Effective Public Speaking: Tips to Write a Spellbinding Presentation!

“Public Speaking”. Two words that strike fear into the heart of 98% of the human population. And if you’re part of the 2% that are NOT uncomfortable with these words, I hate to be the one to tell you this, but… you’re probably a superhero.

I’ll preface with this: I’m definitely no superhero. I still feel nervous before I step out to give a talk, and I still feel uncomfortable when visualising it beforehand, even after 30+ successful talks over the course of the past five years. But fortunately, you don’t have to be completely confident and comfortable in order to succeed as a speaker, and over the course of these past years, I’ve pushed myself out of my comfort zone over and over again, using the nerves that once killed my talks to my advantage, and becoming known for giving engaging talks in my local community and further afield.

None of them have been perfect by any means; in fact, during my last talk my jeans ripped in a rather compromising area whilst I was stepping over a laptop cable beside me. Before I’d started my talk. My already-tattered nerves were torn apart as quickly as my trousers, and I had to raise my eye-line with composure to meet the expectant gazes of my audience, who fortunately hadn’t noticed that anything had gone amiss. Put on a show, and no one will ever know.

So here are a few of my hard-learned tips as a somewhat seasoned public speaker. I’m giving these to you in the hope that you can avoid some of the mistakes I made, and if you have any success stories from following them, please do let me know.

• Breathe

This is one of the most fundamental errors people make, both before a talk and during the session itself. Taking control of your breathing is a very powerful tool for calming yourself down, as any yoga teacher will tell you. It can also slow your heart rate, literally change your chemical make-up, and help you to feel ready. When waiting to begin your talk, try to inhale whilst counting to five, and do the same on the outward breath. Repeat this three times, and see how you feel. Even on a subconscious level, taking control of your breath will give you a boost — you may be feeling like you lack control as you sit fretting about how you’re worse than the current speaker. Well, here is something small and wholesome that you can control. And during the talk itself, don’t be afraid to pause and take a breath. Your words are powered by your breath, so don’t underestimate its value.

• Use Your Nerves As A Power-Up

Okay, so you’re nervous. That’s totally normal, let me assure you of that. However, being nervous and being excited are both powered by hormones from the same gland in the human brain. Perhaps you can trick yourself into thinking that you’re excited, and use these positive feelings to your advantage. Personally, I think nerves and excitement are two sides of the same coin, with nerves anticipating that something bad will happen, and excitement anticipating something good. And what reason do you have to believe that something bad will happen? You’re going to give an amazing talk, and everyone is going to come up to you at the end and congratulate you. Visualise that, instead of dwelling on the fact that people might laugh at you. It’s amazing how much difference a shift in mindset can make sometimes.

• Know Your Style

Some people prepare for a talk by writing out their entire speech, and practising that, even taking the whole thing along as notes to the event itself. I do this. I’m paranoid. Some people can get away with just bullet points as notes, and they can simply talk around those bullet points, with no set structure. Some people don’t need notes at all. But the point I’m making here isn’t that you should be one of those ‘professional noteless’ people; it’s that you should know your own style. If you’re a worrier, take notes with you as a safety net. Just make sure not to read word-for-word off them, as this is poor speaking style, and will put your audience to sleep. Which brings me neatly on to my next point…

• Practise, Practise, Practise!

This part is absolutely key. Treat your presentation as if you were rehearsing for a show - pretend you are a rock star! Legitimately though, you need to be familiar with your material, and the more comfortable you are with your own presentation, the more at ease your audience will feel, and the more at ease you will feel. It’s a big vicious cycle of ease. Practising also lets you erase any bad parts of your talk, and add in any spur-of-the-moment flashes of inspiration. Doing your speech in front of a friend or someone you trust is also a really good rehearsal technique, as it lets you get feedback from an audience perspective. Rehearsing also allows you to gauge your stance, your body language, your facial expressions and lets you time pauses in your material for maximum impact to keep your audience hanging on to your every word.

• Be Prepared For Any Eventuality

Organisers can be notoriously scatterbrained when it comes to accommodating their speakers; trust me, I’ve been on every side of that dice. So as a speaker, it’s advisable that you’re prepared for anything. I once turned up to do a talk, and the laptop that was hosting our slides began experiencing technical difficulties. That meant that I didn’t have any notes to work off, and I had to ad-lib my presentation from what I remembered. What a nightmare. From then on, I made sure to have a copy of my slides on a USB stick with me, a laptop with an HDMI connector, and a hard copy of my notes. One can never be too paranoid when preparing for a talk, especially when you experience nerve-related mind blanks when you get in front of an audience like I do.

