As a PR professional you’ll likely give countless presentations throughout your career. From new business presentations to annual PR plans, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to speak in front of a group. Presenting becomes easier and easier every time you do it, but the first time can be a little nerve-wracking. Following are five tips to help you keep calm and give a killer presentation.
- Practice, Practice, Practice. The more prepared you are, the more confident you’ll feel during your presentation. A few days beforehand, develop talking points for each of your slides. If you know that you tend to get nervous when speaking in front of a group, write out a full script and practice it out loud to make sure it flows nicely. Once you know what you’re going to say, distill it down to bulleted talking points. Then rehearse your slides with a colleague or your fellow presenters and ask for their feedback.
- Be Confident. When giving your first business presentation, you may be the youngest person in the room. Don’t let that be intimidating. You were invited to the meeting for a reason – everyone wants to hear your ideas and your team members value your input. Don’t be afraid to speak up, join the conversation, and assert your opinion.
- Be Genuinely Excited. It’s much easier to talk about something you care about (we all know a heated discussion about Game of Thrones can last hours) and your passion for the topic will come across in conversation. Even if you don’t love the topic you’re presenting as much as you love Game of Thrones, find something about it that genuinely excites you. Your audience will notice that you truly care.
- Engage Your Audience. Presentations should be interactive, and if you’re speaking to a small group your presentation should turn into a conversation between you and your audience. In order to effectively engage your audience, be sure to ask for feedback and check in with them after every slide to make sure everyone is on the same page. For example, if you summarize your understanding of a company’s business objectives to members of their executive team, be sure to ask if you’re on target and if they have anything to add. If you’re presenting a list of proactive pitch ideas to a potential client, ask if any of the ideas resonate with them.
- Keep Calm and Carry On. If you make a mistake during a presentation, you’re probably the only one who will notice. If it is a noticeable mistake, lightly brush it off and keep going. Everyone makes mistakes, and your audience is not going to judge your entire presentation based on one slip up. If you breeze past it in a calm, collected manner, chances are no one will even remember it happened.
The bottom line: Remember that everyone gets a little nervous before a big presentation. Do you have any tips of your own to share that helped your nail your first business presentation?