When it comes to public speaking, what separates the pros from the rookies?
By Robert C. Kennedy
When I attend presentations at conferences, I like to observe the speaker themselves, separate from their message. It’s pretty easy to tell the pros from the rookies. You can hear it in their slightly quivering voice. They are a little less comfortable in their shoes. I root for them.
Photo source: Wikimedia Commons
For many people, public speaking is one of their biggest sources of anxiety. The thought of being in front of other people, and being judged, and possibly screwing up, creates fear. I have to say, even after doing it a hundred times, I still share the fear sometimes. But there are a few things I have learned that make it easier.
First, remind yourself that in most cases, you know more about what you are saying than the people in the room. That’s why you are the one in the front of the room. The audience is there to learn, not to challenge you or trip you up. So, share your experience as you know it. That means it is OK to answer a question with “I don’t know.” In fact, that is a lot better than trying to improvise your way around a question because you fear admitting you don’t know something. Taking that path is almost always worse. People can see through it, and it diminishes all the good things you said up to that point.
My next tip is to prepare, prepare, prepare because you can never over-prepare for a speech or presentation. The more you prepare, the more confident you become in your topic, and the smoother your delivery. Most communication is nonverbal. Exuding an aura of confidence will be picked up by your audience. Confidence will come from preparedness.
Steve Jobs was a master presenter. Books have been written about his stage presence at Apple events. If you watch him speak, he looks incredibly natural. Very confident. But then you learn that his presence was a very carefully choreographed production, down to where he would stand and how the lighting would shift with him. For me, that just makes the guy even more brilliant.
Over the years, I have also learned a very important lesson about giving presentations. PowerPoint is a very powerful tool that is often overused to the point that it detracts from the presentation. Remember this: the slides are not the presentation – YOU ARE. The slides are there merely to assist. That means you should be having a conversation with your audience, not reading the slides or forcing your audience to read the slides. If you build a slide with more than 3 bullet points and your bullet points consist of full sentences, you are letting the slides dictate your presentation. A slide will never be as good as you can be if you are prepared.
Lastly, there is an old adage that for me has gained more relevance in the world of Zoom presentations: you will be judged by how you look. Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have. Call me old-fashioned, but I’m not wrong. T-shirts, messed hair, unshaven faces… you get the picture. I don’t understand why standards for dress code changed because of the intermediary of the internet. It’s still a presentation with an audience. Is it so hard to take a few extra minutes and clean up?
And on the topic, your standards and behavior shouldn’t change just because you are in your bedroom and not the office. Everyone understands and accepts that children will walk into the room, dogs will bark, sirens will blare, but I would rather not be meeting with a person who is in sweat clothes, has a TV on in the background, or who walks around the house as we are talking. There is such a thing as a minimum standard for professionalism. And again, you are being judged.
