How to Develop Confidence When Delivering Presentations

You don't have to be a professional speaker to deliver a presentation. However, you do need to be a prepared one in order to best present to your audience. A prepared presenter will be a more confident presentation giver.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Presentation Plan
• Speaker Notes

1. As the presenter, you should know your topic well enough to use notes only as an outline for prompting your thought process. Use the notes to help you pick up thoughts where you left off after questions have been used to enhance audience participation or something has interrupted your thought flow. Remember people who just read from notes tend to be monotone and boring. Also when you read, it can leave the audience feeling like they were not important to you because you did not bother to memorize your speech and you did not make eye contact with them. What this means to you as the presenter is you must practice before presenting!

2. If you are a small or soft-spoken presenter, you may require a microphone to amplify your voice. However, consider requesting a wireless microphone instead of a podium based one as it may restrict your movement or be harder for you to reach. In either case, make sure you get to the presentation location early enough to adjust the microphone to best meet your needs.

3. When you are provided with a podium for use during your presentation, no matter how nervous you get - do not use it to lean on or hold yourself up. This can make you look lazy, angry, or very nervous depending on your facial expression or physical stance. If possible do not use the podium unless you are required to be near it for a microphone. Instead of standing behind the podium where you are separated from the audience, you could try standing beside the podium to reflect your openness towards the audience.

4. Before you prepare any visuals you plan to use during your presentation, be sure to ask if you need to provide a master of these for handout copies to the audience. If you need technical equipment, computers, or other materials for your visual presentation, make sure you ask the person coordinating the event what is available for your use. Be prepared to bring whatever they can not provide with you or determine an alternate method for accomplishing the purpose of your visual aids. Plan to come in advance of your presentation time in order to be trained on any equipment you may be using. Not many things are more frustrating to an audience than a presenter who wastes their time trying to figure out how to page forward or backward in their visuals.

5. When using gestures as a visual way to enhance you presentation, remember that gestures should be high enough and grand enough for the audience to see and understand easily. Gesture should be used to emphasize your points but you should not get too carried away using them as some audience members may find it distracting from the message instead of enhancing it. Besides gestures, some presenters have been known to tap or bang on the podium or table to emphasize points. However this can be irritating to your audience and may send a negative message rather than emphasizing a point as was the intention. So remember not to use the podium or a table to produce sound effects because it is seldom as effective as you thought it might be.

6. Finally, if you are presenting in front of a group you do not know, plan to have someone introduce you as it adds to your credibility. An introduction should show your qualifications for giving the presentation. To insure the introduction is adequate, you may want to prepare some information for the introducer to read in advance of the presentation date. Then before the presentation time, be sure find out who is introducing you and let that person know you have prepared an introduction. Ask f they want to see the introduction now or if they prefer you place at the podium for their use.

Resources

• How to Design and Deliver a Great Presentation Using 4 Steps
• Find a Local Toastmasters Group

[rwhite-writer]

on 7/27/2009 Great suggestions. When I give presentations or lectures, I find it helps to walk around the stage (or the room, if possible), because I feel more connected with the audience, plus it keeps me from being nervous or fidgeting. Thanks for posting! 5*

[Lilfix]

on 6/1/2009 Thanks for the great tips on developing confidence when delivering presentations...I will be doing this soon and I'm a little nervous. I can get up in front of people to make a spectacle of myself, but when I have to be serious about, I get a little tongue tied...I will be saving this to favorites so I don't forget what to do...RRRC5*