Tips for public speaking and presentation

I just completed a Linked Learning course by Laura Bergells on public speaking king and here are my notes for it. I highly recommend it to everyone to watch the videos and take the quiz.

Public speaking notes

Who are my audience, do research on audience.
Know your speech objective. It may be - Persuade, inform or inspire.
Write the outline, it can be descriptive, problem-solution, chronological (step by step), regional ().
Make a story to tell a fact. Conflict driven (overcoming the conflict and how).

Tips before presentation - Get up early, avoid cold drinks, use voice before speech but not a lot, no coffee. Warm up your face to show emotion. Warm up your body, power pose.

Checklist
Use a mic before you do the speech to get used to it. Check if the mic is positioned right. Keep your handheld mic properly near your lips.
Meditation and mindfulness helps. Come early and meet audience, maintain body posture.
Make sure rehearsals as real as you feel, including the clothes, with audience, record yourself, listen to yourself, rehearse in real time, rehearse in the time you are going to give the speech.

Dress properly, use non-verbal skills (smile), sound confident, in short words tell why you are confident to specify details about your speech.

The cold open - Ask an open-ended question, begin with a story, start with a bold statement, tell them to imagine a situation, begin with hard evidence (more risky).

Agenda (write it before presentation) - purpose, what will be discussed, who will be listening, teaser approach - tell where you are going by giving a tiny information.

Wrong stuff - don't clear your throat, don't show tech insecurity, don't highlight your insecurity, don't have low voice.

Vocal variety - Change voice low or high, be emotional in speech, delivery speed, volume, tone and pace.
Crutch words or filler words. Review speech by recording, pause instead of telling the filler words.

Warm up the body and do superman posture before speech. While doing your speech have a relaxed body language. Don't do anything that distracts audience. Record and watch your performance. Write content you believe.

When to use a prop - To show what you demonstrate, to provide a concrete metaphor, dramatic effect. Tips - use how to use prop, every slide is a prop, use prop as a dramatic device.

Pro tip to prepare for tech problem - Overprepare for presentation. Know your presentation by heart. Get your audience involved in the problem.

Q and A - Tell audience on how Q and A work. Hold Q and A near the end but not at the end before closing words. Repeat the asked question. Keep answers short.

5 different closing techniques - Close with title of the presentation, tell short summary of the presentation, close with a quote (it should be credible), close with a tagline which is memorable, close with a call to action to tell audience "what to do".

Feedback should be specific, it may be good or bad. Don't sweat negative feedback.

Audience Identification Worksheet

Start by asking a broad, general question: “Tell me everything you can about the audience. Who are they?” Usually, the first responses to this statement will provide you with the most obvious insights. After jotting down the most obvious insights, scan the Deeper Dive list below. Make sure to ask at least a few questions from the Deeper Dive list. While you may already have the answers to many of these questions from having asked your broad question, a deeper dive will let you discover nuances that can help you build a more polished presentation.

Deeper Dive Demographics

• Gender • Sexual orientation • Age • Marital status • Number of children • Race and ethnicity • Nationality • Geographic region • Urban, suburban, or rural • Income level • Education level

Business Information

• What industry or company? • What level? (student, intern, entry level, midlevel, or senior?) • What field? (administrative, clerical, office, technical, artistic, industrial, athletic, etc.)

Topic

• How familiar is the audience with the topic? • How do they feel about the topic? (love, hate, indifferent, or otherwise) Public Speaking Foundations with Laura Bergells 2 of 2 • Does the audience know less about the topic than they think they know? • Does the audience know more about the topic than they think they know? • What are the biggest pain points or concerns regarding this topic? • Is my topic considered controversial or sensitive in any way?

Entertainment/Information

• What media (TV shows, movies, magazines, newspapers, radio, social media, other) • Biggest influencers? • Business aspirations? • Care about the most? • Care about the least? • Common area of concern?

Event Cheaklist

What’s your speech objective? (Fill in the blank: At the end of my presentation, my audience will _____________________.)

Who is hosting the event?

Who is the contact person for event logistics?

What is the purpose or theme of the event?

What’s the agenda for the event?

What is the speech topic?

How long is the speech?

Where will the event take place?

When will the event take place?

Who are the other speakers?

Where and when do you need to report to the organizer?

Who will introduce you?

What’s the dress code?

Will the audience expect handouts or takeaways?

What level of audience outreach is appropriate after the speech?

Audience Dynamics

What is the audience setup?

Theater style? (chairs only, arranged in rows)

Classroom style?

Individual desk/chair sets, shared tables with chairs, desks with computer monitors, or other boardroom style?

Is everyone gathered around one table?

Will the audience be in the dark or in the light?

Will the audience be eating and/or drinking?

Key terms and their definition

audience persona-An individual representation of your entire audience. speech

objective-The desired outcome of your presentation, and what you hope your audience will gain.

story-In its most basic sense, a story format is, “Something happens to someone.”

self-awareness techniques-Tools to help manage pre-performance anxiety, including meditation and mindfulness. vocal variety Involves breaking a pattern in volume or dynamic range, emotional tone, and pace.

Hope you learnt something new.