Speaking at a presentation is a matter if not more important than working on the entire project, then at least not inferior in importance. After all, it is by this speech that the partners will judge the work done as a whole. Therefore, it is worth using not only charm and the power of persuasion, but also some secrets of public speaking that will help you achieve your goal.
Instructions
Step 1
The effect that your presentation will have is 70 percent dependent on the preparatory work. The entire speech must be thought out in advance and written. Break it down into meaningful blocks, each of which will correspond to a specific illustrative material in the presentation. At the same time, do not try to retell what the listeners will see with their own eyes on the graphs and diagrams. Better to explain points that may not be clear and briefly state additional information that is not used in the presentation itself to keep it succinct.
Step 2
Think about the audience that will listen to you. Evaluate the level of their preparedness, guess in which aspects of the information presented they will be interested, and which may turn out to be interesting, but completely unnecessary for the case. Right in the text of your speech, highlight with a marker the most important, key points to which you will need to draw the attention of partners. This is necessary so that after the meeting it does not become clear that "they forgot to say the most important thing."
Step 3
Read your speech aloud. Highlight intonationally the moments that you found to be key. Determine if they are lost in the flow of other information. If necessary, shorten the text. When reading, watch your breath - it should not go astray or end in the middle of a sentence. As much as possible, break down complex sentences into simple ones. Compound sentences that cannot be simplified in any way, divide into blocks, between which you can take a breath, without disturbing the flow of thought with this barely noticeable pause.
Step 4
Practice reading the text in front of the mirror. Watch your facial expressions and gestures: they should not be excessive. But you shouldn't stand still either. It is useful to change your position every 10-15 minutes or walk a couple of steps to the side - this will attract the attention of your listeners.
Step 5
Listen to the intonation in your own speech. Practice using changing the volume to highlight some moments of the speech. Also, a gradual decrease or increase in volume can increase the attention of the audience: if you speak more and more quietly, they will involuntarily begin to listen. However, this technique should not be abused.
Step 6
Learn your speech ahead of time, but don't try to follow it thoroughly. You only need a rough outline and structure of the speech, but being within this framework, you can experiment. If you have forgotten something from what you learned earlier, you should not painfully remember, prolonging the pause. Feel free to move on to the next question.
Step 7
Don't worry about small errors and misunderstandings during your presentation. Nothing bad will happen if you tactfully return to the thought you had missed earlier (by warning the audience about this or logically including it in your speech) or bend over for a fallen pointer. If you are not embarrassed by this situation, then no one, most likely, will pay attention to it.
Step 8
Make eye contact with the audience. Look first at one, then at the other listener, but do not try to look into the eyes intrusively and for a long time. You can take no more than 10 seconds for each gaze. If you are worried that you will start darting around the audience, select 2-3 points on the opposite wall just above the heads of the audience. And look from one to the other. This will help create the illusion that you are looking at each person individually.
