About a million presentations are going on right now, but 50% of them are unbearable! Chances are you know what sucks and what doesn’t – I’d like to share three tips that I found very useful in becoming a professional speaker, perhaps it helps you!

1. Two seconds of eye contact

Look members of your audience in the eye for at least two seconds. Start left and work your way up to the other side of the room. If your audience exceeds 25 people look at different areas in the room for two seconds. Two seconds of eye contact sound easy, but this require a lot of conscious thought during your speech. When you manage this technique, you will be able to engage your audience further. Try it at your next speech, it’s a total different way of delivering your message!

2. How to deliver a confident message

Barack Obama is one of few that can deliver speaches without fillerwords.  Fillerwords are bridges between centences. Examples are: “uhm”, “like” or “I”. Reduce your filler words to zero. “If the eyes are the windows of the soul, the voice is the front door” (Jeff Cook) Consider your clarity of speech and pace and rhythm.

3. Disturbing movements

When you can start your presentation, don’t. Wait a few seconds and give a confident smile. Also, good speakers move slowly. Try to avoid sudden hand gestures as they are very disturbing for your audience. The world’s best speakers are masters in slow moving on stage.

Common knowledge:

1. Avoid the obvious statements! As the first 30 seconds of your presention have most impact, don’t waste the momentum with obvious statements. Average attention span is about 18 minutes. Avoid a pointless introduction talking about “ladies and gentlemen” or the weather. A general rule: think with every bullet: “who cares”.

2. Know why your audience is there, your presentation has to match with the expertise of the audience. Why did you got invited to speak?

3. Write down your introduction, to deliver a clear and confident introduction, write your introduction down, and cram it, simple as that. Not many people have a introduction memorized, often reason for a weak introduction, emphasize your credentials!

I received most of these tips during the public speaking workshop of Joshua Joseph.

I hope you like that post!

Tags: presentation, tips