Did you know that becoming a bold presenter and public speaker can catapult your career?
I’ve written many articles designed to help nervous and anxious presenters.
Here are just a few of them:
If you are you terrified of public speaking these 13 tips will help
The Truth About Stage Fright in Public Speaking
7 Tips to Overcome the Fear of Public Speaking
21 MINDFUL tools for managing presentation nerves
This article is about how being a bold presenter can catapult your career. The bold presenter also feels fear but has learned how to harness and transform it to help, rather than hinder them.
The benefits of being a bold presenter
– A bold presenter is often seen as a leader who is able to inspire and motivate others to take action and change behaviours to achieve specific goals.
– They are better equipped to influence and persuade an audience to challenge and change mindsets to explore new possibilities and opportunities.
– In a world of ‘brain overload,’ a bold presenter knows exactly how to get and keep their audience’s attention, interest and curiosity. They challenge the status quo of mediocrity and lengthy agendas.
– Whether you believe we are still in the information, data or IoT age, the world continues to change. Knowledge on it’s own is arguably meaningless unless we know how to communicate it. The bold presenter is creating the communication age in the passionate belief that the ability to progress in the working world and in life itself, would be nearly impossible if we can’t connect with each other.
– The bold presenter knows how to communicate with confidence, clarity and impact. They know how get their audience’s attention quickly, how to craft and deliver a message which is clear, relevant and compelling. They adopt the mantra, ‘less is more.’
The myth
Some people think that to be a bold presenter you have to be a super confident, slick, polished and memorised speaker. Many believe that a bold presenter was just born with ‘The gift of the gab’.
The truth is, it’s a learned skill.
The bold presenter learns to speak with confidence, authority, presence and impact. They also learn to speak with humility, empathy and compassion. A bold presenter doesn’t mindlessly impose their voice on others. They listen carefully and communicate mindfully.
Why will learning to be a bold presenter catapult your career
When you learn how to find, value and express your true voice you get to:
– Project presence and credibility
– Stand out from the crowd and be memorable
– Articulate your ideas with eloquence and efficacy
– Build rapport, trust and respect quickly
– Answer difficult questions confidently
– Connect with others emotionally as well as intellectually
– Engage far more easily at networking events
– Be seen as the expert in your particular field
– Lead change each time you speak
How do you become a bold presenter
It’s worth pointing out that if you are a nervous presenter, then just stepping out to speak is bold; congratulations.
The very first step is to learn to manage and overcome your public speaking anxiety.
I’ve shared some extremely helpful suggestions at the beginning of this article and you can find many more on our website.
I would also encourage you to find and work very closely with a really good public speaking coach.
Next steps
Here are our top 20 tips once you’ve learned to manage your fear and have had a little coaching:
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Focus on connecting rather than performing
In our experience, most people don’t like performing but everyone likes connecting.
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Don’t try to be perfect
Bold presenter’s are human, they are fallible too.
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Know what helps and hinders you
Identify your strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and challenges.
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Be kind to yourself first
Create a state of mental, emotional and physical kindness for yourself.
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Lighten up and smile
When you smile it sends a message to your audience that you are happy to be there, you are comfortable and are invested in the moment
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Don’t forget to pause
Pausing allows you to slow down, breathe and choose your words carefully while giving your audience a chance to process what you’ve just said.
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Remember to breathe
Most of the tension and anxiety we see affecting presenters today can be dispelled by the simple and immensely powerful act of mindful breathing.
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Be creative
Bold presenters invest a great deal of time and energy in creative thinking to help them to stand out from the crowd and connect with their audience.
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Prepare carefully
Allow plenty of time to prepare thoroughly. Don’t leave it to the last minute.
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Practice mindfully
Internalise your message and practice speaking it out aloud, asking for feedback as you do.
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Use visuals wisely
Stick to one idea per slide, avoid bullet points and use more images than text.
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Know your audience
Take the time to learn as much as you can about the people you’ll be presenting.
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Open and close well
Open your presentation with impact to grab your audience’s attention and close with focus to leave a lasting impression.
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Make it content rich
The prerequisite to a brilliant presentation, before focusing on delivery, is to ensure that your message is supported by rich, relevant and rewarding content.
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Speak with passion
Passion is the jewel in the crown of high impact presenting.
16. Stick to the point
Make sure everything you share is relevant to your message and your audience.
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Focus on the future
Show your audience how you can make their lives better, easier, happier or positively better in some way.
18. Involve your audience
Don’t just talk at them; ask them questions and check in with them regularly.
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Tell them stories
Stories are the most powerful route to connecting emotionally with an audience.
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Dare to be different
Don’t do what everyone else does. Challenge the status quo and dare to be different.
At mindful presenter we believe that effective presentation and public speaking skills are extremely important and have a major role to play in helping those want to advance their careers. It’s never too late to become a bold presenter.
If you’d like help becoming a bold presenter:
– Book yourself onto a powerful public speaking course.
– Invest in some really good one to one public speaking coaching.
– Get yourself some excellent presentation training
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