Whether it’s your first or thousandth presentation, the adrenalin rush and trepidation you feel just before you start can launch you into a great or embarrassing experience. Public speaking is the biggest fear for most people. The good news is that there are steps you can take to deliver a successful presentation. Here are a few tips:
-
Ground yourself ahead of your presentation.
If you are anxious, your audience will be, too. You need to be authentic, focused, and enthusiastic. This includes knowing your materials, putting in hours of practice, and, if time permits, doing a rehearsal with feedback from an experienced speaker/facilitator.
-
The magic of music.
Before delivering a training program, listen to music that calms and inspires you. For more than three decades, I would play Ray Lynch’s Deep Breakfast while driving to the training site. Find your song and go with the flow. Before setting up the room, put on music that relates to the topic of the course. For me, this was an instrumental by Japanese composer, Kitaro, which blended Asian and Western melodies. This was for a program that taught participants to build bridges of understanding across differences for business success.
-
Know how to relate to your audience.
If you are an external trainer, learn something about the organization that most participants do not know. One of my leading clients developed a catchy theme song a decade earlier, which was long forgotten. I would play this as participants came in the room and none of them ever realized the song was about their company even though there was a chorus that repeatedly included the name of the company. The lesson was to listen to the message. I then played the song and encouraged the participants to sing the chorus with me. This helped me establish myself as an “insider,” and singing together helps to build bonds. Several participants asked me for a link to the song so they could play it at their next meeting.
-
Get them engaged before the program begins.
Put up a relevant question or quiz the participants can think about even before the program officially begins. This could be a fun word game participants work on as they are waiting for the others to settle in. It also relaxes participants.
-
Take care and control of your mind and body.
It is natural to be anxious before speaking to a group of strangers. “It’s your body’s involuntary response to an audience. It’s more of a biological, automatic reaction,” according to bilingual speaking coach Rosemary Ravinal. She also recommends drinking warm water before and during your presentation and avoiding cold drinks.
-
Breathe with intention.
Remember to breathe deeply before and during your presentation. Just as in sports or meditation, breathing deeply through your nose for four seconds, holding it in your diaphragm so your stomach expands outward for four seconds and slowly breathing out through your mouth relaxes you and helps you to focus on your topic. This has been known for millennia. The Latin word, spirare, mean “to breathe” and is the root for the English term “inspire.” So if you want your presentation to inspire—breathe.
-
Begin strong.
Tell an interesting story about yourself that demonstrates how the program material relates to your experience. Since my programs focused on cross-cultural understanding, I begin by telling the class of a case in a Korean hotel where my wake-up call was a message from the front desk that “Your time has come.” This generates laughs and teaches a lesson about how words and phrases can have multiple meanings. In fact, I end each seminar by telling the class that “Your time has come”—to take what they learned and lead with it at work. If you do not have an applicable story, start with a good quote or question. I like to use, “The speed of change today is (pause) slower than it will ever be in your lifetime.
-
Create stress.
Some stress is good for learning. Put participants into a stressful situation where they cannot solve or understand how to act until they learn the lessons from your workshop. This should never be embarrassing but an opportunity for each participant to realize they will benefit from your program.
-
Application to work.
Early in a program, ask each participant write down why they are attending the workshop and identify: individual, team, and organizational action plans they would like to implement as a result of the program. At the end of the program, I ask each participant to share their action plans with the other participants so they can learn from each other. Participants leave enthusiastic and energized.
Make the most of your program opening by demonstrating your experience, expertise, enthusiasm, sense of humor, and willingness to learn with and from participants.
If you have any questions or best practices on how to engage attendees at your presentations, please send them to me at: Neal@NealGoodmanGroup.com
