Presentation tips: preparation, stage fright, dos and don'ts …
The presenter can turn an event, a trade fair show or a panel discussion either into a success or into a flop.
With my presentation tips I would like to help you to get the best out of yourself and your presentations turning them into a real firework for your viewers and listeners.
Have fun with my tips for your presentation!
Check out my free presentation tips!
Presentation tip 1: stop trying to be perfect!
When you are on stage for the first time, or when you are about to speak in front of people or into a camera for the first time, then there is one thing that you absolutely want: You wanna do it perfectly! I know that, I’ve been there too …
Well my answer to that is simple: forget that! don’t even think of being perfect!
Sure, you see TV hosts or event presenters or speakers at work, and you think: wow, they are doing it perfectly! But trust me: they are not. What they do is give the impression of doing it flawlessly.
And how do they do that? Quite simple, by being relaxed! They are relaxed because they know that not speaking 100% perfectly while going through paragraph after paragraph is absolutely normal! A slip of the tongue, a mispronunciation or a wrong accent here and there are completely natural. In my opinion, perfection in speaking or presenting would even be a bit boring …
So, should you make a mistake, you simply repeat the word or the sentence. If a certain word just doesn’t come to your mind, just admit it. If you happen to lose the thread, just take a look at your notes.
Trust me, as long as you are relaxed, as long as you make it appear natural nobody will ever hold it against you. They won’t even notice! Under usual circumstances – in a normal conversation for example – it is also quite common not to speak 100% perfectly.
So remember: don't even try to be perfect!
Presentation tip 2: make sure to deliver a good first impression!
When you have to talk in front of people or a camera, there are a lot of things that you could potentially do wrong … Which reduces your chances of making the best possible first impression.
Therefore, true to the motto “The first impression counts!” you should attach particular importance to it. On the one hand to your look, your attitude and your appearance and on the other hand to your opening words. But first things first.
Let's start with the appearance. Always try to be well-groomed, neat and dressed appropriately. Make yourselves up and dress up nicely. Better be overdressed than underdressed! And also pay attention to an open posture and a radiant smile!
The second important aspect for a good first impression is your opening words. Please, try not to just greet and welcome the audience. Start with something that they wouldn’t expect but has a connection with the event or the show.
For example: "last week – it was Tuesday I think – I was zapping through various channels until I ended up watching the “Terminator” – with that one scene where the Terminator says:”‘I’ll be back!”. Well I know that this quote has been used over and over again, but I think it fits pretty darn well with our event today! Because we are back! And with this spirit I am happy to welcome you all to our event!" And so far and so on … you got the point.
Another good tool to start your presentation with, is a famous quote. For example: back in the days even Socrates said: “Nothing that I know I really know” … or was it: “I don’t know what I know” … maybe it was: “Know nothing or don’t know” … “Do you know? No!” … “Know nothing or go” … You certainly know what I mean.
During your preparation for the presentation look for quotes that match the customer or the event.
Another way to start is with a number, ideally a really high or a really low one. 2 Examples:
- "Ladies and gentlemen. There is a number that really impresses me: 1843. 1843. This is the number of people currently connected with us and who I have the big pleasure to welcome to our event!"
- "Ladies and gentlemen. There is a number that I didn’t think could be possible: 0! Zero stands for the overall delays of our deliveries, since we have implemented our latest AI-driven work organization. And with this great news I officially welcome you all to our event!"
With these tips – you see – it’s pretty easy to give a strong and positive first impression!
Presentation tip 3: keep it short and sweet!
Remember this very well folks: “Brevity is the soul of wit” – or “The spice lies in brevity” ! And I even can't stress out enough how important this is! I know that you are on stage or in front of the camera to speak. But the last thing you wanna do is to bore or to confuse or even to annoy people, right? If you talk too much and if your script is not made for speaking, then exactly that will happen … trust me on that … period.
I mean, I know how it is … you are on stage, you start speaking and people start listening. And it feels good. And so you keep going, because you are enjoying the audience's full attention. And you keep talking as you can see their interested looking faces. And you keep speaking because they give you the feeling that you are doing it really well and that they would listen to you for hours. And you can feel that everything you say makes so much sense and gives them so much. And suddenly you know that they just can’t stop listening to such a great speech and such a great presenter. And you keep speaking and talking and speaking and talking and speaking and talking and … blah, blah, blah …
Keep your presentations short and get to the heart of the matter as quickly as possible! Listeners and viewers will love you for that!
A powerful way to achieve this is by optimizing your texts or your scripts for speaking. As there is quite a difference between text written for reading and text written for speaking. Let me give you an example: just look on the one hand at radio or TV news reports and on the other hand at articles on newspapers or news websites. I bet that the time it takes you to read a specific article is way longer than the duration of the tv or radio report about the same matter.
As the attention-span for listening is a lot shorter than the attention-span for reading, scripts intended for speaking are generally kept a lot shorter and simpler. What does that mean for you?
