If you have experience of public speaking/presentations PLEASE come and help me

[NervousNeel]

I’m a very junior manager. A small fish in a large pond. Our department recently piloted a new way of working which has worked out very very well for the company.

My manager has been asked to organise a whole day where we are presenting the process and findings to the top executives and all higher level managers.

She wants me to present the segment behind how we came up with the idea and the process behind the new way of working for 40 minutes.

I appreciate her putting me forward for it, she’s very keen I get recognition for my part in it but I am TERRIFIED.

This group of people are the top of the top within our organisation. I’ve had three people pull the same face when I told them today (a very much “gosh good luck” face!). All very supportive and telling me it’s great exposure but all I can focus on is what if I get up there and start stumbling and make a fool of myself and die a death.

Im usually great at faking it but this is way out of my comfort level. PLEASE if you have experience of public speaking give me your tips. I know there’s loads of high level important women on here who probably listen to presentations all the time - I need help please

Oh and there is a 20 min Q&A afterwards 😬😬😬😬

Hello. Well firstly, congratulations on the success of your project! That's a great thing.

I don't do public speaking but I do sing onstage and play guitar. Under the lights, in front of a real audience.....and you know what?? Its just the material I play at home.

In your case, this is your project that you get to speak about. Prepare massively but you know it!! You know that project intimately.

The worst bit is getting up there and it going silent while they wait for you to start. So script it. But then, it's just you talking about your work, and you know it inside out. You'll be great.

For me, I've got 4 minutes to get that song off flawlessly. I like the challenge and I've done it a million times at home. It's no big deal.

The key is planning, planning and practising ad infinitum. I have given many talks /presentations and you must know what you are going to say and have the background behind it firmly on your mind. Speaking it out loud multiple times is essential as is thinking about what questions they may ask. You will be terrified but when you pull it off because you put the work in ahead of time you will be so happy and you will make such a good impression.

Know your stuff - practice, practice, practice. Know any metrics (and how/why they are used) inside out and out
Think through all the possible questions (even the really stupid ones), and practice your answers
Just remember you know the subject. They don't!

I'm sure you'll get lots of great advice on how to present. I'll share something no-one ever told me - if you know your stuff and can present, but feel irrationally anxious for whatever reason, when other methods fail there is always propranolol. It's a prescription drug that eases the physical symptoms of situational anxiety. I have to give Board level presentations regularly in my job and was stressing out so much, to the point of having a panic attack once, prior to this discovery. Taking propranolol just takes the shakes away and you feel released by your shitty trembling body to go ahead and do a great presentation. Something to consider if your situation is as extreme as mine. My GP is very sympathetic and says this is exactly what people take propranolol for. Good luck!

I am at the very top of my organisation. I know that more junior staff sometimes get nervous presenting in front of me. One thing which I would really like to emphasise is that I'm rooting for them and I really want them to do well. I am not sitting there judging them or looking for things to criticise. Honestly!

Aside from that, I agree that preparation and practice are the key to speaking well. Knowing your stuff and knowing what you want to say.

Don't read what's on the slides - I can read it myself. Do keep slide content to a minimum (visuals are good) so that I can focus on listening to you and not be distracted by trying to read.

Don't worry if you stumble a bit or if you're not completely fluent when you speak - nobody cares.

And don't worry about being nervous - it's totally normal and everyone gets it. Smiling can help you to to relax more.

Above all, remember that, no matter how senior they are, your audience are just people, with their own imperfections and insecurities just like you.

You'll smash it!

100% make sure you know the ins and outs of everything you're saying. The more informed you are and able to answer any questions, the more confident you'll be. Then practise each section so that even if the worse happens like you lose your presentation, you can still give a competent talk. That way, you'll really know your stuff.
List all the things that could go wrong and make sure you have a solution for each.
Then on the day, try to relax and enjoy it. And smile.

Get a prescription for propranolol. It won't help with the internal nerves but it will stop the shaky hands, breaking voice and overall signals that you're in a panic. I find that when those symptoms start I spiral.

Practice practice practice. Know what you want to say and practice to a mirror, to your dog/ mum / best friend whoever. Have water (cup with a lid and straw so you don’t spill), because it slows you down and gives you time to think (take a drink if you get a tough question, you get breathing space). One lightbulb moment for me many years back was when someone I thought was amazing said to a hard question, that’s really interesting I’ll have to get back to you on that. It made me realise its ok to not know all the answers immediately.
also - do power poses before you speak (in the loo), they really work.
you will be fine - you’re clearly good or you wouldn’t be put forward.

In terms of preparing your presentation, one useful tip that was given to me years ago was to think about the following questions:

1. What do you want the audience to know by the end of the presentation?
2. What do you want the audience to think and feel by the end of the presentation?
3. What do you want the audience to do as a result of the presentation?

