Presentation Skills: 7 Tips for Delivering Professionally, and with Confidence!
Whether as teachers or presenters – many of us choose to put ourselves in the spotlight. Yet, almost all of us experience a degree of stage fright. Here’s what we can do to start strongly, deliver a clear message to an engaged audience, and end with confidence.
As teachers, we stand up every day in front of an audience, and we’re usually well familiar with our topic. So while a little adrenalin doesn’t hurt, why not overcome at least some of those nerves?
My seven top tips have come about through trial and error; if something unexpected happens on the day, I’ve got the back-up to keep going and succeed.
Tip 1: Have an angle on your topic
A good topic is a great start, but giving it direction is also a hook for your audience. For example, instead of “Sustainable Cities”, how about:
Sustainable Cities:
What can we do to make our cities greener?
Conference titles often have two parts; a question further adds to the potential appeal.
Tip 2: Getting attention
A strong start means ensuring everyone is with you. You can do this in a number of ways, such as:
- asking a hands-up question (e.g., “Hands up if you’ve ever given a presentation” or “run a marathon”, etc.)
- telling a personal / relevant anecdote
- stating a fun / shocking fact
- or (maybe!) by telling a joke
Don’t forget, too, to smile and make eye contact!
Tip 3: The take-away
After listening to any talk, there should be some sort of change in your audience. The K.A.B. framework is helpful in defining this:
K = knowledge
A = attitude
B = behaviour
- If you’re delivering facts, you’re potentially changing your listeners’ knowledge.
- If you hope to change their attitude, then maybe illustrate why those facts are important.
- To further change their behaviour, additional persuasion skills on how they (someone else) might benefit from applying those facts will be useful.
To illustrate, in writing this post, perhaps I can …
• demonstrate strategies you can use (= knowledge)
• show you how these help build confidence (= attitude)
• encourage you to try out the strategies – or even sign up to give a talk! (= behaviour)
Another way of looking at the take-away is to remember the W.I.I.F.Y. – What’s in it for you? – the speaker’s reminder to make their audience aware of why it’s worth staying and listening to you!
But there’s also my aim, slightly different from the audience take-away.
For example, in this article/talk, my own aim is to outline and illustrate seven strategies, clearly and with examples (… so that my audience will feel more confident when delivering a presentation = the WIIFY).
Tip 4: How to organise content
Being very familiar with our topic, it’s easy to forget that we’re delivering something new – or in a new light – to an audience. They need signposts throughout – at the start, during the presentation, and also a reminder at the end of the key message. So a clear and logical structure is crucial.
The following are a few sample structures:
• A series of Wh- questions (3-4) to divide the content
• P.R.E.P. Make your point; give a reason; add an example; restate your point.
• S.T.A.R.R. Define the situation; describe your task; explain the action you took; show your results; offer recommendations.
• Chronological: for describing a sequence of steps, or reporting back on an event.
• A mnemonic – using the letters of a relevant word – to aid memory, e.g. a guided tour of B.E.R.L.I.N. might focus on the Buildings, Entertainment options, top Restaurants – and so on.
Your choice of structure will obviously be one that best fits the type of talk you’re giving.
Tip 5: Involving your audience
While it’s important to hook your audience at the start, they’ll be far more engaged if you can do this in different ways throughout your talk.
Whatever size your audience, the following are simple ways to achieve this:
• Y/N Questions, Wh- Qs, rhetorical Qs
• “You have 60 seconds to write down as many …”
• “Order these five items according to …”
• “Which of these three is incorrect?”
• “Discuss XY with a partner; you have 1 minute.”
Keep moments of interaction short, but regular.
Tip 6: How to start
My own starting tips include an A, B, C, and D: get my audience’s Attention (Tip 2), highlight the Benefit (Tip 3), Credibility: explain why I’m “qualified” to give this talk; and Direction: how I’m going to proceed.
Here, it’s enough to give a brief outline of the content, and what’s going to come first.
I also focus on Soundscripting * , especially for the very beginning (when I might be distracted by whatever’s going on in the room).
In a nutshell, soundscripting is putting the text in a bigger font, double-spacing it, putting key words in bold (or upper case), and adding a slash (/) between words where I want to pause, or an end-of-line break for a longer pause:
With this, I can read and easily look up (and back), knowing that while I might not be focusing clearly on the content at this point, by using the marked-up script I know the message will be conveyed clearly.
Extra starting tips might also include mentioning timing, when you’re happy to accept questions, and if/when you have reference material to share.
Tip 7: How to finish
It’s usually a relief to reach the end of a talk – but it takes careful planning to ensure your audience also gets a sense of achievement and a clear take-away. Write down, word-for-word, what you’re going to say. Include a conclusion and/or summary. Perhaps come full circle by referring to something relevant mentioned at the start, or offer a call to action: what can your audience do next to put some of this into practice?
And, finally, smile, and accept – humbly! – the applause.
So what’s your take-away?!
References and Recommended Reading
* Soundscripting, ref: Powell, M. (1996). Presenting in English. LTP.
Atkins, R. (2023). The Art of Explanation: How to Communicate with Clarity and Confidence. Wildfire.
Groskop, V. (2019). How to own the room. Collins (book, and weekly podcast available on Apple, Spotify etc.).
***
If you liked this article, you may also be interested in:
Wow Your Audience without Words: Top Tips from a Public Speaking Expert – Connections.