Presentation Delivery: Public Speaking Is The Number One Fear - How To Beat It
Out of all of our fears public speaking is number one. Beating the fear of heights, death, insects, deep water and flying hands down there is nothing that sets us quaking more than having to stand up in front of a crowd to make a presentation.
It's natural to be afraid when you're up there facing a sea of eyes. But how can you turn that to your advantage rather than letting it stifle your speech or presentation? Speaking expert J Douglas Jeffreys has some valuable pointers in today's video presentation. Photo credit: J Douglas Jeffreys
The best way to overcome your fear is to arrive at a sense of having everything under control. Anxiety comes from worrying about all kinds of tiny things - if you're standing right, if you're going to stumble over your delivery, what you're wearing, the list can go on indefinitely.
J Douglas Jeffreys cuts through these issues one by one in a take no prisoners approach, deflating these common anxieties and dishing out key advice on how to make your presentations zing. In seven short minutes, he cuts to the quick of the issues that concern every one of us when faced with an impending presentation. Here it is:
The factors that make all the difference in putting together a rock solid presentation are nicely summarized as:
Basic needs - if the room you are presenting in is cold, your audience didn't have a chance to use the bathroom, or your presentation is the last of several right before lunch, you are going to have basic human needs drawing your audience's attention away from your presentation. Do what you can to make your audience comfortable from minute one.
Eye contact. In Western cultures we associate eye contact with veracity - people tell the truth when you look them in the eye, and as such, people tend to believe that we are telling the truth when we make the effort to make eye contact
Power of the pause. Give your audience the chance to absorb your key points by using the occasional, well-timed pause.
Body language. You may be more comfortable with your hands in your pockets, but it really doesn't help your presentation, especially if you are playing with your keys.
Gestures. By all means make use of your hands when speaking, but be sure to avoid problem gestures, such as pointing. Nobody likes to be pointed at, and even if you are beating time with your index finger, you are going to make people uncomfortable.
Podiums. Podiums are a throw back to another time, when speakers were expected to be completely seperated from their audiences. Standing behind a podium is very much like barricading yourself in against the threat of the audience.
Effective content. Nobody really cares about the history of your company, especially when you take fifteen minutes to tell it before actually getting started on your presentation. Work out what your key message is, and cut straight to it.
Forearmed is forewarned, and if you can go into your presentation knowing that you have managed to avoid these common pitfalls, the confidence that this can give you is amazing. Safe in the knowledge that you have avoided the very issues that make so many presentations painful affairs for all subjected to them, you can set about getting your message across anxiety-free.
posted by
Michael Pick
on Friday, February 9 2007
Tuesday, January 15 2008
URL of this article:
http://masterview.ikonosnewmedia.com/2007/02/09/presentation_delivery_public_speaking_is.htm
