Images are also a great way to inject humor into your presentation, e.g., selecting a single cell cartoon that illustrates a comic take on the problem at hand. (“Dilbert,” anyone?). Update your visuals with custom photography, well-chosen stock images, and graphics that enhance your message. And put your outline and bullet points where they belong — in your speaker notes.
Get your game face on: Athletes have been using positive visualization for decades now, so why not presenters? Both are high-performance situations with plenty of eyeballs watching, so consider borrowing a page from sports psychology.
Make sure to give yourself 10 minutes of quiet focus before you’re due to speak. Picture yourself walking into the room and starting your speech with energy and charisma. Mentally walk through your presentation, and see yourself giving your ideal performance right through to a strong and confident finish.
Or put more simply, in the words of Dan Black, veteran speaker’s coach and director of Charlotte, N.C.-based e-learning company Tortal, “Relax. No one in the audience knows how it’s supposed to go.”
Jennie Wong is an executive coach, author of the e-book “Ask the Mompreneur” and the founder of the social shopping website CartCentric.com.
©2013 The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, N.C.)
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