5 more highly practical presentation tips to help make you a more powerful public speaker.

1. 5
Presentation Tips
to stay ahead of the game

2. Share your eye contact1

3. Eye contact is crucial to all our behaviour -
the movement of our pupils expresses
different emotional states.

4. A simple technique for
larger audiences is to pick out
individuals around the auditorium.
As you speak directly to those
people - holding their
gaze – the twenty or so people
around them will feel that you are
also speaking to them. click on our logo for the full tip.

5. Tell great stories
2

6. "If history were taught in the form of stories,
it would never be forgotten” Rudyard Kipling

7. Think of great films - the
protagonist is never the same at the
end of the film as they were at the
beginning. They are fundamentally
changed.
!
Your presentation must take us on a
similar journey.
!
How have we changed at the end?
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Stories have a beginning, middle and end -
the journey from 'what was' to 'what is'.

8. Filler Words
3
right…
umm…
errr…
so…
ok…

9. Speakers and presenters often use them
out of a fear of silence & tend to repeatedly
employ the same words or phrases -
!
something an audience will
quickly notice.
Filler words do just that – they fill
spaces. They are unnecessary words
and phrases that cover verbal gaps.

10. Try simply replacing these words with a PAUSE. It sounds simple, and it is.
It just may not be easy initially.
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full tip.

11. 4
Create an elevator pitch

12. then it’s safe to say you probably
understand what you want to achieve.
If you can
consolidate your
message into
a few clear
sentences

13. Make sure you’re
ARMED

14. Make sure you grab our
ATTENTION
The first minute is crucial.
Challenge us - be controversial
- make us care.

15. Make sure you’re
RELEVANTWhy would we listen?

16. Make sure you know your
MESSAGEWhat must we know?

17. Make sure you have a clear
EXAMPLEIllustrate your message with
where it’s worked before.

18. Finally, what must we
DOYour audience needs to
know what happens next.click on our logo
for the full tip.

19. Handle difficult questions
5

20. Difficult questions are only
perceived as difficult if the
presenter displays signs of
discomfort.
We have all seen colleagues struggle when
being asked a question from someone who
is well informed, more senior, or just likes
to be heard.

21. As we are territorial animals, the audience
will sense the presenter retreating.
The answer to this is to step INTO the
difficult question.
The physical gesture of moving forwards
gives an unconscious signal to the
questioner that the speaker is engaging with
the question - whether they know the
answer or not.
Under pressure we physically
step away from a difficult question.
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