We’ve all been in the position of having to present information to a group of people – large or small. For some of us, that is a terrifying moment. Others thrive on it. I have a personal goal to become more comfortable speaking to larger groups, and have fun while doing it. I don’t rank public speaking above death on the ‘most scary’ chart, but I am definitely not in the ‘piece of cake’ end of the spectrum, either.
I have learned that speaking from your heart, using grammar and speech patterns that you would normally use, about things you truly understand, makes a huge difference to the success of the presentation. If I don’t know about something I spend time studying ‘the something’ before I worry about the talk. The talk will work better – hands down – if I’m comfortable with the topic.
This week I was lucky enough to see four great speakers at NAWBO’s Leadership Conference. While I was engaged by the talks, I also watched the way the presenters built their discussions. I watched their styles. Each woman had a very different approach. Some were more effective than others. Most were confident. Some spoke to me, personally, better than others. Why? Because I could relate to them.
There is no ‘right way’ or ‘wrong way’ to speak before a group, or give a presentation. There definitely are some don’ts, but we’ve heard them (or experienced them) before. Believing in focusing on the positive, I want to try to figure out some general ‘rules of thumb’ for the successful presenters…and find things that I can incorporate into my own style. Lo and behold, I ran across the following article/video about the Master Corporate Presenter, Steve Jobs. While one may be an Apple aficionado, or not, few can fault his ability to give a presentation. Check out the link below to get some good ideas on which to build your successful presentations.
