I am fortunate enough to receive a training from one of the corporate trainers on time management. Apart from learning more about time management, I also focused on her public speaking style and skills. After the training, I had a chance to talk to her more about public speaking. Here are some tips I have dropped down to share here:

  • Confident on what you are talking about.
  • You may not know all of the things on the topic you are presenting. When there are audiences asking question you may not know immediately, do not hesitate to tell them you will get back to them later and write it down on your notes.
  • Your gesture and movements may affect your confidence. Stand still most of the time. Move when you want to approach audience. Hand gesture is important – do not put your hand in your pocket. Move them naturally to suit your speech.
  • Do not put down all the words you are presenting on your notes. Instead when preparing, drop down only keywords onto your notes.
  • Practice a lot. Practice in front of your friends and family and ask for feedback. Getting feedback is important because most of the time you may not spot anything yourself for improvement.
  • If no friends or family members can help you, try to record to audio and even video and review yourself.
  • After each presentation, hand out feedback sheets for audience to fill out. Usually you will receive some encouragements or constructive feedback for you to improve on.
  • If there are questions you may able to answer in later part of the presentation, do not feel bad to tell them so. Better yet you can drop down the questions on the whiteboard or paper so you will remember to attend it when the time comes.
  • Depends on the topic, try to add in some interactions with audience – asking questions, doing some small exercises etc.
  • Use simple key points in presentation slides. Use drawings and illustrations on whiteboard.

This is the first time I paid full attention to a training course (even after lunch!) and she has rich skills in public speaking and knowledge in time management. One thing that she suggested couple of times is to practice and practice a lot in public speaking – I believe this is one of the tips that make her so successful in training.

Related:
10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking – [Audible Audiobook]