How to improve presentation skills?

[McDougal]

I've been in my current job for a couple of months now. I knew it would involve quite a lot of public speaking which usually doesn't faze me but I feel as if I'm getting worse at it rather than better!

Does anyone have any tips on how to engage people? I'm struggling with a very serious topic so it's difficult to inject much humour or anything to make it a little lighter.

Another issue is delivering the same info to very different audiences but being specifically directed by my manager that I'm not to change the material as he feels it's 'ready made' and fits all. It doesn't and I've been tailoring it to the audience which usually does the trick but it's knocking my confidence so I feel like I'm relying on my notes too much and therefore not being as engaging as I like.

So there's the situation I'm struggling with...any top tips on how to get out of my presenting slump?

TBH, practice, practice, practice. Get videos of yourself, get feedback and act on that.
Also, think about what the different groups are wanting to get out of your presentation (or you want them to retain from it) and how the words you put around that material will change to reflect that. So for example, I talk about prostate cancer a lot, and tend to use pretty much the same slide deck as I keep it very light on text. Its mostly full screen photos with bits on there to narrate a story. If I'm talking to a Probus club or similar I lighten the start with something about men never wanting to talk about things between belly and knees, and then focus on patient journey in what I specialise in and why. For a group of doctors, the same slides support talking about treatment options and outcomes. For a technical group, what is involved.
But you do need to know your subject inside out for this to work - all eyes stay firmly on you

I think knowing the subject matter inside out is one of the problems if I'm honest. It's an area that I don't have any experience in and I've been in the job less than two months so don't feel confident in it just yet.

As for practising, I feel like that's all I've done over the past few weeks but genuinely feel as if my first presentation (where I pretty much winged it after being in post a week and a half) went better than the ones since which have been way better rehearsed.

Just feeling a bit negative tonight and can't believe it's only Tuesday if I'm honest!

One of the best things I did to improve my presentation skills was reading books out loud. Made me slow my talking down so I was much clearer.

Keep it simple. Tell them what you are going to tell them, tell them it, then tell them what you’ve told them.

Going off feedback I've received, I don't think I've got too much of an issue with the actual delivery - volume, pace etc. It's engaging people that I'm struggling with but I'm not sure if that's not helped by the subject area being so serious.

Argh, it's so frustrating!

Is it a PowerPoint presentation to a seated group? Could you introduce some interactive elements? Get them to tell you what they want to know about the subject first, add in some exercises?

I think you are over thinking what 'success' means in this instance.
If you go in, deliver the material, come out and have survived - count that as a success. You communicated the material.
There will always be people in the room who won't engage.
Forget about them, try to look at one or two people in the room who look half interested.
Don't base your feeling of success or failure on if you thought they were engaged or not. If you were a stand up comic maybe that'd be important, but you are delivering some information.
It is what it is. A person in a new job and fairly new to public speaking is delivering some difficult and serious material. Be kinder to yourself about it. If there was a mindfulness app you could do for 5 minutes beforehand that might help.
And don't do post mortems. Terry Wogan always said that he never listened back to his own stuff or worried about what it came across like. Because to him he was just having a conversation with someone.

Do you think that maybe you are in that tricky phase between the first one where you weren't 'stiff' because you were winging it, and now where you might be over rehearsed almost, and referring to notes which stiffens everything up because you are concentrating on you and not the audience.

Not sure I've put that very well. But maybe do mind maps around the subjects/questions/topics on each slide so you can build your confidence on the subject. Then leave the notes behind and think about connecting with the audience. Have you thought of using story telling to start the presentation? I've used that really successfully to get a connection and I think for very serious topics it can show you really understand what the stakes are.

I think you're all completely right if I'm honest. I'm probably completely over thinking it, over-analysing myself and basing 'success' on my perceptions of people's reactions where really I need to chill the fuck out and count survival as a win.

It is a weird phase of being new but being very aware of the end of a fixed term contract coming to an end and no update as to whether there's potential for it to be extended. I think that's why I'm so hung up on engagement as I'm thinking that can justify continuing the funding for the role.

I don't like being an adult anymore. Can I start over?

Clymene yes, it's a PowerPoint and I'm presenting to seated groups. As I'm standing in front of them, I think it's too easy for me to try and get a general feel of the room which I'm basing on the expressions of a few.

I'm as aware as anyone that I have a miserable resting face so who's to say that's not the case for those I'm focusing on?! May be clutching at straws here but hey ho.

Things I’ve been taught:

No more than 20 words on a PowerPoint slide- any more than that and you have lost your audience as they feel the need to read/switch off

The power of the pause- don’t be scared to stop speaking, emphasise natural breaks in your speech (think Obama he is great at this)

Record yourself- I was surprised by the amount of times I said “ummm” once I was aware of how annoying it was I was conscious of it and used the power of the pause instead.

I definitely need to overcome my fear of the pause. For some reason, I feel really self conscious when really it adds emphasis which could be more effective than me trying to fill the silence!

Slides aren't too heavy, content wise, it's just the sheer amount of info that I'm trying to get across that makes it seem insurmountable.

Keep the tips coming though as they're really helping!

Oh and thank you all for being so lovely. I do have a tendency to be quite hard on myself but I really must remember that I've been in the job for less than two months, have had minimal guidance and, on paper, look to be doing quite well so this glass of wine should be celebratory, not commiserating!

I would do the flip chart at the beginning then. You could do one asking what the attendees already know and one about what they hope to learn.

At the end, revisit the one where you wrote down what they hoped to learn so that you can tick off what you've covered/where to go for further information.

If nothing else, it helps to break down the wall between them and you so that you see one another as humans.

I'm assuming there aren't 100 people in the room!

If you've got a huge amount of info to deliver, do your groups get a hand out/resources (available in easy read as well) so you can act as a facilitator to tell them the benefits of the services rather than having to go through how they access them, who delivers them etc etc?
For instance, if we were talking about day hospice, then my printed material would start with how to get referred, contact details and so on. My presentation would start with maybe a 'who can benefit from day hospice - everyone' slide, then a what our services can do for you, and information directly going against the known preconceptions and barriers to accessing services (random example from my PIL being overwhelmed by information and retaining very little as theres so much in the presentation - they needed to be told how they could benefit and have clear written resources to go back to).
No idea if thats relevant to you.

YY to the power of the pause, and looking round while you do - and moving

There is quite a lot of info to get across but the main point of the presentations in the first instance is to encourage people to invite me/the service into their teams to get the message further and embed it into their working practice. At further sessions with teams, I'd make sure they had info to take away with them if that makes sense?

I'd love to do something more engaging such as the flip chart idea but I'm often given quite short slots so tend to prioritise getting the info across rather than spending precious minutes getting the conversation started. Feels like a bit of a catch 22!

In addition to knowing your subject area well

• remember to breathe deeply and with control

• be able to allow moments to pause and reflect ie don't try to pack every second with vocals. Silence can be really effective and relaxing for all

I would avoid all attempts towards humour. Too risky.

I bet you're loads better than you think!