http://www.jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2007/06/better-speaking-naturally-not-through-chemistry.html Management, especially good management, is hard to do. This blog is for people who want to think about how they manage people, projects, and risk. Fri, 18 May 2012 15:02:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 http://www.jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2007/06/better-speaking-naturally-not-through-chemistry.html/comment-page-1#comment-598 Chris Sims Thu, 14 Jun 2007 06:35:57 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=7968#comment-598 Practice! The single best thing you can do is practice your presentation a few times. First, go through it out loud (really, out loud) by yourself. Make sure that the length, pacing, and transitions seem good. Next, you want to get as close to the real thing as possible. Practice in the same room that you will be presenting in. Use the exact same equipment that you will use on the big day. Get some friends, a mentor, or your manager to listen to your practice session and give you feedback. Doing this will make you much more confident on the big day. The presentation will go smoother and your audience will have a more positive opinion of you and the material you are presenting. Practice!
The single best thing you can do is practice your presentation a few times. First, go through it out loud (really, out loud) by yourself. Make sure that the length, pacing, and transitions seem good. Next, you want to get as close to the real thing as possible. Practice in the same room that you will be presenting in. Use the exact same equipment that you will use on the big day. Get some friends, a mentor, or your manager to listen to your practice session and give you feedback. Doing this will make you much more confident on the big day. The presentation will go smoother and your audience will have a more positive opinion of you and the material you are presenting.

]]> http://www.jrothman.com/blog/mpd/2007/06/better-speaking-naturally-not-through-chemistry.html/comment-page-1#comment-597 Chris Johnston Fri, 08 Jun 2007 20:35:03 +0000 http://jrothman.com/blog/mpd/?p=7968#comment-597 Don't say "Sorry" if you think you have messed up. This relates to your fourth point that the audience wants you to succeed. Most audiences are very forgiving and if you mess up, they really don't care. Just pause, take the time to find where you are, collect your thoughts (which is another very good point, pausing it good, it gives the audience a chance to catch up) and continue like nothing happened. I have seen far too many excellent presentations and presenters ruined by thinking they need to apologize when they "mess up" in the middle of a presentation. Don’t say “Sorry” if you think you have messed up.
This relates to your fourth point that the audience wants you to succeed. Most audiences are very forgiving and if you mess up, they really don’t care. Just pause, take the time to find where you are, collect your thoughts (which is another very good point, pausing it good, it gives the audience a chance to catch up) and continue like nothing happened.
I have seen far too many excellent presentations and presenters ruined by thinking they need to apologize when they “mess up” in the middle of a presentation.

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