Lots of presenters when asked what’s the one thing they’d like to do differently, would probably respond with “present with more confidence”. So what is it about presenting confidently that makes it so difficult for people to achieve this when standing in front of their audience? Is it lack of practise? Lack of training?
Many people suffer the following reactions when the present: sweaty palms; fidgeting; losing track; mind going blank. If we took everybody’s symptoms and put them all in a list you’d probably be surprised at just how many there are. The strange thing is that many seemingly confident presenters also suffer from some of these symptoms!
So what do we need to do to become more confident? what can we do to improve our presentation skills? What can we do to get into a more positive state?
There are lots of different techniques you can employ. You need to try them out and then choose which work best for you. Some of the more obvious ones are:
Be prepared. This includes knowing your audience and what matters to them. Make sure that your slides are likely to make an impact with them.
Create a succinct structure to your presentation. Keep it simple with a specific beginning, middle and end. And limit your main ideas to 3 in total. It will help you to stay on track and as a result make it simpler for the audience to understand.
Try and be more controlled when you speak. Don’t rush things. So be conscious of this and make an effort to keep in control. The tendency is always to get it over with. But if you think ’slow down’ when you first start you will actually feel more in control and this will give you more confidence and self assurance.
Try out these 3 simple ideas the next time you are asked to present. And hopefully you’ll be more in control and of course more confident throughout!
And finally, click for more help on how to create a presentation.
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