Presentation advice

[Troll]

The Central School of Speech & Drama give lessons in public speaking
http://www.cssd.ac.uk/pages/bus_performance.html

Unless you are fortunate enough to be born with the skill - a course like this is worthwhile, the only other way is practice

[cailin maith]

Hence Ruprect. Which should be Ruprecht.

your one scares me a bit too - kinda looks like my dad circa 1969....

[Old Greg]

Used to be in the same position as you, now presentations don't bother me - it takes practice so at first it's always going to be unpleasant for you, but there are things to make your performance better. SASGuru's advice is sound, as is the advice not just to read it out word for word.

What I used to do (this is assuming you are using Powerpoint) is write down word for word everything you want to say. Then summarise each little section into a Powerpoint slide, and then summarise each point within the section as a bullet point within the slide. You should then have a summary of everything you wanted to say, but without having it word for word. Now, tear up your original word for word document.

Go trough your presentation and go through each slide, point by point and talk around each bullet point. It will be well structured and you won't miss out anything you want to say, but it will flow better and more naturally than it would have if you were just reading word for word.

Then practice, over and over again. Practice in front of someone at home if anyone's willing. Don't be afraid to ask a boss or colleague to listen first. If you don't want them to know you're nervous (although i don't know why that should matter) tell them you would value their input re the content.

Practice some more. Have a little intro prepared saying that you'd be happy to take any questions at the end. Then at the end, make sure you ask them for questions (I find it helps to have a final slide saying 'Questions' so you don't forget).

Practice some more and best of luck. Let us know how it went afterwards.

[richard-af]

your one scares me a bit too - kinda looks like my dad circa 1969....

Mine's Jason King. He's fab, baby!

[richard-af]

Used to be in the same position as you...

Feck that! Wing it! You're a CONTRACTOR, it's your sworn duty to prepare 2 mins before curtain up!

[Sysman]

Your dad was Jason King?

What I want to know is who the mother is. Jason seemed to pick up some rather fine ladies in his day.

[cailin maith]

Your dad was Jason King?

Eh no, my Da's a nice old Irish fella - although he might not be too happy with the old label!!

[thunderlizard]

Learn your presentation as much as possibly beforehand, ideally word for word. Then you can devote your attention on the day to making it work for the audience.
That's my main tip.

Others:
Speak loudish and slow - most people speed up and quieten down with nerves, so err on the side of caution.
If you're prone to nervous movements, put your hands and feet somewhere at the start and keep them there.
Try and keep changing the pace, with a few pauses, to keep everybody awake. If you can be controversial without being offensive, that helps too.
With 30 people, make eye contact individually (without staring), maybe one sentence at a time.

[Old Greg]

Good point, thunderlizard. Speak slower than you think you need to. Your natural tendency will be to rush.

[Gibbon]

Lot's of good advice on hear, but maybe too much to think about for your first time.

The main thing is to practice out loud in front of someone who will give you constructive criticism. A when I say practice I mean practice, 30- 40 times infront of someone else and whenever your in the car/shower/having sex.

This worked well for my few best man speeches and for my wife's presentation during a job interview.


Remember the six Ps

Prior Planning and Preparation Prevents PISS Poor Performance.

HTH