You have written your presentation and started to rehearse it in front of a sympathetic audience who can give you reliable feedback. At this stage you will be finding your own unique style of relating to an audience and presenting information.

Be as natural as possible and certainly do not try to copy someone else, or you will come across as false and your audience may also start to doubt the accuracy of the content.

Many people find at this stage that they unconsciously adopt a repetitive pattern of behaviour while speaking to an audience! A common characteristic of the inexperienced presenter is the use of ‘crutch’ words such as ‘you know’, ‘actually’ and ‘basically’. You may not normally use them to excess but nerves can produce all kinds of unexpected tics!

Or the behaviour may be physical, such as hand rubbing, pacing about or fiddling with hair. The Reluctant Nudist is uncomfortable about being the centre of attention and will cover himself up as much as possible, crossing arms, legs and displaying other defensive body language.

Have you ever spotted a Teapot? They stand with one hand on a hip while the other arm waves around or rests along the top of the flip chart. The Change Jangler is one of the most annoying – they dig deep into their pockets while rifling noisily through the contents.

You may well have spotted other bizarre, totally unconscious behaviour from presenters. Make sure you get some objective, honest feedback at the rehearsal stage – better to be told by a friend now than after the event! Practice will help you to become aware of any irritating habits and to correct them, so allow yourself time to rehearse, review and rehearse again.

Thinking about all the things you could say is rather different from sitting down and writing the presentation. Follow this four-step approach to writing a presentation.

Identify Your Big Idea and Three Main Points

Start with a ‘big idea’ and three main points that you want to make. An example of this would be a speech on Creative Intelligence with the main points being dynamic, diverse, and distinct. Notice the alliteration. It’s deliberate When spoken aloud, one after another, the repetition of the first letter gives a memory hook for the audience. It also gives you better recall later on.

Brainstorm Your Main Points

Now that I have decided on the important areas I am going to cover, I need to consider the sub-points I wish to make about each point. To do this, I use a sheet of blank paper and write down all the ideas that come to mind, around that topic. I then prioritize them. Below is the kind of list I would generate for each of my three Ds.

Dynamic

• Knowledge emerges socially from small teams
• Use feedback from customer, clients, and the audience for deeper insights
• Interactive communication is central

Diverse

• Tolerate mistakes
• Expect different styles of learning (oral, written, visual, kinesthetic)
• Find strengths in individuals

Distinct

• Delegate responsibilities and control
• Where is the niche, where are the opportunities?
• Organizations like people can not be good at everything

Develop Your Headings

Using these brainstormed ideas, the next step is to develop what you will say around each sub-point. The stories you develop around each point might be from your own experience, what you uncovered from research, or you a story that will help bring the point to life. Once you have expanded each point, you have the majority of your speech written. The next part of the process involves weaving your ideas together, so they make sense.

Find Your Journey

During a presentation we take the audience on a journey. By the end, they will have travelled with us. This is when we create a journey or a narrative for them to follow.

With the example we are using here, you could personalize the content and ‘attach’ it to a character, for example saying this is how Sara developed her creative intelligence. You might even be the main character with the tale of what you have learned along the way, taking care to be self-effacing enough to recognize that the journey has only just started. If you create a logical flow, if one element naturally follows another in the tale, you and your audience are much more likely to follow the thread of your presentation.

Do you want to make your next presentation more effective? Use these nine simple yet powerful presentation tips and techniques to enjoy better results when you speak before an audience.

Effective public speaking is not talent. It is a set of skills and techniques that are learned, practiced and delivered well. Learn the techniques and start practicing for your next successful presentation now. Don’t wait until you are asked to speak. Be ready.

Silence
Practice saying nothing. Not gibberish – nothing, as in silence. It is so powerful. Pause before you start, pause after you said something important and pause when you are done. Just say less and get more comfortable with the silences.

Mirror
Your audience will mirror you. If you frown – so will they. If you want them to smile – you must smile. Laugh and they will laugh with you. There are no ugly audiences – only ugly speakers.

Show Your Hands
Keep your hands where we can see them. We will trust you more. Hiding your hands behind your back will make us wonder, “What is he hiding back there?” Putting them in your pockets might feel good – but you lose power and can appear too casual. Let your hands hang at your side. As you speak and become involved in your speech you will naturally move them. You will look more natural. You will appear more trustworthy.

Look at Your Audience
Look at the audience – not the screen, the back wall, or your notes. Talk to them – look at them – one at a time. Move your eyes from one to another as though you are having many one-on-one conversations.

Nod Your Head
When you ask the audience to respond to your question show that you respect their response. Pause and look around the audience; nod your head in approval or show your delight with a smile. Remember you asked them a question. Show that you really wanted an answer.

Smile
Sometimes your audience will laugh when you do not expect it. Pause and let them enjoy it. Smile and show you also have a sense of humor – even if you are not sure why they are laughing.

Appoint an Assistant
When you speak before a group, always have a helper who can fix the lights, help with handouts, and usher latecomers to their seats. When looking for volunteers don’t waste time waiting for someone to put up their hand. Appoint your volunteers. Always thank them.

Prepare for your Worst Question
Always be prepared to handle your worst question. You know what it is – the one you dread the most. It might be that you are too expensive, too cheap, too old, too new, too far, too near… Imagine how powerful you will appear when it is posed and you can smile and give the answer you rehearsed.

Edit your Words
Don’t offend your audience by using insulting phrases like “obviously” or “everyone knows”. If it is not oblivious to them or if they don’t believe that everyone knows then you have either insulted them or alienated them.

You can use these nine simple presentation tips and techniques to deliver more effective presentations today. It will take some practice but you can do it. Make your next presentation a success by paying more attention to the details.