Write sentences that are easy to speak, easy to understand and easy to remember. And try to avoid nesting these sentences. Make it simple for yourself and for your listeners. Always keep in mind to write your scripts or to rewrite the scripts that you get the way you would speak them / the way you would tell them. And don’t worry, it’s not difficult at all! Just try …
Presentation tip 4: how to use your hands while presenting!
Almost everyone who is to speak on a stage or into a camera sooner or later is confronted with the situation where – without holding a microphone or presentation cards or another gadget – they do not really know what to do or how and where to keep their hands.
Let’s start with a couple poses that you should rather avoid:
- Clasped hands. Well if you clasp your hands you somehow trap them. They can’t move and it looks like you're praying …
- Crossed arms. That doesn't work well either, as you look introverted or even angry and people can’t see your hands, which is not good …
- Arms and hands hidden behind your body. Same principle as before. People cannot see your hands and it could look like you’ve got something to hide …
- Hands on your hips. With this pose you look like a sort of security officer and it confers you a rather negative touch …
But how do we find a natural looking and comfortable pose?
Very easy. Just shake and loosen your arms and then – without thinking – quickly bring your hands together above the belt line. That's it! This is the most natural looking and comfortable starting or resting position for your hands.
Another significant aspect in terms of hands-usage while presenting is your gestures. Hand gestures make people listen to you. They help you access your memory while talking. And they are a powerful tool to emphasize a statement non-verbally.
Here is an interesting page about this topic: https://www.scienceofpeople.com/hand-gestures/
Presentation tip 5: how to deal with stage fright!
Dear viewers: don’t worry! A little bit of palpitations of the heart, a little bit of excitement, in other words, a little bit of stage fright before presenting or speaking in public is absolutely normal! How strongly you feel it, though, depends on your character and your self-confidence. If you are prone to stage fright, you will probably always feel it. But there are interesting methods to deal with it.
The first method is being prepared for the job. Accurate preparation is crucial! What does that mean for you? Let me illustrate that with an example: let’s say you are the host of the launch event of a new product.
- In this case, get to know the product inside out. What makes it special? What are the benefits for the users? What is its history? How was it developed? What is its purpose and so on …
- Then, study the producing company! Its history! Its milestones and so on …
- Get to know the people – for example the product experts – that you will introduce or interview on stage! Try to figure out what kind of character they are. Ask them what they are going to say or what they are going to do. Ask them what questions they would like to be asked on stage. You do this to guarantee the most fluid and natural interaction with them … I think you got the point …
- Last thing as far as preparation is concerned: don’t learn by heart, rather try to really understand the matter!
Sounds like a lot of work, doesn’t it? Well, even though in most cases you will be supported by your customers, it’s indeed quite laborious – But hey, nobody said it’s gonna be easy … ;-)
The second method: before starting the gig, ask yourself this question: why am I going to present? Well, you are going to present because you either were asked to do it, or commissioned to do it, or – in the best case – booked to do it. Either way, that means there are people who think that you can do it. People who trust you to do it. People who like the way you do it. And that’s a very positive and encouraging feeling, isn’t it?
The third method is watching my previous tips where I am telling you
- how to stay relaxed by not trying to be perfect
- how to make a good first impression
- how to keep your parts short an sweet
- and how to use your hands while presenting
One last but interesting fact: did you know that stage fright has got positive aspects too?
No kidding: while having stage fright it is very unlikely that you’ll have to sneeze or cough, or produce other let’s say disadvantageous noises with your body … ;-)
Presentation tip 6: the dos and don’ts with presentation cards!
Generally speaking, presentation cards are a quite useful tool … but only if utilized correctly! The advantages of presentation cards are quite obvious, next to helping you remember parts of your script they also keep your hands busy, taking away from you the concern of how and where to keep your two hands!
Let’s start with the ideal format and size of the cards. Generally I work with cards in A5 landscape format and I use a slightly thicker paper than usual, like 200gr per square meter! A5 is exactly half the size of the usual sheet of paper we use almost every day.
Why A5 landscape and not A4 portrait maybe with a clipboard? Well, of course everyone is free to choose. But I think that A4 is just too big and that clipboards are not particularly handy. And don't forget that if you are on stage, maybe standing a bit higher than the audience, an A4 clipboard could cover your face, at least for the people in the front rows. In my opinion A5 is simply more convenient.
Then let’s talk about font size, paragraphs and white space. In terms of fonts I recommend using fonts with serifs. Serifs are those tiny little extra lines also called “feet” that you find for example at the bottom of letters. These “feet” build an invisible line that helps staying on the same row when reading quickly. My favourite serif-font is “Georgia”. Then choose a font size that’s big enough to be read easily and do not forget to number your cards!
Always try to place whole sentences or whole paragraphs on one card and leave some space around the text for any handwritten last minute notes that might come. On the backside, you put the logo of the customer or the event – that always looks professional.
Now an often asked question: what do you write on the cards? Just with key words or entirely formulated sentences?
