Nick Gold suggests starting your presentation with a testimonial to boost your confidence.
- Nick Gold is the CEO of British speech agency Speakers’ Corner.
- He says work presentations should focus on two or three key points and keep slides to 10 words or less.
- Here are eight strategies to help you deliver engaging speeches and defuse tension.
Presentations at work can be daunting, whether it’s on a screen with a faceless avatar or in a room full of audiences.
Nick Gold, CEO of British speech agency Speakers Corner, shares eight tips to make your work presentations successful and even more enjoyable. rice field. With these practices, you’ll be able to convince your colleagues, clients, and investors without getting nervous.
1. Pre-practice of presentation is necessary, but rote memorization is prohibited
Gold is against memorizing presentations. Instead, by dividing the presentation into several stories and thinking that each has its own point, it becomes possible to give a flexible speech.
“It’s about understanding the content and the story. The phrasing may change from presentation to presentation, but the underpinnings never change.”
He advises talking to 15 people in a conference room as if you were in a coffee shop.
“It helps you and the other person relax.”
2. Be creative with what you say
Gold says it’s hard to make a presentation that’s compelling to an audience when it’s mandated by a boss or others.
First, let’s start by adding our own ingenuity. Doing so relieves tension.
“Don’t be afraid to take the subject in a direction that makes you feel comfortable.”
Gold suggests spending the first two minutes telling a story or experience to defuse tension and make the audience feel at home.
“Even if you can’t speak eloquently or get nervous in the parts that are hard to communicate and remain a little unsettling, your audience is already on the journey with you. They will take things seriously.”
3. Avoid information overload
When giving presentations, it’s easy to get impostor syndrome (a psychological tendency to underestimate yourself) and feel like you have to “prove” your expertise by showing that you have extensive knowledge of the subject. It might be, Gold says. As a result, “audiences are bombarded with information that they can’t keep up with and miss the point.”
By narrowing down your audience to two or three points, you can ensure that you convey important information.
“There is no problem in presenting with a small amount of data and then following up with handouts.”
4. Limit each slide to no more than 10 words
Relying too much on PowerPoint slides can cause your audience to focus on reading the slides and not hear the speaker. So Gold suggests keeping your slides to seven to ten words and not distracting your audience.
“The slides should be visual triggers to remember what you said after the presentation, rather than containing the actual content of the presentation.”
5. Know the size of your audience in advance.However, that number may change.
Whether you’re talking to an executive or a close colleague, Gold says you need to tailor your presentation to the audience, including different personalities and different attributes.
Even if you know exactly who will be attending in advance, you should be prepared for last-minute changes.
“Even if you know who will be attending, you can’t predict what will happen to them on the day.”
6. Remember your audience is your friend
Audiences actually “crave” you to perform well, says Gold.
“The only people who want your success more than you are your audience. I only want
Gold says that when a speaker takes the stage and tells a joke or story, the audience visibly relaxes.
7. Don’t worry if you don’t know the answer to your question
Gold advises deciding first whether you’ll take questions from the audience during your presentation or at the end.
If you don’t know the answer, say, “Good question, but I don’t want a quick answer.” You can also ask, “Can I respond with more information at a later date?”
8. Virtual presentations should be more conversational
With a “virtual” presentation, “you don’t get the energy from the audience, unlike when you’re on stage,” says Gold.
Virtual presentations should not last more than 7 minutes without any interaction with the audience. When the audience is in a remote location, more stimulation is required, so it is necessary to devise ways such as asking questions and holding discussions in a virtual space.
“What I’ve learned from virtual presentations is that the conversation is more important than the presentation itself. Let’s take care of that,” Cold said.
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[original text]
(Translated by Fumiko Nakata, edited by Toshihiko Inoue)
Source: BusinessInsider
Emma Warren is a well-known author and market analyst who writes for 24 news breaker. She is an expert in her field and her articles provide readers with insightful and informative analysis on the latest market trends and developments. With a keen understanding of the economy and a talent for explaining complex issues in an easy-to-understand manner, Emma’s writing is a must-read for anyone interested in staying up-to-date on the latest market news.