Let’s face it. Whatever be your
profession, at some point or the other you will have to face this situation.
Standing in front of a group of people and speaking.
Have you faced or experienced
this situation? Be it in your office, your business, your community
get-together or alumni meets? What’s the feeling?
During my trainings or
interactions with people, they have repeatedly told me that this is the most
difficult situation to handle. They freeze, perspire, experience a thought jam
and often go blank.
Is there a way out? Is there a
method that can help unfreeze and win the moment?
First let me share the good news.
Yes, there is a way out.
Now let me also share the not so
good news. It requires some efforts that most people don’t put. This is for two
reasons. One, even if they do not practice presentation skills, it does not
hamper their routine and two we normally have a tendency of procrastinating the
difficult things.
But if you are serious and want
to take a step ahead in what is referred to as a ‘Life Skill’, here are 5
things that can help you.
Before we begin, please
understand that freezing while giving presentation is not unusual. It happens
to even the most seasoned presenters. This only indicates that our mind and
body is preparing itself for the unusual situation.
Remember ‘TIPS’.
1.
Topic
:
Understand the
topic so that you don’t miss the fundamental expectation of the presentation. After
all your subsequent blocks are going to be built on this foundation. So getting
this right is imperative.
2.
Information
gathering :
Once you
understand the topic, the next important step is to gather information about
the topic that is relevant to the type of presentation. For example for the
business presentation it could be data, business and activity updates. For
non-business presentations it may be more experiences and issues. Please ensure
that you gather more information than the time given to you for the
presentation. This will give you choice of sequencing the points basis their
importance and eliminate the non-important ones.
3.
Presentation
methodology :
Once you
prioritise the points, check for the presentation methodology. Are you going to
use power point or only reference notes? MS office 2013 allows you to see the
next slide when the first slide is displayed to the audience. This can help you
in structuring your thoughts. If you are going to use only notes, use cue
cards. If you are using power point, please keep your slides simple and de-cluttered.
4.
Story
:
Listening to
stories is engaging. So your presentation must have stories. You may wonder how
a business presentation can have stories. Do you recall one of the best
business presentations you heard? What do you recollect? Do you recollect only numbers or stories
associated with these numbers? Stories of how people achieved topline, bottom
line, market share or dominant position in a territory.
So try and
substantiate your presentation with real stories. It adds tremendous power to
your presentation.
5.
Pep
yourself :
Remember the Rush Hour series by
Jackie Chan? Chris Tucker who plays detective Jim Carter in the movie has
portrayed an easy, jovial yet serious when required kind of character in the
movie. Jim gives a high pitch pep talk to self and to inspector Lee (Jackie
Chan) when requiring big fights with criminals.
My point is simple. Preparing
yourself for presentations or talks is a big fight against your dis-empowering
thoughts. Fight it like detective Jim and inspector Lee. Overcome the fear by
regularly practicing the presentation skills. Give yourself a pep talk.
The first 4 points will give you
the structure for preparing the presentation. The fifth point will give you energy
and confidence to overcome the stage fright.
Let me know if these tips have
helped you in your next presentation.
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