• Remember: The Audience Are Not Your Enemy

When you get up to do a talk, it can feel undoubtedly as if everyone is judging you. But think about all the talks that you’ve attended. Have you ever spitefully thought: “Gosh, I hope this person is too nervous to talk and can’t do it.” No? Good. Then your audience aren’t going to be thinking that about you. Everyone is presumably attending this talk for one purpose — to hear what you have to say. Everyone is supporting you and hopes you do well so that they come away from the event feeling like it was worthwhile. So make sure that you give your audience something to remember!

• Be Aware Of Who Your Audience Are

Insofar as the audience are not your enemies, they are also not there just for the good of their health. They want to hear a talk that is engaging, relevant and provides takeaways that they can use in their lives. Be aware of the age range of your audience, as some jokes may be inappropriate or over their heads, and always be aware of the denomination of people you are speaking in front of. Make sure to tailor your talk for this kind of audience, as an engaged audience will provide valuable real-time feedback during your talk, i.e. eye contact, nodding along, and laughing at the right points. This can really help to boost your confidence whilst you’re speaking — you want to know you’re being listened to, right?

• Know Your Presentation Terrain

This might sound like something out of an army training manual, but knowing the where’s and why’s of the room that you’re speaking in is a very good idea. Will there be a podium with the presenter laptop so you can see your notes? Will you be on a stage with no access to notes, and you’ll have to bring a hard copy? Will you have a handheld microphone so you can pace about, or will you be restricted to speaking at a stand with a fixed mic? Will there be no microphone, and you’ll have to be prepared to project your voice? These are all questions you want to be asking beforehand, and you ideally want to see the event space before your talk so you can prepare accordingly, and avoid any nasty surprises!

• Tell A Good Story And Put On A Show!

Everyone loves stories, and a presentation is just another form of story. Think about it — you’ve got a beginning, middle and end. You have a main point that you’re illustrating to your audience through the use of multimedia and anecdotes. It’s a story. And as such, you want to take your audience on a whirlwind ride. Make sure to write a summary of your presentation in one sentence, and from there, work out your angle on the topic. Feel free to insert opinions about things, too — people want to hear your views on the topic you’re speaking on; if they didn’t, they would have just watched a video on YouTube, or looked at a Wikipedia page. Stories and the people who tell them are the lifeblood of multimedia, and a presentation is just about as multimedia as you can get without going to an IMAX. So make sure to know the main plot point of your story and craft a solid introduction, a middle that heightens knowledge and expectation, and an ending that gives the audience something to take away from it all.

• Make Sure To Craft Your Opening And Closing Lines

Have you ever read the first sentence of a book and decided it just wasn’t for you, and put it down? Have you ever been disappointed by the ending of a book or film? It might seem a bit far fetched, but I’ve found from experience that having a gripping starting point and a thought provoking ending is a great way to capture the audience’s attention and have them sit up, listen, and most importantly, remember you. It doesn’t have to be complicated; my opening lines are usually rhetorical questions that the audience aren’t expecting, but that still tie in to the point of the presentation. For example: “Have you ever wished that you could have the power to control time?” One resource that’s helped me a lot with opening lines is https://visme.co/blog/how-to-start-a-presentation/, which gives examples of how some great TED talks have been started.

Equally, having a punchy ending will help the audience feel a sense of closure and satisfaction. It’s totally okay to end a talk with “Well, that’s it! Thanks for listening.” — however, it’s not going to make the audience remember your talk amongst the others who have said the same thing. Try finishing with a summarising opinion or a joke — a play on words that ties into your title usually works a treat.

• Have As Little Text As Possible On Your Slides

This is one of the golden rules. How many text cluttered PowerPoint presentations have you had to sit through, trying to both read the reams of writing whilst also listening to the speaker, who is also reading off the slides? Your audience isn’t here to read. They would have just grabbed a book on the topic if they were. They’re here to listen and learn, and you can help them to absorb as much information from your presentation as possible by not cluttering your slides up with essays. I usually find a picture says a thousand words, and I rely on notes to help me remember my content. Having solely pictures on your slides also increases the amount of engagement your audience can have with you, as they’re not struggling to take in two things at once, and this is really beneficial for all parties involved.

Summary

This might seem like a lot to take in at first, but over time, you’ll find yourself doing all these things automatically. You’ll also find that these tips might actually streamline your presentation-writing process a bit, as you only have to worry about putting pictures on slides and making the background look acceptable, rather than writing your talk onto your slides then making notes.

So with that, I’ll say all the best on your journey to conquering the mountain that is Public Speaking, and remember: the world needs your talk, superhero!