Public speaking can be uncomfortable, especially in front of a large group.
Spokespeople want to do a good job. But the stakes can seem high – winning new business, securing funding, keynoting an industry event – and the time to prepare oftentimes gets squeezed into less time than is optimal. Preparation tends to focus on the content and not practicing the delivery, in particular delivery of the opening and transition into the core presentation.
Therefore, it is not uncommon for a spokesperson to seem uncomfortable, nervous or awkward at the beginning of their presentation as they look to get into a rhythm. Yet audience members will form impressions about the individual’s competence, trustworthiness, expertise and knowledge in as little as half a minute. Once established those first impressions are hard to sway.
So how does a spokesperson calm their nerves, demonstrate confidence and build a rapport with the audience in those first few minutes? Not surprisingly, practice is critical. However, a recent Harvard Business Review article offers direction on what and how to practice in order to look and sound more confident. Below we’ve highlighted a few of the tips shared in that article:
Eye contact: Practice your presentation with the goal of decreasing the time you look at your slides versus making eye contact with listeners. To do this, you can record yourself practicing your presentation in front of a small group of colleagues, or you can ask a colleague in the audience to track when and how often you refer to/read your slides or notes.
Posture: Practice delivering your presentation with an open posture – arms uncrossed, hands out of pockets – and with any potential barriers eliminated (e.g., lectern, laptop).
Gestures: Practice using gestures during your presentation. The key is any gestures used need to come across as natural. Gestures can include “if you’re listing a number of items, use your fingers to count them off,” or as an “analysis of popular TED speakers, like Brené Brown and Tony Robbins, found that they tend to bring their hands to their heart when sharing personal stories.”
Also noted in the HBR article are recommendations including eliminating filler words (e.g., um, ah, like, you know), taking time to pause, and varying your pace. I would add varying tone and inflection naturally is also extremely important when presenting. It is disappointing to listen to a presenter in a monotone voice share valuable insights and perspective as the content gets lost in the delivery style.
Unfortunately, there is no shortcut for practice. The good news is you can gamify the practice. Work with a colleague, have them give you points for use of gestures, eye contact with the audience and keeping an open posture. Have them detract points for use of filler words and reading of your notes or slides. Establish a baseline “score” with your first practice, then work to get a higher score with each practice. This ensures your colleague is evaluating your presentation with shared expectations and with consistency from one practice to the next.
How do you take the pain out of practicing for a presentation in order to be more confident and establish a positive, strong first impression?