Giving a presentation at work - tips please!

Most people are so relieved it's you and not them doing the.presentation that all they want to do is support you and wish you well,

Pauses whilst you collect your thoughts seem ages to.you but aren't even noticed by the audience, so don't worry about having a moment to think about your slide before you start talking or pausing at any stage whilst presenting,

Sum up your key messages at the end on one slide to be a takeaway for the audience

Be careful with humour. Unless you really know the audience it can go wrong. Best avoided.

Try and get a connection by positively relating to the subject. For example if you are presenting some figures you might say 'when you first see these figures you can see the increase in sales across the majority of the branches, but they do reveal.....'

Go through it as real, not just in your head.
Try and chat to a couple of people in audience before that you know. This is like a warm up.for your voice and also gives you a connection.

Good Luck. It does get easier but we all have to start sometime. And like others say. The reason you are doing it is because your organisation has faith in you and they want people to hear what you have to say.

Be careful about asking questions to the audience, people often get anxious about speaking in big groups so you could find yourself standing awkwardly waiting for an answer. Instead ask rhetorical questions or questions that you know you’re going to answer in your presentation so if no one answers you can move on quickly.

Keep it simple. A few uncomplicated slides to keep you on track, as little jargon as possible, no bells and whistles given you’re not experienced - trying to be clever gives you more to think about (and more to go wrong) when you’re already nervous.

Be yourself, if you’re naturally funny it’ll come through without you needing to force it, if you’re naturally chatty or naturally measured that’ll show through too so don’t try to force it. Remember we all have our own style - what works for one person won’t fit another.

Most of all, show interest in your subject matter - know your material and be enthusiastic about it. Nothing worse than watching a presentation by someone who is clearly bored themselves.

Good luck!

Lots of good advice, I would add:

If you have the opportunity get into the room the day before and test all the tech. You don't want to be faffing around at the last minute. Check the colours are okay, older screens and projectors can really wash some colours. Have a glass or bottle of water handy.

Slides with key points which you can talk around - the points keep you on track and talking around means you aren't sitting reading it out so you can keep it conversational, stopping and asking if anyone has any questions. If you want to create discussion have a slide.with discussion points and ask the audience questions - (you can ask a colleague.to come in with points to kick off discussion as you sometimes need.that to warm others up) and once people are talking then you are off.

Kick off.with agenda and objectives of the presentation and wrap up the end with conclusion and possibly next steps or.acrions.

Relax, nobody watching you wants you to fail - it is highly unlikely to have a hostile audiences, fhey are on your side

Prepare prepare and prepare is my best advice. Have a few out loud test, even if it's on your own.

Memorise the first few sentences, even if it's just 'hi and welcome to my presentation which will cover x y and z, please feel free to ask waurstions as we go along, no one wants to hear me drone on for an hour, so the more interactive we can make it the better haha' Often once you've got the first few lines out the way without a hitch you'll relax and get into the swing of things

Have a note pad and if you can't answer a question tell them you'll take it away and respond with an answer. Then write it down and follow up.

It's ok to pause and catch your breath

Everyone wants you to succeed.

And don't forget it's likely you're the most knowledgeable person in the room about the subject.

Yep practice - learn your content, the more comfortable you are with it the easier it will be on the day. If I stumble over my words or lose my train of thought at any point I just make a little joke of it, people are fine with that, it can actually warm them up. I like to watch reactions and try to bring people in so that it feels more like a conversation than a presentation. If you are nervous speak slower than you feel is normal as when the nerves and adrenaline kick in you end up speeding up. Be human, it's ok to say, oooh I'm a little nervous it will often warm people to you and get them on your side.

It isn’t easy. I always said after delivering my dad’s eulogy at his funeral any public speaking after that would be easy. But it’s not, it’s hard. I think prep is key. Don’t be afraid of not knowing the answer. Just say upfront you will take questions and might not have all the answers but will take them away if not

I once lost my voice during a presentation and it was the most horrific thing. I wasn't prepared and the nerves got the best of me. Since then I always do the following:

1. Practise out loud (multiple times) and time myself. Better if I can present to someone.
2. Never hold the piece of paper with my notes (unfortunately I still shake when I present)
3. Try to stand behind something or failing that I walk around whilst presenting, rather than standing in one place
4. Deep breaths before I start
5. Test the technology - make sure everything works before I start
6. If I feel it would help, ask someone to move the slides for me. It means I can focus on the content and if the technology fails it feels less pressure

I have also realised everyone wants you to do well when you present and often you are the expert so no one knows the subject better than you!

Good luck, I am sure you will be great 😃

I agree with a lot of these points.

1. Talk slowly. Even during a sentence...take a moments pause where there would be a comma...then continue. Listening to accomplished newsreaders is good, to get ideas of style.
2. Look around the room at different faces as you speak, so that everyone feels included.
3. If you have no microphone then speak at a volume as though talking to the ones at the back of the room. Nothing worse than not being able to hear what's being said.
4. Use the slides as prompts and don't fill them with too much text, or the audience will just read them themselves and ignore you. Never read them verbatim.
5. Record yourself doing a practice of the presentation so you can critique yourself and see where you can improve.
6. For any tricky questions, be honest and say you don't have the answer immediately but you will find out and share it with everyone later. Make sure to send responses to any unanswered questions to everyone as others may be interested in the answer.

Good luck OP. First one is always nerve wracking it you'll feel a sense of accomplishment once it's over.

agree to practising a few times in advance. also what helped me (i hate having to do them) was just thinking that while it feels like this absolutely massive thing for you, for them it’s just another presentation they are watching. think about how you feel when you have to watch one - you’re not sitting their judging g everything about it and the person giving it are you?so neither will they.

good luck!

I always threw questions back to the audience. Simple ones like who's heard of xyz, how many of you do abc... then maybe more specific: what do you think you need to do here. And remember there are no 'wrong' answers! Keep them engaged and on their toes.

I don't present myself but I have sat through a lot of work ones. My top tip would be make sure you project your voice, if you aren't using a mic. You could be saying the most fascinating thing in the world, but if I at the back can't hear, I am going to start looking out the window.

Another important thing that I find sometimes people forget: if someone asks you a question that you can't answer and you tell them that you will look into it and get back to them, make sure that you get back to them. That means getting contact information if you don't have it.

Apparently I’m a natural at public speaking (stay with me). I still get nervous as hell.

Here’s what I do.

1- Practice out loud. It doesn’t really matter if it’s in front of somebody (it’s better if it is) but saying the words out loud and not letting yourself ’start over’. Practice with flubs and recovery.

2- Find a few friendly faces in the crowd and talk to them. Don’t look above them or at the wall or any of that nonsense, talk to the people sitting in front of you. They’re friendly, they want you to do well. Look for signs of interest or agreement and talk to them!

3- Big deep breath before you start. Calm yourself and let that deep breath set the pace

4-if something goes wrong roll with it. I was once giving a demo and the system seized, had to be restarted and basically went to hell right in the middle. While the person who was running the computer fixed things. I stopped and looked around guiltily and admitted that I failed to introduce the rest of the team. I then spent a couple of minutes pointing to the team who were randomly dispersed in the room. And telling everyone their role. Shocked the hell out of the team members who weren’t expecting me to do that but it gave the person fixing the application time to get it running. I didn’t point out to crowd that our cool new system just crashed and let them think that I just got out of sync with my planned demo.

5-Questions are great, embrace them and welcome them. Assuming you know your subject it let’s you eat up time and get’s your audience involved. Just table anything you’re not sure about and follow up after.

The last one is the hardest… you just have to do it to get better. There isn’t a magic wand it takes exposure and practice to hone your skills. Even with that people who are ‘good at that kind of stuff’ still get nervous, still worry about screwing up, and still dread it to a certain extent.

Good Luck!

Longer term - find youth local Toastmasters club.

Meanwhile - breathing. If you're nervous, you'll breathe more quickly and shallowly. Focus on your breathing - do box breathing or something before you start (google it if you don't know.) If you deliberately breathe more slowly and deeply, it will help trick your body into feeling calmer, because it's how we do breathe when calmer.

Also, just as white space on a slide helps make information clearer, so do pauses as you speak. Gives you time to think about what's next, gives the audience time to absorb what you just said before you move on. It sounds much more purposeful than um or er, though it's usually serving the same purpose - giving you thinking time. It can be learnt with practice.

Practising again and again is important if you're not used to it. (You always need practice, but experienced speakers can get away with less.) If you can film yourself in practice, it will give you an idea of things like any crutch words (so at the start of every sentence, y'know or like as punctuation, plus ums and ers.) Also if you've got any distracting body language, like rocking back on one foot - many of us develop tics like this when nervous, and we're often unaware.

Check timing on practice runs. if you're going over time on the day, it helps to know what points you can drop or summarise to catch up - or, if you're speaking more quickly because of nerves, is there extra detail you can add to pad it out?

Good luck!

Make sure you are comfortable in what you are wearing. You will be standing, so comfortable shoes. Wear layers so you can take off a top layer if you get hot.
Really know your subject. Not just what you are presenting, but the bits around it that you might get questions on.
You've had some great tips on introduction, information, summarising, but don't forget to leave some time for questions at the end.
Don't put too much information on each slide - you can offer to send further information if people want it - but they should be listening to what you are saying rather than reading the slides.
I was always told not to present more than 5 slides, not including the title and closing slide.
Practice! Including timing. I did a course years ago where we had to present at the end - I took the instruction not to gabble so seriously I ended up going over time. (Still got a good mark though 😁)

Get some propranolol.

Remember: it’s not school! The audience are not examiners, there to trip you up. They are there to learn about the subject about which YOU are the expert.
speak up, don’t use Ums and Ahs, every so often ask, is that clear? Any questions? It gives you a moment to gather your thoughts, and possibly an opportunity to talk around the subject that you know really well and are passionate about.
and practice, practice, practice! I used to be petrified of presenting, now I actually enjoy it. It’s enjoyable to talk about something you love!

My best advice is don't try to be someone else. Just talk as if you are having a conversation. If you have to explain something, imagine you are telling a friend about it

I second this advice. My other tips would be:

Practice out loud at home - my cat has heard plenty of my presentations. Helps you spot bits where you might trip over yourself, and come up with simpler ways of saying things.

If you have a friendly colleague in the audience, keep them in your eyeline and address some points to them. I've done it for my team and I make a point of quietly smiling and nodding to encourage them.

This.

Use your slides as prompts for what you are going to talk about. When I was a brand new graduate, I used to have to do a presentation in a staff mtg once a month. I was basically given these tips, and also to never put more than 24 words on a slide.

This has stood me in good stead for 30 years.

I used to dread presentations, but in my current post I have to do loads of them, so am fine now

My best advice is don't try to be someone else. Just talk as if you are having a conversation. If you have to explain something, imagine you are telling a friend about it

It's also the way I like to hear presentations - friendly, passionate and approachable, rather than austere or impressive, or even trying to be funny, which can really be painful

Know your material and where you're going with it. Make that point with your audience.

Keep your slides short and to the point.People tend to look or listen so the less they have to focus on the more attention you'll get.

Leave room for Q&As.

PS remember to breathe, you'll be fine!

I always try to explain a few of the information with humour, e.g. speaking about the difference between criminal prosecutions and civil prosecutions, it's then, "so imagine, Knackeredback was driving along the A1, singing along to Rick Astley, but the police had been following"....etc. Make them picture a scene. Good luck