Public Speaking Tips for your Next Presentation At Work

A public presentation isn’t a simple task, to stand up and talk in front of an audience of people! Many people fear public speaking and situations when they have to face and open up their thoughts and suggestions to a crowd. We bring a few tips and tricks that would help to conquer the art of public speaking.

Practice and preparation are the keys to public speaking. One needs to prepare the presentation and the topic on which they would impart information. Practice speaking in front of the mirror and tone up the vocabulary is also a great way to conquer public speaking.

Understand the Details

Collect the topic, information related to it, the venue, and each detail of the public speaking event. Preparing this information beforehand is helpful and will make the person comfortable with the audience and prepare a proper presentation that would easily resonate with the audience.

Know the Audience

Knowing and understanding the audience is essential to give an effective public speaking. This would also assist you in understanding the subject and the knowledge level of the audience. Always ask, “What is the audience in the room and why are they present there?” this would give a lot of suggestions to prepare the presentation accordingly for the audience.

Structure of the Speech

Preparation is the key! And preparing the presentation and the speech is of foremost importance. The focus of a successful public speaking is how the person speaks out the words in front of an audience. Prepare the speech so that the words and sentence structure are efficient and understandable.  Incorporate relevantly and live examples and data in the speech as these get the audience more connected to the words you are saying.

Avoid Overloading Slides

While using slides for a presentation make sure you don’t overload it with too much text information. Incorporate infographics and easy text that the audience will resonate with more easily. People get distracted and bored if they see a quantum of text and paragraph on a slide.  Use visual complements in place of words on the slides. 

Take Feedback

Feedback is also essential for improving the presentation. What may seem right to you may be incorrect to a particular audience. Practice the presentation beforehand in front of a sibling/friend or coworkers to get feedback on it.  Ask them to point out any wrong points and words in the presentation and see if the slides are confusing. This way you will get honest and clear feedback before presenting it in front of a live audience.

Avoid Burying Yourself in Notes

When giving a presentation, don’t bury your face into the screen or the notes and go on dictating whatever is there. Make eye contact with the audience and interact with them for their views.  This helps to connect more effectively with the audience. If possible, don’t use notes at all, memorize the first and last lines of the presentation and give the session interacting and giving detailed information about the topic on your own.

Make Pauses

Pauses are a crucial part of a presentation. Many people speak fast and end up creating a mess of confusion of the entire presentation, maybe out of nervousness. The audience cannot resonate with a super-fast speech. Always use pauses in the speech. It will also help with the overall speed of the speech and the pacing. Use pauses strategically, applying it after the crucial points of the presentation. This will enable the audience to sink in the information and process it in their minds. 

Repeat

An audience can’t rewind a speech in a live situation.  The speaker needs to repeat the important bits to give the audience crucial takeaways. This also ensures the audience listens and processes it. 

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