Let's boost your public presentation skills

When you think of making a presentation, do you feel unnecessary nervousness, do your hands start to shake or do you suddenly break out in a sweat? If yes, you are not alone. For many people, presenting and speaking in front of a crowd can be a stressful and anxiety-inducing event.

Speaking with all eyes on you, controlling your body language, focusing on what you are saying, managing your time well and most importantly, preparing a speech that will not allow the audience to get bored can be quite challenging, but it is possible to improve your presentation skills with a few tactics.

Who will you be presenting to, what is the age range, occupational groups, education levels of your audience? By learning the answers to these questions in advance, if possible, you can develop tactics that will appeal more to the audience you are presenting to. Thus, you can produce content that is more suitable for your target audience and shape your speech in a way that will attract their attention more. Knowing your audience in advance can not only improve your presentation but also make you feel more comfortable and reduce your stress and anxiety.

Make sure you are well informed about the topic you are presenting on. Prepare well enough to be able to answer your audience's questions and to know the details of the topic. The better prepared you are, the more confident you will be and the less likely you are to panic on stage. If you are going to support your speech with a visual presentation, make sure you use interesting visuals and do not overwhelm your slides with too much written text.

To ensure that the technical infrastructure does not let you down, check the place where you will speak in advance. Find out if the projection machine, remote control, computer, sound systems, etc. are working, how they are controlled, and if possible, talk to someone to help you with technical issues that day. Decide whether you will go through your slides yourself or ask someone to help you.

Remember that a good presentation requires thorough preparation. This preparation includes not only what you are going to say, but also you. Just as you spend days preparing your presentations down to the finest details, adding tables, notes, visuals and working to ensure that nothing is missing, you should also take care of your own needs. Pay attention to your nutrition, sleep, prepare your mind, manage your stress, calm yourself with breathing techniques, prepare both physically and mentally. Especially if you feel nervous before appearing in front of people, spend a few minutes meditating, if possible, to keep your reactions such as sweating, trembling, rapid heartbeat under control and go on stage or on the podium with optimum inner peace.

As you can imagine, no one enjoys listening to a presentation with an uncertain content and ending. The unknown can be frustrating for people of all ages, especially in academic and professional life. Therefore, preparing an outline to inform your audience before you start your speech can put them at ease and make it easier for them to focus. Outlining how long your presentation will last, which topics you will cover, when you plan to take a break, whether you will have time for Q&A, and planning both your content and your time can help you get off to a good start.

Instead of worrying about what people will think of you, focus on what you are saying and think about what your message will evoke in them. Don't worry too much about how your physical appearance is perceived, just think about your words. Share your knowledge, entertain, inspire, that's all. Don't let the fear of being judged overtake you; ask yourself what message you want to give to the audience and only engage your mind to get there. Don't get sidetracked, focus on the big picture. Otherwise, if you worry too much about what people will think of you, you may start doubting yourself, and that can cause you to fail.

It doesn't matter if you are preparing for a presentation, a meeting or a conference. Whether you are speaking in front of 3 people or 300, make sure you practice often to feel more confident and comfortable. In this way, you can improve your presentation skills; you can go in front of people with great confidence by realizing that you are getting better as you practice.

You can make this process more efficient by recording yourself while practicing. This way, you can capture where and how you speak, how you use your gesture-mimics and how you look. If you don't want to videotape yourself, you can create the same effect by practicing in front of a mirror.