I did something that scares me not once, but twice, in the past 2 weeks: public speaking.
You know the feeling – your heartbeat picks up, your mouth goes dry, your mind swirls. These feelings are especially intense if you feel inadequately prepared and let’s be honest – trying to fit everything we want to do into the schedule of everything we must do often leaves us feeling this way.
In reflecting on a recent Innovation Leader roundtable where I presented to industry peers, I sat down to read up on effective public speaking. I’ll be using these 5 steps as a guide for future events and I signed up for Toastmasters, something I’ve had ‘on the list’ for years.
Do you have other tips to share? Comment below.
1. Know your audience
It’s not about you, it’s about them. Do the digging to uncover who’ll be in attendance and why. This helps define your main topic and hone in on the key takeaways that’ll be most valuable to your audience.
2. Teach, don’t tell
You’re speaking because you presumably have knowledge to share. View your role as that of a teacher – sharing, yet engaging the audience along the way with dialogue & poignant visuals. Slides should be a reference point, not the focal point of your presentation.
3. Storytelling always wins
Consider the SDCS framework: Story, Data, Case, Summary. Thanks to the beautiful.ai blog for this intel:
“Start with a personal story (S) or refer to an interesting news headline that went viral this month and relate it back to your main topic. Anecdotes are huge for storytelling—they bring your message to life. Next, cite data (D) for proof. Then, talk through a case study (C) that drove real results. Lastly, summarize (S) your speech and drive home the main takeaways.”
Wish I structured my innovation chat accordingly – noted for next time!
4. Identify the takeaways
Planning for any presentation should start with identifying the takeaways you want your audience to have. Then, you craft the story to deliver on these takeaways. Pressure test yourself here – after running though the presentation, are your 3-5 main takeaways clear? Don’t leave the audience guessing – spell it out for them.
5. Deliver with confidence
We’ve all heard the adage, “It’s not what you say, it’s how you say it,” and it couldn’t be more true. Yes, you need to offer substance but audiences are often more forgiving, and deem the speaker more of an authority, when he or she delivers the content with confidence. Practice your stance, your gestures, eye contact – all of it.
Your presentation is a sum of: what you say, how you say it, how you look while saying it and how your audience feels while listening.
Interested in diving deeper?
Tips and reflection inspired by Harvard Business Review and the beautiful.ai blog.
