| Here’s our second Tip on how to build your confidence when presenting.
A quick reminder of last week’s three techniques:
- Agree content upfront
- Their #1 benefit on your slide #1
- Practise the start. A lot.
And here are my other two faves:
Interactive Early
Many presentations are one-way downloads of info. The presenter speaks and the audience listens (or doesn’t). Very few people truly enjoy this. The presenter feels ‘on show’ and ‘looked at’. The audience isn’t engaged.
However, everyone prefers interactivity. The audience is more part of the presentation. And it’s great for presenters when their audience joins in.
So, a great way to build confidence – prepare:
- Your content – what you’ll say
- Your questions – what you’ll ask, so the audience definitely joins in
And then practise saying both. This guarantees a two-way, enjoyable conversation, not a one-way confidence-sapping rant!
Schedule time for practice
We all know that the best presenters practise.
And we all know that our best presentations happened when we practised.
And often our worst ones happened when we didn’t practise, tried to wing it, and it didn’t work.
But despite all this, many presenters don’t practise enough. The usual reason? “I didn’t have time”.
But “I didn’t have time” often means “I didn’t schedule time in my Outlook calendar”.
So, a great way to build confidence: next presentation, schedule time in your Outlook calendar for at least one practice. Miraculously, you’ll now have time to practise!
Action Point
So, what changes will you make, to feel more confident about your next presentation?
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