► Here are 7 helpful hints to help you overcome your nervousness by empowering your presentation skills.
1 REMEMBER: THE LISTENERS ARE ON YOUR SIDE
If you get nervous speaking in public, and most of us do (I'm the worst!) then you need to remember this: the listeners are on your side. This is a bit of advice I constantly have to remind myself, everyone wants your presentation to be good, the audience is there because they want to hear what you have to say.
Listeners want to feel they are part of the presentation - most experts suggest that the speaker should maintain eye contact with the audience, be sure to look at different points in the audience so that no one person feels they are being stared at.
Here are some suggestions to keep the audience engaged in what you are presenting and not particularly focused on you.
• Make sure everyone can hear you, and that they see any visual material you are using. If in doubt, ask. If appropriate, ask questions of the audience.
• If people in the audience look completely confused, ask if you need to explain something again. No-one ever says `yes', but people like to be asked.
• The occasional joke is useful, if appropriate and spontaneous (this means that there is something amusing and funny that you want to say.)
• Smile. (If appropriate.)
There are a few things that will cause the audience to lose interest in your presentation:
• swearing is never appropriate
• if you appear to not be interested in your topic or knowledgeable about the subject you are presenting, be sure to choose your topic wisely, one that you fully understand.
• don't talk too much, make your point(s) and be clear, don't "ramble" on.
2 STRUCTURE AND PLANNING
When planning your presentation, keep in mind that most people have an attention span of about ten minutes. You must organize your presentation in the same way you organize an essay - it must have a introduction, body of support, and conclusion.
If your presentation is poorly organized, or difficult to follow, people won't be able to concentrate even for the ten minutes. Have a very clear structure to your presentation, so that the audience knows how it is progressing. A well organized presentation could follow this structure:
• 10% - 20% introduction;
• 60% - 80% main body of talk;
• 10% - 20% conclusion or summary.
3 TIMING
The shorter the talk, the longer it will take to prepare. This is because it is harder to say everything you think is important in the given time. Most presentations are under 10 minutes.
4 PREPARATION
The most common problem with student presentations is that the presenters underestimate how long it takes to prepare and practice. You should practice the presentation at least once in front of another person.
5 VISUAL AIDS: Using a computer and video presentations
PowerPoint presentations are the most common format for presentations. However, every class, company or organization has their own preferred presentation method, obviously you should ask what format is preferred before you prepare your presentation. Most importantly, if you are not familiar with the location of your presentation, you need to check in advance that the equipment will be compatible with the software you use and what equipment is available, for example, is there a data projector?
6 QUESTIONS
At the end of a presentation you take questions from the audience. Usually, the audience has questions about your topic and this can be an exciting part of your presentation as you get to share your knowledge and experience with the audience.
7 HAVE FUN!
If you are well prepared and fully understand your presentation topic, you'll enjoy giving your presentation. It can be energizing and exciting to share your interests and passions with an audience.
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