You'd be amazed at how many people do not know how long their presentation takes. They guess at the length, often by multiplying the number of slides by some magic number. Or they divide the allotted time by some factor that makes sense to them, but bears no relation to reality.

You only know how long something takes if you do it "for real" in a dress rehearsal. You need to practice the presentation exactly as you will do it. Include all the slides, props, activities and audience participation. Once you know how long it takes, check it again. You need to be sure of the amount of time it really takes - your first rehearsal may have been too fast or too slow. Only be rehearsing again will you find out if your first attempt was right or not.

Once you know the time, make sure it is less than your allotted time. Generally it's best to try for five minutes less than your time for a typical half hour presentation. So time your presentation for just 25 minutes, for example. This five minutes lee-way means you can handle any extra questions, or have space for and difficulties that arise, such as the previous speaker over-running.

Audiences hate it when presenters run over time. Get them to like you by running slightly under.

Labels: performance

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Some presenters are too confident - yes you can be overconfident as a presenter. You often hear these people say things like, "I'm much better when I'm spontaneous, so I don't need to practise", or "I love it when I can just make it up as I go along, I'm so much more natural". Well, they are wrong.

Being too confident means you do not put in any effort. And people who work at being good presenters are always the best ones at it. Presentations require hard work. They need careful planning and writing. Plus they need rehearsing, adapting to the specific environment and structuring for each particular audience.

Successful presenters are those who spend time and effort on their presentations. This then gives them the confidence that what they are doing is right. Those people who are over confident do not put in the effort required. They then think that what they have done is brilliant, but are never aware that they didn't succeed.

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Many books and so-called "experts" on body language will tell you that touching your face is a "no-no". They explain that it means you are lying and people won't believe you.

There is little actual truth in much of what is written about body language. Vast amounts of the information are conjecture. There is research on the face touching "problem". But what it tells us is the fact that people will be more likely to touch their face when their skin has increased blood flow. Your skin blood flow rises when you are under stress; the skin heats up a bit, you get irritated a bit and you touch your face to reduce the irritation.

The "body language experts" then put two and two together to make five. They say that because you are under stress when you are lying, then you will "obviously" touch your face when you are lying and therefore people won't believe you. Well, for a start many people who lie are not under stress when they are lying. They lie deliberately and are under more stress when telling the truth. So, the face touching syndrome may well be when people are under pressure to tell the truth, rather than when they are lying. The body language "experts" could be telling us the reverse of what is actually happening because of their conjecture, rather than research.

Having said that, there are many body language specialists who have done research and they will tell you that in some situations a piece of body language means one thing, while in another instance, the same piece of body language means something else.

So what should you do if you are touching your face in a presentation? Best thing is to ignore it. You are probably stressed because of the presentation itself. Your audience will not automatically think you are lying. So just get on with your presentation and forget many of the so-called body language tips.

Labels: body language

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The best way to write a presentation is to write your conclusion first. Work out what it is you want to tell your audience and what you want them to think about it. If you get the conclusion right, producing the rest of the presentation is so much easier.

Ideally your conclusion should be some kind of action you want your audience to take, or perhaps a change in thinking you want them to consider. If your conclusion is focused on something the audience has to do, it is much better.

Once you have your conclusion, then you need to work out what bits of "evidence" and factual material would support such a position. These elements will make up the middle of your presentation. Now that you have the middle and the end, you can write your introductory material.

By writing your introduction last, you will, in fact, have a much better presentation as that introduction will be so focused on the outcome of your conclusion.

Labels: writing

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Brad McRae and David Brooks have put together a great book here by interviewing people they regard as "master presenters". There are 21 people interviewed in the book, with commentary from two leading speakers themselves. Indeed, David Brooks was the World Champion of Public Speaking. Brad McRae won the Platinum Speaker award from Meetings Professional International, so he too clearly knows a thing or two.

This book provides you with some real insights into effective presentations and you can learn from some real expert presenters.

Buy now for £8.57

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Presenters sometimes practice in their bedroom or in their hotel room the night before an important presentation. Some even practice in front of the mirror. However, even though the practice can be helpful, it is not always going to boost your confidence.

One way to do this is practice in front of someone - a friend or a colleague. Get them to be your "audience". Then ask them for constructive, specific feedback, rather than a "that was great" kind of statement. Get them to say what was good about the presentation, in detail. But also ask them areas for improvement.

By practising in this way you will gain valuable feedback to help improve your presentation. Plus you will have confirmation that much of what you are doing is good. And that will boost your confidence much more than prancing around in front of the mirror!

Labels: confidence

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Many presenters shift from foot to foot during their presentations. First they put the weight on their left foot, then they move it to the right foot and they continue to do this to and fro throughout their presentation.

The result is that they sway from side to side. They also appear uneasy and rather "shifty". This means the audience doesn't trust them as much and the swaying motion can also be a real distraction if it continues for any length of time.

If you find that you shift your weight from foot to foot it's a signal that your body wants to move. So, make a definite movement..! Either stand still, or move. But don't do the half-hearted, one foot to the other movement that many presenters do. There's a time and a place for standing still; there's also every reason to move. But the "halfway house" of shifting from foot to foot is definitely one to avoid!

Labels: body language

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It's amazing how many people try to write a presentation without having really listened to any other presenters. Not just having "heard" another presenter, but truly listened.

