To ask for tips on delivering a talk at work?

[namechangemania]

Next week I’ve got to host a discussion with a team who I don’t immediately work with. The team is only about 12 people. I’m so nervous about this type of thing as I am not a fan of all the attention being on me and I worry about looking like an idiot. I’m ok at talking briefly in front of my own team but anything else fills me with dread. I’m fairly confident about what I need to deliver, but I’m not as experienced as other colleagues so I’m worried about being thrown a curveball question or not knowing a basic. And just the general everyone having their eyes on me. I want to tackle these nerves so things like this get easier. At the moment I am wasting my weekend stressing about it.

Practice with your best friend, partner or collegue as much as possible. I like cue cards, i also like an interactive task. My 13 year old usually helps me with power points.
If somewone asks you a question you dont know the answer to then its fine. If its tecnical you can research it and get back to them later. If its anaylitical you can say i never thought of it in those terms thats really interesting and throw it open to the group. Good luck

no 1 tip - you want to be good and they want you to be good. So everyone wants the same thing!

no 2 tip - prepare as much as you can, but if you don't know, just say so and offer to find out and get back to people. Just watch clips of Boris Johnson to see how obvious it is when someone is trying to bullshit.

it does get easier with practice. Good luck!

Is it a talk where you are presenting by yourself or is it a discussion where you are facilitating?

For a discussion, have your talking points/questions written down? I usually put maybe 3 on each A4 with lots of blank space for notes.

For a talk, I start by typing out almost exactly what I want to say and then I run through it a couple of times. By then I feel comfortable enough to condense to shorter bullet points. I usually have a couple of slides as well for support.

Good luck, you'll feel so proud afterwards!

On the presentation skills course I went on it said write down word for word what you want to say. It sounded a bit of a waste of time but it really really helps me especially at the beginning of a presentation.

Other tips
If you work in a technical area use real life examples to illustrate your point, the more outlandish the better!

Keep it short, people are busy and generally have small attention spans

If you're using slides show visuals like graphs, not a load of words, never read the slides.

Smile. Speak slowly. Tell a joke if you can and if it's appropriate. You can also throw out questions to bring in more experienced people eg. Instead of saying 'if x happens you should do y', say 'what do you think is the best way of dealing with x'

If you're worried about questions. Start by saying 'that's a good / interesting question', 'has anyone got any thoughts on this'. I dont think in many jobs people are expected to know everything - I have a technical job and we need to understand everything and be aware of it and look it up but there is no harm in presentations of people saying 'I want to make sure I get all the detail correct so I'll make a note of that question and come back to everyone afterwards'. Just make sure you do as stuff like that often gets lost

Good luck

Give them some activities to do if that would be allowed. If I've ever had to deliver training I like to keep everyone else busy (with fun stuff if possible) as it feels like the best way to learn. If it has to be a talk, can you use visuals to help?

First, make sure you know the subject throughly.

Secondly, make some brief bullet-point type notes on small card/piece of paper to help guide u through the main talk, in case you lose thread. Have it in your hand.

Re questions, don't worry. I promise if you know the subject you won't have a problem. I used to work as a lawyer in court and before I began I was terrified of questions. With experience, though, I realised they would not be a problem at all as long as I knew the subject.

Good luck, and I am sure you will be fine

Throughly = thoroughly duh....

@FirmlyRooted I’ll be talking about how a piece of work is to be completed, which will also be detailed on a handout, and then welcoming questions about the process.

Thank you for everyone who has taken the time to reply

If you are particularly worried about questions, perhaps you might want to tackle that issue up front. A good way to do this, which I’ve both used and seen used, is to ask everyone to keep a note of any questions and tell them you will allow time to ask them at the end of the talk. If using slides, have this written on a first slide, and then a last slide titled “questions?” This means that your flow isn’t interrupted, and potentially that they will find their question is answered later on in the talk anyway.

And then the other tip which a pp has mentioned is to turn the question back to the audience if you don’t know the answer, or someone is being pedantic / a pain. I think the technique is part of a model to manage people the ‘art of managing monkeys’ if you want to google.

And lastly, do you know any one in the group, or will there be one senior person there who you have had any contact with? If you are really really really nervous, it can be an idea to let them know you are not a fan of public speaking so they are ‘on your side’ and can step in to keep things going if needed. You might not want to do this, but thought worth suggesting.

Good luck - you will be BRILLIANT.

handout goes out at end, although tell them it is coming to save them taking notes. If you give it to them at the start they read it and don't listen.

keep the slides short and sweet - 'death by powerpoint' is a common problem.

obviously don't read out a script, that is boring and a bit of an insult to the audience.

doesn't sound like actual training so please no cringey team building stuff!

I used to be absolutely terrified of public speaking, to the point where I'd hide in the loo at work and other ridiculous capers so I feel for you. But it doesn't bother me at all now.

I know it sounds glib but you'll be fine. Everyone will want you to do well and the moment you start you'll be ok. You could try throwing in the odd self-effacing comment to get them on side. But if you have a short list of what you want to talk about you'll breeze through it. Good luck!