1. Don’t read. Don’t read your notes. Don’t read your slides. Follow the rule “Talk to People Not to Paper.” If you speak from an outline or brief keyword notes (in a large font), pause, stop speaking, mentally grab the next point, look up at the audience and then speak. When you read, you lose engaging eye contact with
2. Speak conversationally, unless the culture or setting require formal language.
3. Smile, especially at the start. It will relax you and warm up your audience.
4. Memorize your opening and closing. Start and finish strong. Memorizing your opening will give you a confident start.
5. Pause. Pause naturally, as in conversation. Pause before and after important or difficult words or concepts. Pause after rhetorical questions (even though you don’t expect an answer after a rhetorical question, it gives the audience time to reflect).
6. Don’t cram your content! Cut your content to comfortably fit the time and your audience’s comprehension.
7. Dress appropriately for your audience and the circumstances. Wear something comfortable that you look good in (don’t forget to wear clean, polished shoes in a business setting).
8. Tell stories (or “case studies”) that include a conflict or challenge. Stories are concrete, connect with emotions, and are memorable. Facts tell, but stories sell.
9. Focus on giving the audience a gift (information, a new way of looking at something). It’s not about you. It’s about the audience.
10. Let go of perfection. Your audience won’t typically realize if you said something differently than you planned. Or, even if you completely forget something. Just move on.
Bonus tip: Bring a bottle of water. There’s nothing worse than having a tickle in your throat and seeing water in the back of the room. You can also take a sip to buy time to gather your thoughts.
This is the eighth of 9 posts with the steps to take plus 10 delivery tips (this post) to be ready in an hour to “wow” your audience! The steps only take 50 minutes, which gives you time to read the information before doing the step.
The course includes the material in the 9-part post sequence, plus worksheets for each step, and brief video instructions from me!
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