The joy you feel is quickly dampened by the realization that your new role includes presenting on a regular basis to senior management of your company and you are scared stiff!
What do you do?
Perhaps you enroll on a presentation skills course and whilst on that course you feel your nerves ebb away with each presentation that you give and each piece of feedback that you receive. One month later you are to give your first presentation at work and the nerves just flood back as though the training course meant nothing.
There are many simple ways to avoid this dreaded possibility and most of them are very straightforward.
Firstly be prepared, that means fully researching your subject and, as far as possible, your audience. Confidence increases considerably when you know your subject and know that no question from the audience can throw you.
TIP 1: All presenters naturally feel more at ease answering a question (assuming they know the answer) than they do presenting, so, if possible, get a plant in the audience to ask you an agreed question early on in the presentation; any nerves will simply vanish!
Knowing your audience will allow you to structure your presentation in a way which will hold their interest; seeing the audience interested in what you are saying will provide a great boost to your confidence.
Secondly, try your presentation on trusted colleagues first and get them to tell you what works and what doesn't. Having already done the presentation is a guaranteed way to feel more at ease on the day.
Thirdly, do not worry about making a mistake. Making a humorous quip about your error will cause your audience to laugh and help build a rapport with them.
TIP 2: Make a deliberate error in the first few minutes and follow-up with a well rehearsed spontaneous quip. The tension between you and the audience melts away as rapidly as ice in the desert. You could say perhaps "I fully expect sales to exceed ?3,000 this month" (when you and the audience are expecting a figure of around ?300,000), hesitate briefly, say, "oh well I'd better cancel the family holiday to Australia that I'd planned with my bonus this year!" Then follow up with "of course I meant ?300,000".
Fourthly, break the ice by meeting a few people from your audience before you speak; you will find that connection through eye contact with those people will help you enormously to feel at ease.
Finally, deep breathing does actually help to relieve tense muscles, a quaking voice and queasy stomach. It also helps to sit in a chair, contract and relax your arm muscles. You can feel a big difference after you have done this, but if you find yourself becoming tense again, simply repeat or try it with other muscles especially neck muscles. Always have some water handy to prevent your mouth from becoming dry.
Try these tips and you will soon see that your confidence will rapidly increase. Also make sure that you do as many presentations as you can; the more practice that you get at this the easier it becomes. And the very best of luck!
Copyright (c) 2007 The College Of Public Speaking
"Hello everyone..." How often have you heard that phrase in speech openings? And here are a couple of even more pointed questions: Who exactly is being addressed, and what does that mean in terms of audience response? Briefly, my answers are: no one at all, and regarding the second question, I would argue it tends to alienate members of the audience, although perhaps modestly.
When you address a group this way, it implies you see a featureless group, rather than a gathering of individuals. "Hello everyone..." and "Thanks everyone..." and their variations depersonalize the audience. For those of us in the audience, it seems to suggest you're speaking past us, to some unknown at the back of the venue.
The same audience response is true, to some extent, of the phrase "Ladies and gentlemen" although its long history implies formalism rather than depersonalization.
You might well object, though, that many speakers and entertainers use the speech opening phrase, "Ladies and gentlemen...". And, you'd be right. They do. Talk-show host, David Letterman, for example, often prefaces his jokes or anecdotes with the phrase. In that case, the phrase is likely not a bad habit; it's probably done intentionally. By using "Ladies and gentlemen..." he adopts a formalism that contrasts very effectively with his off-the-wall style of humor. The contrast between the two makes the jokes more enjoyable.
Similarly, some very good public speakers also use this speech opening intentionally. Once more, the idea is to sound formal, but now it's used to provide emphasis, rather than contrast. Prefacing a key point with the "Ladies and gentlemen..." orally underlines the words to come, and gives them greater emphasis than the other words.
One last note: Sometimes speakers and entertainers use the phrase unintentionally because of misguided advice or old habits. They haven't enjoyed good, detailed critiques that would expose the usage.
While I can find reasons to use "Ladies and gentlemen..." I can't find one for "Hello everyone..." or "Thanks everyone..." Both speech openings depersonalize the audience, which lessens the effectiveness of a speech or presentation.
And what, you might ask, should we do instead? Whether the setting is formal or informal, start by thinking of the audience as a collection of individual, and remind yourself that each person wants to be addressed personally. Keep in mind that old marketing acronym, WIIFM, "What's in it for me?" It's a way of reminding ourselves that every individual in an audience has his or her own wants and needs, starting with recognition of their existence.
And, that can be done quite simply. If you say simply "Hello..." rather than "Hello everyone..." makes it possible for each individual to assume that the greeting is being directed to them, and just them. The same applies to "Thank you..." and other usages.
I also find it works well if you pause after saying a simple "Hello" and then make eye contact with a number of people in the audience. You don't have to make contact with everyone, but at least a few.
Wrapping up our exploration of speech openings and audience responses, never speak to the group as if were an undifferentiated group; always address it as a collection of individuals. Bottom line: avoid both "Ladies and gentlemen..." and "Hello everyone..." (and similar speech opening variations) unless you have good and specific reasons.
Both Vincent Stevenson & Robert F. Abbott are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Vincent Stevenson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Writing, Marketing and Communications and Public Speaking. The College of Public Speaking assists the Corporate, Public and Voluntary Sectors improve their communication skills. Utilising the trusted research of US Educational Psychologist Albert Mehrebian, we use cutting edge business scenarios to develop speake. Vincent Stevenson's top article generates over 8100 views. to your Favourites.
Robert F. Abbott has sinced written about articles on various topics from Marketing and Communications, Writing and Marketing and Communications. Robert F. Abbott writes extensively about business communication, and his work includes the book, A Manager's Guide to Newsletters: Communicating for Results. You can read more free speaking tips at his website:. Robert F. Abbott's top article generates over 2900 views. to your Favourites.