Your knees may be shaking and your stomach may be looking
for the nearest exit, but your audience doesn't have to know! This column's for you if you're facing your first audience or are trying to rebuild your confidence after a botched first attempt. The twelve steps that
follow are based on my own experiences as a charter member of the Shy Club for Men. They can help you make the transition from audience to presenter—from applauder to applaudee, a transition that can make a major and
lasting contribution to your income and self-esteem.
Acknowledge your fears
Don't feel that you're the first, or only, person to fear public speaking. You're in good company. Fear
of public speaking is the Number One fear people share, even people we think of as "successful." Recognizing the universality of this fear can help you put it in perspective. Remember that the primary difference between
those in the audience and those in the front of the room is that presenters have learned how to master their fear—instead of letting it master them.
Respect your knowledge
Be
proud of the fact that you have been asked (or told) to make a presentation. If your boss or your co-workers didn't have confidence in you or felt your audience wouldn't be interested in what you had to say, you
wouldn't be standing in front of the room! Accept their confidence and build on it!
Remember that your message is "new" to your audience. Your audience doesn't know what you're going to say. View your presentation as
an opportunity to share your knowledge and enthusiasm with others.
Prepare your own visuals
Confidence comes from knowledge. Preparing your own slides or overheads forces
you to master your subject. Your confidence improves to the degree that you approach the title of every visual as an argument and every word and chart on that visual as an opportunity to support that argument. Your
confidence also increases to the extent that you take the time to reorganize your presentation so arguments proceed in an orderly progression.
Your confidence also increases to the extent that you're proud of the
appearance of your visuals. After preparing well-argued, good-looking visuals, you'll look forward to your presentation because it will provide as an opportunity to share your visuals with others. If you believe in your
message and are proud of your visuals, your audience will pick-up on your enthusiasm and your presentation will be off to a roaring start.
Practice simplicity
Confidence
grows to the extent that you keep your presentation visuals as simple as possible. This forces you to interpret them to your audience in an enthusiastic, conversational tone rather than "reading" them—which is a quick
route to boredom for all concerned. Let slides and overheads provide the framework, not the essence, of your presentation. Explain your visuals to your audience. Explain how each word supports your argument and the
significance of each chart element. Confidence comes from talking, not reciting!
Anticipate objections
Review your presentation from your audience's point of view. (Most
presentation programs have a Screen Show or Slide Show feature that automatically shows your visuals one by one.) Try to locate holes in your arguments. When you identify weak points, return to your presentation and
provide additional data.
Equally important, look for opportunities where your audience might question your facts or interpretations. Be ready with facts to support your arguments and conclusions. (This is an area
where electronic presentations have a decided edge, as you can "hide" slides and only show them if needed. Electronic presentations also permit you to go directly to a desired slide to provide background data—even if
it's contained in a different presentation or created with a different software program.) If you are using overhead transparencies, have your "if necessary" transparencies ready for use in a handy file folder.
Nothing disarms an objection better than a presenter who smiles mischievously and says: "I'm glad you asked that!" and proceeds to confidently address the objection!
Familiarize yourself with the presentation environment
Arrive early and test out all equipment. Locate the room lighting switches and find out how to smoothly raise and lower lighting levels. (Draft an assistant,
if necessary.) Focus the slide projector before the audience arrives and familiarize yourself with its remote control. Know how to locate and insert replacement projector bulbs if case they're needed. Check sound
levels. . If you are using a wireless microphone, find out how to turn it off and where the "hot spots" (i.e. ceiling-mounted speakers) in the room are. These can cause loud feedback if you talk while standing beneath
them.
Introduce yourself to your audience
Welcome your audience as they enter the room. This creates a comfort zone for you and your audience. By introducing yourself
to your audience, you become a likable, vulnerable human rather than an authority figure to be challenged (remember how you hated and feared Mrs. Christie in the fourth grade?) Likewise, you'll become more
confident if you view your audience as a collection of individuals rather than a "mob."
Prepare a written introduction
If someone else is going to introduce you, never
depend on them to say the right things. There are several reasons for this:
- Experience
. In many cases you are probably a more experienced speaker than the individual introducing you. If you're introduced by a nervous speaker, their nervousness will quickly spread to you and your
audience.
- Facts
. Nobody knows as much about you as you do, nor do they know which aspects of your background to emphasize. The speaker introducing you may get your name wrong or, worse, credit you with writing books
you may not have even read! This forces you to begin your presentation by apologetically correcting the speaker, projecting an unfriendly, unprofessional image.
Take the time to prepare a single-paragraph written introduction. Begin by writing "I am very pleased to be presenting (your name). Follow this by a few short sentences listing a few of your most important
credentials. Conclude by saying: "And now, it is my pleasure to introduce (your name):"
Print this simple paragraph in large type. Make two copies. Send or fax one in advance of your presenter and be sure to bring
another with you.
Start on time
Unless absolutely necessary, never delay the start of your presentation. Start on time. There are several reasons for this:
- Do not start with an apology.
Delaying the start of your presentation to accommodate latecomers is not only an insult to those who made the effort to arrive on time, it forces you to begin your presentation
on an apologetic note. Instead of starting with a bang, you starting with an apologetic whimper, i.e. "I think we'll wait a few more minutes to see if anyone else shows up." This apology also projects your worry
that additional audience members may not show up.
- Reduces stress
. Your nervousness is at a peak just before your presentation begins. Do yourself a favor and begin on time. Once you begin your presentation, your nervousness wil disappear as you begin to
enthusiastically develop your points one-by-one. The more you delay, however, the more time you have to be nervous.
Project to your supporters
Locate "allies" as you introduce yourself to your audience and as you observe your audience during your presentation; notice how some people
smile, nod their head or take notes. Project to them. Let them build your confidence. Acceptance creates confidence. Accepting a "nod of confidence" on Point One provides a foundation which will help you make an even
better presentation of Point Two!
Never take walk-outs seriously
It's inevitable that, at some point, somebody is going to get up and leave during your presentation.
Don't take it seriously;
- Nature calling
. It might be simply that well-known reaction to "prune danish and hot coffee on an empty stomach following a 45-minute congested freeway commute and no parking places" situation.
- Unavoidable calls
. The individual leaving may be leaving simply because they have scheduled a phone call scheduled at a certain time. Or, their buzzer or cell phone may have vibrated, signaling an important
message.
- Traffic
. During afternoon sessions, many people leave early to avoid the traffic.
Your confidence will likely plummet if you take walk-out's as a reflection on your arguments or your presentation abilities, rather than a reality that professional speakers face every day.
More important, pay not
attention if a member of the audience walks out during your presentation with a bored or annoyed look on their face. They may have just found out they were in the wrong session or they may be genuinely unhappy with your
presentation.
If you acknowledge their walk-out, you take the chance of losing your enthusiasm and momentum.
Avoid prejudging your performance
If there's one thing I've
learned from my years on the road: it's impossible to predict the success of your presentation—as determined by the acceptance of your ideas or participant evaluations—from your analysis of audience response during your
presentation. Sometimes, the quietest, most apathetic audiences turn in the most positive evaluations (and sometimes the most involved audiences turn in the most critical evaluations).
You're likely to lose confidence
if you allow your perception of your audience's reaction to demoralize you during your presentation. So, just do your best! Let the evaluations fall where they may. If you're satisfied with your performance, your
audience is likely to be, too. Sometimes a quiet audience is reflecting on the wisdom of what you're saying ("How could anyone ever know so much and express it so well?" they may be thinking) and sometimes the member of
the audience who you think is disagreeing with you is simply trying to exercise a stiff neck!
