I used to be absolutely terrible at presenting. In grade one, I cried before a presentation, though you could say it was effective as I never ended up doing it. A few years later, I had an interview and said absolutely nothing. I was told afterwards that my communication skills were below average. Through grades five and six, I would just talk as fast as possible to get them over with. Not the ideal way to present, but then something changed. Perhaps it was the opportunity to give a graduation speech and participate in a french speech competition or just mere practice. Whatever it was, it took time and practice to get to where not only would I be willing to make a speech, but where my teachers would look forward to hearing what I have to say. Here are ten tips that brought me there.
Talk with emotion and start off strong
This gives your audience a good shaking, especially after having listened to numerous presentations. If you don’t know how, just try to sound angry or offended, something like that. No one likes to listen to some monotonous droning, and it can make your presentation terrible, no matter the content.
Talk slower than you think you are (cliche but true) and familiarize yourself with your introduction
Who doesn’t get scared when they present? There are times when I’m shaking before I start. This is why, as I’ll mention later on, you should focus on your introduction and conclusion. I pretty much never practice my presentation, but what I always do is to make sure I know my introduction. This is to account both for the nerves and to get the interest of your audience. The good thing is that once you start presenting, it really isn’t that scary anymore. You’re more able to control your speech, and it’s really just the anticipation that gets to you.
Have a script with each sentence starting on a new line and highlight the beginning with alternating colours
This minimizes your chance of losing where you are and having to stand there in silence with everyone staring as you frantically scan your script to find where you left off. Instead of having to scan the entire page, all you have to do is to look at every highlight marker.
Read over out loud as you write
By doing this, not only are you able to better hear your wording and flow, but you also give yourself the chance to practice speaking your speech and having more familiarity. This ensures that when you talk, you’re not caught off guard by some punctuation that changes the tone of the sentence and makes it seem off. It also helps with memorization if that’s required. This is because if you are reviewing as you write and generate ideas, you’re more likely to remember the facts that came before and after one another.
Introduction (again) and the conclusion are the most important
If all else fails, get a good introduction and conclusion. Start off with some interesting fact or notion, what’s called the “hook sentence.” Often in the introduction, people list what they’re going to talk about. I personally don’t like this but have no proof or approval on whether or not to use it, so I will not be directly rejecting the idea. Really though, you want the suspension to keep the people listening, why spoil what you’re going to talk about?
Don’t state your opinion in the introduction. If you have to, put it in the conclusion section
Don’t share your opinion in the introduction. Not only does it bore people, but it gives a bias to the information you're presenting. The introduction is so important to gain attention, but the conclusion is even more so. Here you want to link whatever you’re talking about to the world, get the big picture. Often when making presentations with two arguments, whether something is right or wrong, better or worse, conclusions are where people pick a side, if they haven’t already. I usually leave this open to interpretation, and rather than having an ending point for one side, have one for both, but this is just personal preference.
Follow where you’re reading with your finger
I usually just keep my thumb at the start of sentences, so I don’t get lost. There's no need to follow with your finger through every word.
Look ahead at the sentence while presenting so you can look up at the audience at the end of your sentence
You want to look at the audience for at least a couple seconds, turning your head from one side of the room all the way to the other and making eye contact with people in the audience. Don’t do one of those quick head nods. It’s probably going to throw you off from where you were reading, and it’s almost as bad as just not looking up. Doesn’t look very natural to the audience either.
Hold the paper at a slight angle above your waist
This way, the paper isn’t up in your face and your head can still be slightly angled at the audience to better project what you’re saying. If you have trouble reading, use a larger font.
Don’t think when you’re presenting
This sounds really dumb, but whenever I get unfocused by thinking about something else or how I messed up, it causes me to stumble more. Just read what you wrote, don’t even try processing what you’re reading.
Not all of these tips will necessarily help you as they did for me, but perhaps in at least trying new methods, you'll be able to find things that work for you and help improve your speaking skills. I also didn’t mention anything about cue cards because I don’t like them, but don’t hesitate to use them if you find them helpful.
(BTW this conclusion is not good, so don’t take an example from it.)
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