Presentation Skills

Presentation Skills How to Tackle Public Speaking

Be Prepared • Preparation is underrated. • It is one of the most important factors in a successful presentation.

Know Your Material • Pick a topic you are interested in. • Know more about your topic than you include in your speech.

Practice! Practice! Practice! • Rehearse - out loud – not just in your head. • Revise as necessary. • Work to control filler words (uhm, like, you know). • Practice with a timer.

Know Your Audience • Tailor your presentation and language to your audience.

Know Your Speech • Do not read from notes for any extended length of time. • You may glance at your notes infrequently. • Speak loudly and clearly. • Sound confident. • Do not mumble.

Relax • Beginby addressing the audience. Good morning, etc. • Pause, smile and count to three before saying anything. • Breathe!

Body Language • Body language is important. • Stand up! Sitting down is a no-n0. • Moving about is ok, but don’t pace. • Standing with your head down and reading from a prepared speech is bad.

Gestures • Gestures can add to your presentation and they can distract from it, too. • Watch out for helicopter arms. • Avoid sharing your presentation with your toes or your belly button.

Maintain Eye Contact • Use the 3-second method, e.g. look into the eyes of a person in the audience for 3 seconds at a time. • Have direct eye contact with a variety of people in the audience. • Every now and then glance at the whole audience while speaking. • Use your eye contact to make everyone in your audience feel involved.

Persuade Effectively • Speak with conviction. • Include the same ingredients as those required for a written paper.

Pause • Allow yourself and your audience a little time to reflect and think. • The silence always seems longer to the speaker than to the listener. • Don't race through your presentation and leave your audience, as well as yourself, feeling out of breath.

Humor • Use humor when appropriate. • Use appropriate humor.

Timing • Know when to STOP talking. • Use a timer or your phone to time your presentation when preparing it at home.

The End • Summarize your main points in the same way you normally do in the conclusion of a written paper. • Terminate your presentation appropriately. • Thank your audience and sit down.

Row, row, row your boat... Realize that everyone else will be doing a presentation as well. They’re rooting for you. So is your teacher.

What Else? • Have the written portion of your assignment or report ready for your instructor if required.

Credits • http://www.aresearchguide.com/3tips.html • http://www.toastmasters.org/tips.asp • http://www.mindtools.com/CommSkll/PublicSpeaking.htm

Presentation Skills