How to become a good presenter
1. LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE
Check everything before you are due to speak – room, seating, visibility, acoustics and
equipment.
2. KNOW EXACTLY HOW TO START
Plan the first minute of your presentation down to the last detail. Try to memorize your
opening words. This will help you to sound confident and in control.
3. GET STRAIGHT TO THE POINT
Don't waste time on long boring introductions. Try to make at least one powerful statement in
the first two minutes.
4. TALK TO YOUR AUDIENCE
Many of the best presentations sound more like conversations. So, keep referring back to your
audience, ask them questions, respond to their reactions.
5. KNOW WHAT WORKS
Certain things are always popular with an audience: personal experience, stories with a
message dramatic comparisons, amazing facts they didn't know. Use them to the full.
6. BE CONCISE
Keep your sentences short and simple. Use deliberate pauses to punctuate your speech.
7. SPEAK NATURALLY
Don't be afraid to hesitate when you speak, but make sure you pause in the right places.
Remember, you are not an actor trying to remember lines. A certain amount of hesitation is
actually quite natural.
8. KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE
Speak for your audience, not yourself. Take every opportunity to show how much common
ground you share with them. Address their goals, their needs, their concerns.
9. TREAT YOUR AUDIENCE AS EQUALS
Never talk down (or up) to your audience. Treat them as equals, no matter who they are.
10. BE YOURSELF
As far as possible, speak to five hundred people in much the same way you would speak to
five. You will obviously need to project yourself more, but your personality shouldn't change.
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Making a presentation
11. TAKE YOUR TIME
Whenever you make a really important point, pause and let the full significance of what you
have said sink in.... before you move on.
12. DON'T MAKE A SPECIAL EFFORT TO BE FUNNY
If you make a joke, don't stop and wait for laughs. Keep going and let the laughter (if it
comes) interrupt you.
13. LET YOUR VISUALS SPEAK FOR THEMSELVES
Good visuals are just that – visual. Don't put boring tables of figures and long lines of text on
the overhead and read them out. Stick to the main points. Experiment with three –
dimensional charts, cartoons, interesting typefaces – anything to catch your audience's
attention.
14. NEVER COMPETE WITH YOUR VISUALS
When showing a visual, keep quiet and give people time to take it in. Then make brief
comments only. Point to the relevant parts of the visual as you speak. If you want to say more,
switch off your projector to do so.
15. DEVELOP YOUR OWN STYLE
Learn from other public speakers, but don't try to copy them. Be comfortable with your own
abilities. Don't do anything that feels unnatural for you, just because it works for someone
else.
16. ENJOY THE EXPERIENCE
The secret of being an excellent speaker is to enjoy the experience of speaking – try to enjoy
the experience!
17. WELCOME QUESTIONS FROM YOUR AUDIENCE
When members of your audience ask you a question, it is usually because they have a genuine
interest in what you are saying and want to know more. Treat questions as an opportunity to
get your message across better.
18. FINISH STRONGLY
When you are ready to finish your presentation, slow down, and lower your voice. Look at the
audience and deliver your final words slowly and clearly. Pause, let your words hang in the
air a moment longer, smile, say Thank you and then sit down.