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Giving a presentation in front of your peers, clients, or in front of a board is one of the more stress inducing tasks for most people. Getting up in front of a crowd to talk, explain, and bring forth an idea can be scary no matter the size of the group or who is in the room. However, as one who has presented in plenty of meetings, given a TEDx speech, and who has a stutter, I can tell you they are not as terrifying as you think.
Four Tips on Delivering a Great Presentation
Make eye contact
This was the first rule I learned when speaking publicly. Making eye contact engages people and makes them feel like they are being directly talked to, plus it invokes confidence. Your audience will believe that you know what you are talking about.
Have minimal info on slides
When doing a presentation, sometimes you may want to use Microsoft Power Point or slides from a projector to show a picture, charts, quotes, etc. My advice is to keep the information as brief as you can. In my opinion, the visuals of a presentation are used to have you expound on a topic. The audience is there to hear you talk, not to read the slides.
Project your voice
During a speech, talk, or presentation, one of the goals is to make sure everyone hears you. The room that you are speaking in may be small with a handful of people or packed with folks who cannot wait to hear what you have to say. No matter the size of the crowd, you want to speak at a volume level so everyone can hear you. The goal is for people in the back to hear what you have to say as well as those seated in the front.
Use your personality
Some of the most boring, mundane meetings have been because the presenter was dry and spoke in a flat, almost robotic manner devoid of any personality. That will turn people off from what you have to say and possibly put folks to sleep. My suggestion is to inject who you are into the presentation. When I spoke at TEDxWilsonPark, one of the ways that I wanted to keep the audience interested is to show my goofy charm which gained laughs, and I was able to connect with the audience. This is your presentation; personalize it.
Black Enterprise Contributors Network
LeRon Barton
LeRon L. Barton is a writer from Kansas City, MO currently living in San Francisco, Ca. A graduate of Paseo Academy of Fine Arts, LeRon is the author of two books, “Straight Dope: A 360 degree look into American Drug Culture” and “All We Really Need Is Love: Stories of Dating, Relationships, Heartbreak, and Marriage.” In addition to the books, LeRon is an essayist; whose topics cover racism, mass incarceration, politics, gender, and dating. These works have appeared in Salon, The Good Men Project, Elephant Journal, East Bay Times, and MoAD. LeRon has also given talks and speeches at University of San Francisco, Glide Methodist Church, been a guest of Al Jazeera’s The Stream, Story Corp, Dr. Vibe’s Do You Know What Time It Is podcast, and has participated in panel discussions on race and prison recidivism. In his spare time LeRon mentors young men in San Francisco and loves to backpack around the world.
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