I find that this gives me a really useful framework to work around.

You will be able to do this op. Public speaking is a very common fear but many people find when they do it they are actually able to manage. It gets easier each time you do it.

I would recommend - timing what you plan to say. I write it all out, practice, then turn it into bullet points.

Also try to consciously be slow as you start so you don’t speed up and become hard to understand. Wear something that you feel confident in and nothing you need to adjust - no complex blouse ties or anything like that.

Practice in front of someone you can trust to be honest and tell you that you say “So” at the start of every sentence or walk about too much or whatever. Or film yourself so you can spot this stuff yourself.

When is it? How long do you have to prepare? How well do you know your subject? I have done some fairly high level presentations to directors/shareholders, quite a bit of pitching and have also done some professional theatre acting. The key to professional confidence in terms of presenting your subject is knowing your material inside out and being able to talk completely off the cuff without needing any sort of notes. Certainly no deadly PowerPoint slides full of text! It wasn’t until I did some 1-1 acting coaching that I really developed confidence in my own ability to present and project, so if you have time, I’d definitely recommend a couple of sessions with an acting coach. That may sound excessive but if this is a big deal, which it sounds like it is, you’d probably be surprised how much better prepared you feel for it. Good luck and let us know how it goes! Also, perhaps most importantly, be yourself. Don’t try to be funny unless it’s who you are naturally, don’t try to be “clever” - just let “you” shine. Your manager picked you so she clearly believes you can do it as it reflects on her too. And in terms of the Q&A, it’s completely fine to say “I don’t know the answer to that right now but I’ll find out and come back to you”. Much better than flustering.

My best advice and I still use to this day.

Say less than you think you need to. I would see if you could do 20 mins topline presentation and then more time for questions. Biggest fail is presenting is going on too long.

Speak much more slowly than you think you need to. It's enjoyable to hear slow speech and conveys confidence.

Split presentation into clear succinct sections. Do not think about 'filling 40 mins' think about what at the top 3 to 5 points I want to make/elements I need to cover.

Primarily use images rather than words on slides.

Audiences love relaxed confident speakers. Play that role and it will get conveyed to them and they relax and you relax.

Smile a bit here and there, uses gestures if it feels natural to you.

Go smash it!

www.speaking-infront.co.uk/rethinking-public-speaking-blog/Public-speaking-secret-number-one

Someone posted a link to this guy last time there was a thread on this. I still feel sick at the thought of public speaking but this bloke's site and his questions and answers has really helped to change my thinking a bit. Good luck.

One thing which I would really like to emphasise is that I'm rooting for them and I really want them to do well. I am not sitting there judging them or looking for things to criticise.

This 100%. Before you even start your audience are on your side. They want to like you, enjoy your presentation, and learn something. They are willing you to do well so if you feel you made a mistake, don't worry and lose your focus, because they won't be bothered about it.

Make sure you look forward, not down, make eye contact with people, and that you look at everyone including the ends of the rows.

Masses of experience and often get 'best presentation ever' comments. My tips:

1. Know your shit inside outside and backwards.
2. Slow is smooth and smooth is quick. Breathe, talk slowly, don't start until you're ready. S l o w down.
3. If possible, make them do some of the work. There's a great tool called Session Lab with lots of exercises. Having them do some stuff makes them less bored and you less nervous.
4. Smile. A fair amount. It makes people like you and you feel better.
5. If possible at the beginning, don't stay at the front. Spend a few moments as people enter walking the room, chatting to people individually, making nice. You'll see them as more human, they'll see you as friendly. If you can put on a little music as everyone gets seated, so much the better. My favourite is Otis Redding as literally everyone likes him.
6. How I do notes. I get a keyring and hang the note cards on it. They can't be dropped or get out of order. Each card is a topic. and looks like this:

MUPPETS

Muppets are puppets, Jim Henson. Kermit and Piggy.

Blah blah Muppets blah blah facts. Blah blah Muppets blah blah facts. Blah blah Muppets blah blah facts. Blah blah Muppets blah blah facts.

So if I'm nervous but good, the first caps will tell me what to talk about. If I'm slightly more nervous, or need a prompt there are the very short notes. If I lose it and need to read, there are the long notes.

40 minutes is 10 points, each at four minutes each.

The first 4 minutes are the introduction and this is where you show you are relaxed and knowledgeable.

The first sentence is the hardest to get out and I advice that for this first four minutes you learn by rote (ie a speech like a word for word script). You want a strong start and to avoid saying "ok" or "right" or "so" and if you have a solid start that you can rattle off on a minute or so word perfect, then you can start to be more relaxed and work from bullet points.