Well that depends on you and on which way you feel most comfortable. Try to think back to your school days. What was the best way for you back then to memorize things?
I usually write down whole sentences. But that does not mean that I stick to these to 100%. Writing down the whole thing just helps me to study and memorize the script.
And that brings me to the last part of this tip: how to actually work with your cards. What you must not do, is alternating reading and talking.
In order to keep my presentations fluent, I do the following: while talking, when I notice that I am getting to the end of a sentence or a paragraph, or when I feel that I am losing the thread, I take a look at the next paragraph or the next card while I'm still talking. That allows me to continue without interruptions. You have to practice that – You’ll see, it's easier than you think.
Another situation in which I almost always take a look at my cards, is when I am to pronounce particularly difficult words or names or when I have to convincingly convey precise numbers or specific and complex data and so on …
Presentation tip 7: don't tell facts, tell stories!
First of all: why should we tell stories? It’s simple. Stories are way more appealing to us and therefore we can remember them a lot easier than a mere listing of facts. It is like that because our brain is made for remembering stories, as human beings have been telling stories basically since they developed the ability to communicate tens of thousands of years ago. Stories trigger emotions and help us to visualize stuff, which facilitates remembering.
Many brands use storytelling to create an emotional connection between their products and their customers. Like a famous sports brand for example, who tells its stories in a way that invites people to become a part of a collective movement by wearing its products.
In a similar way as a presenter you can use storytelling techniques to create a connection between your viewers and your customer, or between your viewers and the event itself, or a product you are presenting, or a person you are introducing and so on …
Let me give you some examples:
You are presenting an event for an important company anniversary. In that case you should create a connection between this company and the audience. A good moment for doing this is for example the opening:
“For years and years P-Tech was a solid company writing black figures thanks to their reliable products. But then came 2010 … The world was changing rapidly, and so did our market … Far-reaching decisions had to be taken … Unfortunately too many of these decisions were not crowned with success … A seemingly unstoppable downward spiral began … Soon thereafter P-Tech was facing the abyss. There were only two possible scenarios left: file for bankruptcy or change, everything, radically. Well, P-Tech did not file for bankruptcy. P-Tech did not give up. P-Tech decided to fight. The women and men behind P-Tech decided to fight and embrace change by redesigning almost every department and every internal process. Soon the first positive signs were measurable. P-Tech started growing again, which motivated its workers even more to walk the famous extra mile to tackle and surpass the competition. Eventually P-Tech climbed the top becoming the market-leader we all know and appreciate today. And you, dear ladies and gentlemen, you are those workers who P-Tech owes this success. And P-Tech wants to show its gratitude by dedicating our 20th anniversary to you!”
For this example I applied the frequently used “hero’s journey” storytelling technique. A protagonist must leave his familiar environment to embark in a journey into unknown territories where he has to defeat a seemingly invincible enemy before returning home as a hero.
Now imagine if I had just listed sales, expenses, calculations, balance sheets and stuff like that … Boooooring … and surely forgotten within minutes. In any case it’s almost always a good idea to begin a presentation by telling a short story …
Now let’s talk about creating a connection between your viewers and a guest you are about to announce and invite on stage. If possible you should talk to this person beforehand trying to gather a couple of interesting details, you could use. 2 examples:
“Ladies and gentlemen after graduating from Columbia University in 1993, my guest worked as an assistant in London. In 1998, she enrolled in Harvard Law School. After graduating, she became a civil rights attorney and an academic, teaching constitutional law at the University of Amsterdam until 2002. After his time in Amsterdam she joined P-Tech becoming a member of the board of directors. In 2011 she was elected chairman of the board of directors. Please welcome Mrs Mary Jones” … [yawning] … Now check out the next one:
“Ladies and gentlemen, my next guest is a real multitalent. Besides being a member of the board of directors of P-Tech since 2002, she is a passionate cook. Her favorite cuisine is italian and her lasagne is legendary. The most thrilling moment in her life was a bungee jump in South Africa. The best moment of her life was the birth of her 2 children. She would never admit being a sports cannon but you can find her in the gym almost every other day. About P-Tech she says that she is so proud of being its chairwoman. So please welcome Mrs. Mary Jones! ”
Now tell me, which introduction was more personable, more captivating, more memorable?
In the last part of this tip I’d like to show how to use storytelling to create a connection between your viewers and a product, a service or maybe a machine that you are presenting:
“Ladies and gentlemen a couple of years ago one of our main customers came to us with a request. Their goal was to anticipate current market developments. And so they wanted to pack the candies they produce in a new and eco-friendly cardboard packaging. Of course we have accepted the challenge and after almost one year of designing, developing and testing we came up with the new P-Tech 3000! The main purpose of the P-Tech 3000? Simple, turning these [showing loose chewing gums] into this [showing a chewing gum package]. And now I am gonna show you how it does that, follow me!”
Dear viewers, there would be tons of examples on how to work with storytelling, but I’d like to keep my video tips short and sweet and so here are a couple of interesting links:
