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?
Typical reactions you may experience when presenting without the desired confidence are nerves / butterflies, mumbling, being inaudible, dry mouth. The list is probably endless but its actually quite normal. And you might be surprised that many now confident presenters also suffered at one time from these same problems.
So how do we create the confidence required to control these nervous habits? what can we do to improve our presentation skills? What techniques do people use to get into a more confident state?
There are many different techniques that people use. You need to try out a few to find out those that work best for you personally. Some of the more obvious ones are:
Do your preparation. This includes knowing your audience and what matters to them. Then ensure that your presentation is designed with them in mind.
Create a succinct structure to your presentation. Keep it simple with a definite beginning, middle and end. And limit your primary points to three in total. This will help you keep track and make it simpler for your audience to follow you.
Slow down your delivery. Don’t rush things. So be conscious of this and make an effort to keep in control. The temptation is always there to rush through things. But if you think ‘slow down’ when you begin you will star to feel in more control and this will give you more confidence.
Try out these 3 simple ideas the next time you are asked to present. And as a result you should be more confident and successful.
Click the resource link if you want to find out more about confident presenting and how to present with PowerPoint.