E.g thank you Hannah. I'd like to welcome you all to the magic departments annual review of the effectiveness of wands. The year has been very successful and we have developed particular strengths in spell casting and applied magic. We are also in strong place to moved forward with our developments in virtual reality Wands. Firstly....

Try recording your self and watching it back (even my silly wand one).

You need to to appeal to the head and heart. You can use AFOREST To help build a speech:

ANECDOTE (a story as an example)
FACTS ( that can be proven)
OPINION ( what people think)
RHETORICAL QUESTIONS
EXPERT OPINION (from a third party)
STATISTICS (numbers)
TRIPLET (three things in a short list)

Also emotive language and direct address.

Good luck.

Tips for a presentation:
Intoduction: tell them what you are going to tell them
Main body: tell them
Summary: tell them what you told them.
Thank them for listening.
Questions?

Practice, practice, practice. Practice again preferably in front of a mirror.

If PowerPoint: no more that 5 words on a line, no more than 5 lines on a slide, don’t read the slide but give them time to read it and then expand it if necessary.
Keep it as brief and as factual as possible, no waffle. But a little bit of humour is good but only if appropriate to the subject.
Q&A: KNOW your subject, if you don’t know the answer then say you will get back to them (and do so).
Take you time, speak slowly and don’t be afraid to pause if you need to, it will feel longer to you than it really is ifywim.
Don’t start with an apology or undermine yourself by saying that you ‘aren’t good at speaking/don’t like doing presentations etc’, your audience do not want or need to hear that. The majority of your audience will be delighted it is you and not them presenting 😂🤣
Good luck!

Also say that 40 mins is a very long time!

Mine is more for speeches but it can help you in a presentation if you need a little extra help.

@Twattergy has excellent advice

@MrsTerryPratchett cards laid out like that are great.

OP I've done hundreds of presentations (part of my job)! Here's some failsafes:

• I love presentations but still get a little nervous. Embrace the nerves as normal and healthy, but don't fear them else they'll make you feel bad from the get go. Because I view them positively they actually help me
• do a complete mental walk through when you are feeling relaxed, imagining how it will feel, look, even smell. The more the brain thinks it knows what to expect the calmer it will be. Do walk throughs imagining the worst as you'll see they're not that bad and thus not much to fear. Imagining them also lets you strategise for what you can do to deal with them if they do happen. Do walk throughs imagining the best, too.
• Be completely prepared re: slides, knowing what you'll say. Huge tip - have all the basics on your PowerPoint as bullet pointed prompts so you don't need to memorise the order of anything
• people love images and stories so feel free to use either but just stick to the basics if that makes you happier - you are there to impart info, you don't need to be the next (insert name of favourite presenter here).
• Finally, people want you to succeed and are silently willing you on. Reminder that, it helps.
• Wear something you feel good in, do some deep breathing before, make sure you've used the loo, have a small healthy snack before to keep blood sugar even
• I use pump up music like Eminem but I accept that's going a bit far...however follow all the other bullet points and it'll help you a lot!

Sorry one last thing....be yourself. That should've been number one on my list! Everyone has different presentation styles but don't feel pressured to do it someone else's way.

My career has been mostly public speaking based and I have trained lots of people who absolutely hated it. Firstly, you can relax about the q and a - as soon as people start asking you questions about something you know well, you will get right into the flow. Practise that bit with a couple of close colleagues if you want to.

Then I would work backwards from that to plan the presentation. Do a very brief short draft and then add in the things people ask you about most. Don't put effort into making it look too wizzy - it's wasted effort.

And make it half the length you could possibly think too short. I promise you it will expand to fill the time!

Lastly, and this is my biggest trick, practice your slide transitions. The slides are there to be self-explanatory to some extent. How you get from one to another without getting derailed and keeping the flow is what makes a presentation really professional.

I use stories in all my presentations - people who inspired my decision making, what I learnt about where things are going wrong, how support transformed their life... this is what people remember.
I always stand up and move around then stand still and ground myself for key points. I'm never afraid to show emotion.

Stats and facts are important but connection is how I persuade people. I'm in communications and so trying to give people confidence in what they do and how they do it is a really important part of my role. I want them to feel proud of what we want to achieve for the people we serve so that's always a focus and storytelling is a great tool. There's loads of good ted talks on it.

Also don't worry about nerves. They're your friend. Welcome the energy they give you and accept them. Trying not to be nervous is pointless so may as well embrace the extra oxygen from your pumping heart!

Also. Ask questions and make them feel involved. Surprise them if you can e.g. when is the busiest time in A&E? We assumed winter but it's actually September as we have an influx of students who aren't registered with GPs yet so our campaign will help them register in the first week. Then a case study to illustrate...

I like questions as I go along if I really know my topic but agree. Reduce presentation time and allow more for q&a if possible