Presentations made a huge impact in human society in the 21st century. At school we are mostly learning to create them visually attractive, but not much about becoming a great speaker. Also a lot of people are scared of presenting, why is it like that and how we can avoid the feeling?
Presenting is mostly about personality, not about your knowledge although you need to know something when you are talking about a specific topic. It’s similar to being an actor/actress, you need to know your lines, but most importantly you need to make it right and use the right emotions in the right time. In the difference, during presentations you act like you, not like a fictional character.
How to become confident?
To become more confident, you should be ready. When you are making a presentation, you also need to remember things you will say. The most effective way to remember it properly is to write your speech in bullets. For the first time, use them as a help. After you’ll feel ready, practice speaking without looking to the text.
When you are practicing speaking, look at yourself in a mirror or use front camera on your phone. It may help you feel more concentrated. Also focus on your gestures. Try to use your hands when talking, because it’s more natural. You can also try speaking in front of someone, you won’t feel awkward (family member, best friend etc.) and then ask them about their opinion. They can inspire you to improve something you didn’t notice.
Usually, when people are stressed, they tend to speak faster. Try to avoid that. Inhale and exhale deeply. Speak slower and pay attention on your articulation. Before speaking, drink some water. Stay calm. Focus on what are you saying and look at your listeners’ eyes. If you are talking to more listeners, try to look to all of them and change your vision, e.g.: look to the listeners on left, after few seconds, look to the listeners on the right etc. It may feel scary to look at them, but an eye contact evokes more trust and confidence and listeners will pay more attention.
Emotions
Use emotions, but not too much. Speaking with no emotions, the audience will consider it boring, but also speaking with too much emotions wouldn’t make a trust between you and your listeners. Inspire yourself by listening a presentation from e.g. WWDC event from Apple (you can find them on YouTube). Maybe at the first try it won’t be perfect, but you will certainly make a step closer to a better sounding speech.
People usually say, you shouldn’t repeat things, but I think it’s actually good to repeat the most important things from your speech. There is a higher chance that the audience remember your presentation. On the contrary, don’t repeat everything too much or you’ll become annoying.
Your audience will pay attention only if they would be interested. Your presentation also should look original and visually attractive. Look at my tips about better graphics for presentations here. Use gesticulation and also you should take care of yourself. To boost your confidence, wear clothes in which you feel comfortable and in which you feel you look great. Take on appropriate clothes, I also recommend to take on some bolder coloured clothes (dark red, mustard yellow, dark blue etc.), but be aware whether a t-shirt with a rainbow unicorn is okay or not. However, it’s up to you how you want to catch attention.