Monday, September 14, 2009

E-Tip 251 - The #1 Secret to Giving a Great Presentation

Over the years, we have helped tens of thousands of business professionals in the local area increase their level of confidence when making a presentation.

Research has proven that if you have some snap in your step, excitement in your voice and a command on your subject matter, people pay attention. So, if you want to win over your audience during a presentation, the number one secret is to provide them with a high degree of enthusiastic energy on a subject matter you know cold.

6 Tips If You Get Nervous In Front Of People

For anyone who gets a little nervous talking in front of people, it has been proven that concern over appearing nervous doesn't matter, as people cannot even see it. To reduce your nervousness, we recommend the following:

  1. Become The Subject Matter Expert - You can quickly impress your audience by having a clear command of your subject matter. If you know your data, content and handouts cold, you will woo your audience within a short period of time.

  1. Limit How Much "Copy" You Use On Each Slide - Go through each slide and make sure your copy is "bullet point" driven vs. "sentence" driven. Your presentation should be built around the highlights of your subject matter; you are there to expand on each point, as you want your audience focused on you and not the screen they are watching. If you are giving a detailed presentation, make sure you have a supplemental handout to support your presentation.

  1. Control Which Questions You Will Answer - There is nothing worse than seeing a speaker get sidetracked with irrelevant questions. If someone asks you a question that is not relative to your content, address it by telling that someone that you will answer their question after your presentation.
  1. Start Off By Telling People That You Are Nervous -After you have told everyone that you are nervous, tell them, "Now that I got that out of the way, let me tell you a little bit about what I am going to present today. . ."

  1. Slow Down - If you are nervous, there is a good chance you have sped up your speech or skipped over certain things. Keep little reminders in your presentation to prompt you to slow down. You could have a little stop sign in your presentation that acts like a trigger.

  1. Walk Around The Room If Possible - When giving a presentation and the venue is more casual, make an effort to walk around the room and interact with some of the people who are watching you. You will be surprised how this will help you become more "at ease" during the presentation.

Summary: As you can see, enthusiasm plays a huge part in giving a great presentation, but it also needs to be combined with a number of other components. And once you master this, you will quickly become great at presenting and win your audience over and over again.


for more information, visit our website, or email us at bob_dickson@dalecarnegie.com


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