.
You will probably appear pretty wooden in you’re delivery but the problems really arise if something unexpected happens.
Someone might interject and ask a question completely knocking you off your script. Do you then answer the question and then hope you can pick up your script later on?
Tricky.
The best thing you can do is prepare a few bullet points of what you want to cover to give you a few prompts if you need them.
The thing is, if you have followed the rule about not covering too much you wont actually need to memorise that much. You just need to be able to talk around those three big points and you’ve got it nailed.
4. Prepare yourself through visualisation
So, if you’ve followed my rule about finding out about your venue and the set up you’re half way to visualising the experience. The next thing you need to do is run through the presentation in you’re head a few times.
You will find that each time you do this you will think about different things to say.
This is fine.
What you’re mind is doing is storing some of these different ideas in your head so that when you’re standing in front of your audience your mind has a few routes it could take. This builds resilience and minimises the risk that you forget what to say.
5. Appreciate you have something interesting to say
You need to remember that you’re there to present something you think they need to know and they’ve come there on that specific day to hear something interesting from you.
You and your audience are exactly where they need to be at that point in time.
You have something interesting to say.
Those nerves you’re feeling? Those are excitement. This is a neat trick you can play on your brain.
You know that feeling when you’re about to go on a rollercoaster?
Nervous yes but its nervous excitement.
That’s a very similar feeling that you get before you start your presentation. It’s nervous EXCITMENT.
Remember that.
Trick your brain a little. Think rollercoaster!
No one is going to die and it will end and you will go home later in the day.
6. Start with a joke
I don’t mean do a stand up comedy sketch and I certainly dont mean do a “Knock Knock” joke. This is about picking something out that just lightens the mood a little and puts the audience at ease.
Subliminally, you are saying to them “it’s ok, this isn’t going to be boring and you might just find the next 30 mins enjoyable”.
What you will also find is that this small act relaxes you too. You’ve connected with your audience. They’re now on your side.
You’re more relaxed.
They’re more relaxed.
Good to go.
7. Do something useful with your hands
So that takes us to the presentation itself.
You’re standing there doing your stuff but the one thing that can give you away if you’re a little nervous are your hands.
What do you do with them.
Put them in your pockets maybe? NO!
Maybe cross your arms across your chest? NO! Doing this will look defensive and you wont be able to project properly.
There are a few things you can do.
You can hold something like a pointer or clicker. This gives your hands a purpose and gives you something to point out things on your presentation.
You can use your hands to emphasise what you’re saying. This can bring energy to your presentation.
And, if you’re at the end of your presentation and listening to questions then holding them behind your back can be a really neat way of parking them during those less energetic moments.
8. Talk slowly and use pauses
Finally, the biggest thing you can do with delivery of your presentation is to slow down.
Over emphasise the slowing down if anything.
You can practice before the day on this one in front of a mirror if need be. Once you get to the day, the nerves will speed you up again but to a normal speed.
Remember, if you only need to nail those three points that’s all good. You don’t need to rush. Nail your three points and get out of there.
Done.
The other thing you can do is embrace pauses. there is nothing more of a turn off than a monotone monologue.
So mix in some pauses.
I recommend watching a speech by Obama. You may not agree with his policies or what he’s done but he can deliver a speech and there’s lots to learn from him.
He is a master at the pause.
So that’s it, my top tips for nailing that presentation and enjoying it in the process.
Let me know how you get on!
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Two Recommendations - what to consume this week
1. Lessons Learned in the Crucible of Chronic Illness - Gary Sharpe’s Articles
Some brilliant pointers on maintaining good health that we can all take on board.
2. How to navigate the AI apocalypse as a same person - The Intrinsic Perspective
To be honest, I’ve been getting a little worried about AI recently but then I stumbled on this article that made me feel a little better.
Three Actions To Take This Week
My vision for this newsletter is to provide you with weekly actions that you can take away and use in your life in the coming week. So, here are three things you could try this week:
Do something that scares you - this could be volunteering to present at your next team meeting for example!
Think about actions you can take to improve the mental health of your team.
Set out to build one good habit over the next 30 days.
And… to get the latest post each week please don’t forget to hit subscribe
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It helps more than you know. Thank you!
Love this!
One thing I'd recommending is to try Toastmaster, particularly if you have no prior public speaking experience. It can be a positive, useful place to practice.