How to Improve Your Presentation Skills for Career Mastery

Simple Skills to Improve Your Presentations and Tips for Practice

First, this is not going to be a post outlining all the great content out there on presentation skills. You’ve got a search engine for that and can go for a surf to find some. I really would encourage you to do this. Check out YouTube as well - this is one area that obviously benefits from a video demonstration.

I have made the point that you should invest most of your time preparing for a presentation by crafting a good story and practicing until you can share it naturally and without aid. There are no simple tips that will get around this important point. But as you learn your new skills, always practice with this in mind.

Find Opportunities to Speak

Certainly the single best way that you can improve your skills is to practice. In this case, I don’t mean the same presentation, but many different ones. You need the opportunity to hone your skill by using it. How can you do this? There are groups that you can join, like toastmasters, and you can seek out other opportunities - I have spoken to groups outside of my work where I can share my expertise. You might choose to share your knowledge with your children’s class if they invite parents in to speak about careers - yes, speaking to five year olds can be plenty intimidating! You don’t need to give formal presentations - even reading, as you might in your church gives you the chance to put yourself on the line in front of a large group. You can practice one of your presentations, or frankly make up a new one about anything, at home alone in front of a video camera, or in front of trusted friends and family. Want your kids to grow up good speakers? Make a game of it - impromptu speaking on any topic one night as a family. The possibilities are almost endless; you just have to make it a priority.

“If you have great ideas, you need to be able to communicate them confidently and effectively.”

Skills to Keep In Mind

1. Eye contact. It is essential to your credibility as a speaker. It shows confidence and it engages your audience. Don’t focus on one area, but scan the audience and make contact with many people.

2. Volume. Speak not so that you can be heard by the person in front of you, but so that the person at the back of the room can hear you clearly.

3. Pace. You will be best heard and understood if you speak a little slower than you typically would feel comfortable doing. At first the proper pace will feel strange but trust me it is best not to rush.

4. Pause to refresh. Silence is a powerful thing. Do not feel uncomfortable pausing when you make an important point. It gives people the opportunity to digest what you have said. It gives it emphasis. It gives it strength. When I feel a pause is important as I present (or in an interview when I have given an important answer), I will say something (in my head) to the group that I find reassuring like, “did you hear that, I just made a big point.” For some reason the pause seems a little less uncomfortable to me this way.

5. Repetition. Listen to the most powerful presenters and you will hear repetition. Martin Luther King Jr. was an amazing example of this. Occasionally when you have made a very key point and then taken a pause, begin speaking by restating that point. Short and sweet, but the repetition is powerful.

6. Body language. You need to model the energy you want you audience to feel. Look no further than Tony Robbins on this one! On a simpler level though you need to be alert, stand up and keep your hands out of your pockets. How many poor speakers have you seen fiddling with the change in their pockets as they speak?

Rehearsing

I have made the point about rehearsing several times now (repetition!) but let me say it again. If you have a presentation to give and you have focused on the skills above, try this:

1. Practice it on your own in a quiet place.

2. Practice it in front of a mirror - seriously, it feels uncomfortable and you see right away what you are doing.

3. Practice for a video camera. Then review it, of course. Repeat as needed.

4. Practice for someone else - friends or family.

5. Practice for knowledgeable colleagues.

I’m sure few people will do all of these steps, but if you do any of them beyond just practicing alone, you are sure to improve faster than 95% of the rest of the world.

What about the office meetings and questions?

Yesterday I suggested presentation skills are key for all employees who work in the office, even if they only have to answer questions from a superior about their day to day efforts. How do these skills and routines that I have offered today apply?

I wouldn’t suggest raising the volume of your voice and slowing your pace when the boss asks you a question (you’ll come across as thinking he’s a bit senile…”MR. …JONES….THE..PROJECT…IS…COMING…ALONG…WELL!”) but all the other skills apply. Look your boss in the eye. Sound confident. Pause a little when you make a point, maybe even repeat it!

Similarly, you need to rehearse. Anticipate the questions you’ll be asked in the next department meeting and rehearse. Even if the questions are a little different, you will have prepared your method of delivery well. You can train yourself to be a better speaker in meetings and one on one situations through practice. All my rehearsal suggestions also apply. You can anticipate your boss asking for an update and practice your best response even if it is only a few sentences. Do it in front of the mirror, your spouse, your coworker. It might seem strange but it can be some of the most valuable time that you will ever invest.

It’s About Making You Shine

If you have great ideas, you need to be able to communicate them confidently and effectively. That does not always come naturally and must be learned through…one more time…practice!

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