Handling Anxiety
1) Know your opening line and your closing line. Know exactly where you want to go, having written your last sentence first. Practice your opening statement; it will get you going. It is take-off time...
2) Stand up straight. Correct posture makes it easier for you to breathe and in turn, it makes it easier for you to get your words out naturally – it gives you the appearance of having confidence and looking natural.
3) Do not rely on drugs or alcohol to calm your nerves. The side effects of slowed reactions, slurred speech and hazy memory lower the professionalism.
4) The #1 protection against anxiety is researching and knowing your subject. Be over-prepared and you will naturally feel better about your presentation.
5) Just before you get up to speak, hold your position and say to yourself, “I know what I’m going to say, and I’m glad for the chance to say it...”
Keeping the Audience’s Attention
6) Speak up. Talk a little louder than you think you have to. Most people speak far too softly and it sounds like they are mumbling. Speaking up also helps you calm anxiety or nervousness.
7) Use illustrations. The listener’s mind is hungry for pictures. Give them something to see. Use analogies and stories so they can visualize along with you. Use first-person stories whenever possible. The audience perks up when they hear phrases like “The other day I...” or “I have found from my own experience...” and “A friend of mine once told me...”
8) Pause occasionally. Pauses are perhaps the most effective technique for regaining attention of an audience. Most speakers do not use this powerful idea because the silence seems deafening to them. However, the audience welcomes the pause. They usually relax and re-focus. Try it and you will see all eyes looking back to you for your next statement.
9) Save your handouts until after your presentation. If you give people materials at the beginning of your talk, they will read them instead of paying attention to you.
Opening Remarks
10) A bright Albertan once said, “If you haven’t struck oil in 3 minutes, stop boring.” I would apply that to speeches in that you have 30 seconds to 3 minutes to convince the audience that you have something interesting to say. So, find an interesting opening statement or compelling first sentence.
11) Pause before you open your mouth to speak ... focus your eyes on one person in the audience, preferably someone about halfway to the back or in the first ten rows; the pause will get their attention and direct your attention to someone in the middle of the room. You will automatically speak louder than if you looked at somebody in the front row.
12) Do not risk losing the effect of your planned opening statement by trying to respond to the remarks of the previous speaker. Stay on track. It is a better plan to stick with your rehearsed & known opening, no matter how tempting it might be to change it.
13) Make your opening statement relate to your point of view, not to the audience or the city where you’re speaking.... that may be appropriate in the middle of your talk, however you’ve been asked to speak because you’re an expert on a topic, so start on a crisp note.
Closing Remarks
14) Do not sit down until you have told the audience what you want them to do. Presumably, you were not just talking to be nice so tell them specifically what you want them to do. If you are just talking to be nice, you are giving a social talk, even if it is to a business audience. In this case, simply end with a pleasant remark.
15) The most welcome closing for the average business audience is one that comes a little ahead of schedule. Do not rush to finish early. Plan to do so. Plan to end a few minutes early. If you go past 10 minutes past your ending, you are in serious danger of losing your listeners. A tip you can use is to break down your presentation into modules or digestible bits of 10-12 minutes, each with its own single key point.
16) If you plan to move into a question period after your presentation, the transition will be your closing period rather than chronological ending – therefore plan for a logical conclusion before you accept questions and save a minute or two at the end of the questions for a brief recap.
17) Bring back your best visual to accompany your closing remarks. This will give your audience both verbal and visual reinforcement of your central theme. Of course, knowing in advance that you are going to return to the key visual will also keep you focused on your conclusion during the entire presentation.
18) When you are preparing your talk, begin by outlining the conclusion, your last sentence first. This is the last thing they will hear and the part they are most likely to remember. Many successful trial lawyers use this technique: they write their final argument first and then line up the evidence that best supports, and proves it to the jury.
Handling Questions and Answers
19) Sometimes the hardest part of a Q&A is getting people to ask questions. This is especially true with large audiences because no one wants to be first. Try to break the ice by asking easy, conversational questions related to your subject. Once the first person speaks, the questions will follow.
20) Unless you have designed to be interrupted in the middle of your talk, let the audience know in advance that you are saving plenty of time for questions & answers at the end and ask them to hold their questions until that time.
21) With audiences of 30 or more people, it is a good idea to repeat each question so the entire audience knows exactly what you have been answering. This also gives you valuable thinking time. You do not have to repeat each question verbatim; just make sure you re-state the essential elements.
22) Do not change the contextual or emotional meaning of a question asked, if you do it will be interpreted as you are not willing or able to answer the question. Always repeat it aloud as asked. Look directly at the person asking you a question and make sure they are finished before you start your answer. During your answer, do not look at the questioner, but talk to the rest of the audience. If you direct your attention only to the questioner, you will lose the audience’s attention.
23) Do not return to the person who asked the question to ask them if you have answered their question. You probably haven’t but the rest of the audience doesn’t care – so why start a detailed discussion with one person? Keep it moving – go on to the next question or questioner.
24) Now what if a previous questioner comes back for a more thorough answer? If it’s your sale, client or boss, you already know the answer! If it is a nitpicker, be polite, give some additional information but do not get bogged down. If he or she persists, tell them you will be happy to meet with them afterwards for a longer discussion of that specific point.
