Speaking of Speaking

10 tips for a memorable presentation

You know how some people freeze when they anticipate a public speaking gig?

Not me.

I love standing in front of a group and sharing my insights and action steps. Whether I’m addressing colleagues, potential clients or students, I’m excited to guide them in mastering best practices.

Following are ten tips I’ve learned along the way, from speaking coaches and the School of Opportunity, formerly known as the School of Hard Knocks.

Before You Speak

  1. List the ideas and activities you want the audience to take with them when they return to their desks. When you start with the end, you’ll be able to delineate the intermediate steps of your presentation and see how to get there.
  2. Capture the audience’s attention from the get-go. Tell a short anecdote, ask a question or use a little-known statistic. Now they want to hear more and figure out how what you have described relates to their situation, whether business or personal.
  3. Your slides are an outline of key points. KISS. Your actual remarks will amplify, explore, bust a myth or show the consequences of the topic you highlight.



    4. During the Presentation

  4. Pace yourself. Scan the faces of the attendees. Slow down and recapitulate when their eyes wander around the room.
  5. Don’t pace. It’s fine to walk across the stage and connect with people on both sides of the room. When you reach the opposite side, stand and remain in place for a few minutes. Pacing is distracting.
  6. After you’ve summed up your remarks, have a colleague begin the Q&A with the question you gave them. Take the opportunity to go into more depth about a point you skimmed over in the presentation. Plus, you open the door to more questions and avoid the dreaded Q&A silence.



    7. After You Speak

  7. Thank the event organizer(s). Whether or not you want to be invited back, be gracious.
  8. Arrange for a handout, perhaps an excerpt of the slides, to be emailed to attendees. Help people practice on their own and even share your ideas with members of their professional and personal circles.
  9. Spread the word. Consider strengthening your relationship with a client or referral source by inviting them to co-present with you. Arrange to speak to their professional membership organization or industry association. That audience will be receptive to hearing from one of their own colleagues. You will enhance your contact’s stature and their participation will attract potential clients and referrers to you

    10. This Month’s Tip

    You worked hard to create and deliver that presentation. Now make it work for you.

  10. Plan in advance to share it across other platforms:
    • article
    • checklist
    • client alert
    • e-book
    • newsletter or blog
    • pitch to a reporter<
    • podcast appearance
    • social media post
    • summary on your website
    • video or audio clip

Contact

Your speaking engagement is not one and done. When you book your next event, let’s talk about how you can prepare and promote your presentation. Contact me at  Janet@JanetLFalk.com, set an appointment here or call me at 347.256.9141. Together, let’s get ready to step up to the microphone and then take your presentation to greater heights: on the road, online and into print.

Image credit: Sergio Santos