Going to see other presenters and speakers is one of the best ways of learning how to write your own presentations. Listen carefully to what these other presenters say, so that you can incorporate their techniques and ideas into your own talks.

By watching and listening to some great presenters and public speakers you can pick up ideas, hints and tips and learn new ways of structuring your presentations. Listen to what is being said and analyse how it has been put together. Look and listen too at the reaction of the audience. You will be able to match positive reactions to particular ways in which the presentation has been crafted.

Attending as many presentations as possible is a good idea for anyone who has to present themselves. But instead of learning the content of the presentation, go with an analytical frame of mind so you can study the way the presentation has been written. By doing that you will be able to improve the way you write your own presentations.

However, it all depends upon you making sure you attend as many conferences, seminars and meetings as possible.

Labels: writing

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Knockout Presentations is a knockout book. The book has been described as essential reading for everyone who ever has to make a business presentation, which is most people in business these days. Not only does it guide you through the process of making a great presentation, the book is also an easy and enjoyable read. Indeed, every single reviewer at Amazon has awarded this book the top five star award - there's praise. Plus the book is no slouch - it is 300 pages long, roughly twice as long as the average paperback. There's a lot of value in those pages.

Buy the book now from: http://www.presentationbiz.com/book/knockout for just £11.19.

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Audiences like their presenters to "be in charge". They prefer it if the presenter is authoritative, without being too "head teacher" in style. The reason for this is it makes the audience more comfortable. Audience members feel anxious if the presenter is unsure of themselves.

So how can you come across with authority, without sounding like a school teacher? Firstly it's about where you stand. People who are in authority tend to stand in the middle of the group they are addressing so they are relatively equidistant from each member of the audience. They also stand still when they are making important points. So, when you have something important to say stand right at the front of your "stage" area, in the middle and still.

People in authority also make plenty of eye contact with their audiences and use "iconic" gestures - hand movements which provide images for the audience.

The stance you take is also important - head up, looking forwards, no stooping. Shoulders straight, chest "puffed out" are all signals of authority and you need to be standing upright if you are to be seen as authoritative by your audience.

There is one "trick" you can play, though. When you reveal some personal vulnerability it appears that the audience will accept your authoritative position even more. Including some personal references in your presentation, admitting to errors or mistakes on your own behalf for instance, can increase your authority position within the audience. The body language cues you provide help, but the audience only accepts authority if you also come across as "human".

Labels: performance

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People who are worried about speaking in public or making a presentation often are unaware of what led to their feelings. Even though there are biological and psychological factors that lead to a lack of confidence in public speaking, often these arise because of a set of circumstances.

Keeping a daily journal can help identify things that cause the fear of public speaking and make your presentations more difficult. You don't need anything fancy or any technology to do this. All you need is a notebook.

Each day, write down the date and list down all the things you have done during that day and your thoughts as you did them. Keep a note too of your emotions and feelings. Whenever you give a presentation, make a note of how it went and what you felt about it.

Every now and then, look through your journal and find any common factors. For instance, it may well be that in the day or two before each presentation you have noted a particular emotion or done a specific activity. These may be influencing your confidence when you come to make your presentation and hence for future public speaking engagements you can prevent any lack of confidence by dealing with such issues in advance.

A daily journal will help you focus on what to do to pre-empt any lack of confidence and deal with it before it can have any kind of impact on your presentation.

Labels: confidence

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Whenever you make a presentation it is a good idea to use gestures freely. You do that in normal conversation, yet many presenters appear to try and restrict their hand movements. Indeed, some presentation skills trainers tell you to keep your hands still. They have no idea why they are saying this, other than some theory that hand movements can be distracting. Nonsense. All the research suggests that lack of hand movements and gestures are much more distracting.

So, use gestures as you would normally. However, there is a way of using hand gestures that can make your presentation have more impact and make you more believable. This is called the "iconic gesture".

Rather than just randomly waving your hands about, an iconic gesture provides an image. For instance, let's imagine you had to talk about "chopping the budget". If your hands made a chopping motion at the same time, your audience gets the message more clearly. Similarly, if you had to talk about the biggest opportunity your company has had in years, holding your hands wide apart would make this have more impact. In other words, if your hand gestures draw a picture in the audience's mind. you are much more effective as a presenter.

Labels: body language

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The Presentation Business is now on its summer break. The newsletter items will resume on 28th August. Have a great summer holiday time, speak to you again in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime check out our favourite books on presentation skills in the last few weeks.

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Presenters need to be credible. You can do everything you like on your stage to improve your connection with the audience, make them positive about you and engage with you. But to truly come across as a credible speaker you need to demonstrate your expertise in your subject.

You can do that in several ways. One is obviously by speaking about the subject, as you do in your presentation. Another is to invite interactivity so that you can answer questions and lead discussion on your topic. A third way of establishing speaker credibility is to have some handouts available.

These help confirm your expertise and act as a permanent reminder of what you said. However, there are handouts and there are handouts. Simply giving out a copy of any slides you have used does not do the trick. Indeed, studies show that these actually work against you. They remind people of what they did not remember in your presentation, confirming in their mind that you did not get your message across.

The best handouts are those which add to the presentation. These can be in the form of checklists, reports, white papers and so on. Something in depth usually helps, focusing on one aspect of your talk. In other words provide a handout that is "extra" material. Also, people like these handouts to contain web site addresses where they can go for even more information. So, handouts like these add to your credibility and make it even more likely that your messages get across.

Labels: performance

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