Yesterday I used Twitter to ask the question “what is your top presenting tip?” as I was finalising the slides for my talk at the River Restoration Conference so presenting skills were very much on my mind. I had some wonderful responses so I thought I would share them with you.
@publicityoxford Catherine Warrilow of PublicityOxford, a great presenter herself, suggested this:
“try and make eye contact with lots of people as you speak, don’t single out one person.”
@Garry_Hartley Garry Hartley of Out and About Advertising was a huge help with great three tips:
“My best Presenting tip – If you are nervous, simply think you are just telling your best friends a joke in the pub.”
“Another presenting tip – Make eye contact with everyone in the room and smile. Prof Brian Cox never stops smiling.”
“Presenting tip 3 – raise and lower your voice to gain interest and pause for a moment. Its about timing.”
Matt Johns of Johns Associates inspired the title of this post with this great approach:
” I always think, “right, you’re on the roller coaster, you are strapped in, there’s nowhere to run! Hand on for the ride!” and things go OK from there.”
I agree with Garry about Professor Brian Cox. He is a great presenter and that smile never breaks!
Thank you to all of you who gave your advice and I’ll let you know how the talk goes.
The best advice I got about Presenting I got for my RIBA talk last year was to read @PresentationZen by Garr Reynolds. It teaches you how to use visual media to add to your presentation, not detract from it.http://www.amazon.co.uk/Presentation-Zen-Simple-Design-Delivery/dp/0321525655Great tips here about making eye contact and relaxing!Isn’t it great how we all help each other? You can see the advice from some of the 72 people who helped me here:http://www.justpractising.com/can-you-help/what-should-i-talk-to-the-riba-about/
What a fantastic response you had to your article. I think that is one of the huge benefits for me of social media, the ability to ask questions and share the responses. Thank you for commenting! Claire
Thank you Claire. I’ve been giving talks for a long time and you have summed up very well the best way of tackling presentations.
Thank you! I’ve really appreciated the advice from everyone. Another tip I was told today was prior to your talk try to find the opportunity to stand on the spot you’ll be presenting from. That way you’ll be familiar with the lights and the layout of the lectern when you step onto the stage for real.