DON'T MAKE A SPECIAL EFFORT TO BE FUNNY
TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE
LET YOUR VISUALS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
BE CONCISE
GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
KNOW WHAT WORKS
BE YOURSELF
ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE
TREAT YOUR AUDIENCE AS EQUALS
WELCOME QUESTIONS FROM YOUR AUDIENCE
TAKE YOUR TIME
KNOW EXACTLY HOW TO START
NEVER COMPETE WITH YOUR VISUALS
LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE
SPEAK NATURALLY
DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE
FINISH STRONGLY
KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
The secret of being an excellent speaker is to enjoy the experience of speaking - try to enjoy the experience!
When you are ready to finish your presentation, slow down, and lower your voice. Look at the audience and deliver your final words slowly and clearly. Pause, let your words hang in the air a moment longer, smile, say Thank you and then sit down.
Certain things are always popular with an audience: personal experiences, stories with a message, dramatic comparisons, amazing facts they didn't know. Use them to the full.
If you make a joke, don't stop and wait for laughs. Keep going and let the laughter (if it comes) interrupt you.
Don't waste time on long boring introductions. Try to make at least one powerful statement in the first two minutes.
As far as possible, speak to five hundred people in much the same way you would speak to five. You will obviously need to project yourself more, but your personality shouldn't change.
Good visuals are just that - visual. Don't put boring tables of figures and long lines of text on the overhead and read them out. Stick to the main points. Experiment with three-dimensional charts, cartoons, interesting typefaces - anything to catch your audience's attention.
Plan the first minute of your presentation down to the last detail. Try to memorize your opening words. This will help you to sound confident and in control.
Never talk down (or up) to your audience. Treat them as equals, no matter who they are.
When members of your audience ask you a question, it is usually because they have a genuine interest in what you are saying and want to know more. Treat questions as an opportunity to get your message across better.
When showing a visual, keep quiet and give people time to take it in. Then make brief comments only. Point to the relevant parts of the visual as you speak. If you want to say more, switch off your projector to do so.
Learn from other public speakers, but don't try to copy them. Be comfortable with your own abilities. Don't do anything that feels unnatural for you, just because it works for someone else.
Don't be afraid to hesitate when you speak, but make sure you pause in the right places. Remember, you are not an actor trying to remember lines. A certain amount of hesitation is actually quite natural.
Speak for your audience, not .yourself. Take every opportunity to show how much common ground you share with them. Address their goals, their needs, their concerns.
Check everything before you are due to speak - room, seating, visibility, acoustics and equipment.
Many of the best presentations sound more like conversations. So, keep referring back to your audience, ask them questions, respond to their reactions.
Keep your sentences short and simple. Use deliberate pauses to punctuate your speech.
Whenever you make a really important point, pause and let the full significance of what you have said sink in . . . before you move on.