Business Presentation Skills Training | Preparation Before You Begin Your Presentation
There are a number of things to think about to make sure you’re ready to deliver a successful presentation. Things to think about and to help you prepare include your clothes, your voice and speaking style, and some ways to warm up effectively.
Appearance
We all know those sayings, “Clothes make the man/woman” and “Dress for success.” Appearances are important in a presentation. The members of the audience are judging you by your appearances from the very start. So dress comfortably, but appropriately.
What does that mean?
If you know your audience, you should have a good idea of what their expectations are. How do the members of your audience dress for work? What’s the culture of their workplace? What’s their image? If you project the wrong image, you can undermine your credibility. You want meet their expectations for appearance just as you want to focus your presentation to meet their expectations for content.
Voice
Another aspect of appearance, in a way, is your voice. Your voice is the clothing in which you dress your words. Just as your clothing sends messages as soon as the audience sees you, your voice sends messages as soon as the audience hears you. It may be a good idea to record your voice to see how it comes across to others. Try to sound natural, so your rhythm and tone is appropriate to the message you’re delivering.
Here are a few negative voice qualities that you should work to reduce or eliminate:
high pitch
nasality
strong accent
hoarseness
Some of us have great voices by nature. Others may never be able to get rid of negative characteristics. But whatever the particular features of your voice, you can work to develop four important qualities—volume, pitch, intonation, and enunciation.
Volume is relatively easy to regulate. Speak loudly enough to reach all the members of your audience without overpowering those closest to you. If you’re unsure whether you’re reaching everyone, you can simply ask if they all can hear you well enough. You can also read their body language: if people are leaning forward or cupping their ears or furrowing their brows, it may mean that you’re not getting through to them. As for the people who may be feeling overpowered by your volume, you can often read the discomfort on their faces or by the way they shift around uncomfortably as you speak.
Maybe you detect problems with your volume at the beginning of your presentation, but you can’t do anything to resolve the problem, particularly if the layout of the room or the acoustics make it impossible. In that case, just stop, apologize for the problem, and suggest that participants change their seats if your voice will be too strong or too weak.
Volume also serves to emphasize key points and draw attention to your message. Sometimes getting a little louder or drop- ping your voice to a whisper can add a dramatic effect to your words. However, make sure that you don’t use the effects of volume too often.
Pitch can be more difficult to control. To find your optimum pitch, the pitch that will be easiest on your voice and on your audiences, use the “uh huh” technique. Say “uh huh” a few times. Professionals have discovered that the pitch you use to hum “uh huh” is probably the one that will be most comfortable to you and to your audience.
Intonation takes a little more practice to improve. Some people tend to speak in a monotone, especially with a crowd. You want to put more feeling into your voice, to make it livelier, by changes in your intonation. And you want your intonation to support your words: accentuate the key words, the nouns and verbs that carry the weight of your message.
You also want to avoid patterns that contribute nothing to your words, intonations that can distract, annoy, or lull. (Some- times you can pick up on these intonations on the local TV news, when a reporter tends to stress every fifth or seventh syllable, for example, regardless of the word and whether it merits the emphasis.)
Enunciation is both easiest and hardest to improve. It’s easy, because we can all enunciate better if we focus on it. It’s hard, because we’ve got to focus consistently, until it becomes natural. Most of us mumble or slur our words from time to time, especially if we’re in a hurry or we’re thinking about what we’re saying and not how. With regular practice, though, you can improve here. However, it’s also important not to exaggerate your enunciation, so that your speech sounds stilted and pretentious.
The last point to make about your voice is the importance of varying your pacing or timing. For most of us, this is natural— except when we’re nervous or excited. By practicing your presentation and maybe even recording it, you can figure out what sounds natural and appropriate for the points you’re making.
One effective tool in presenting is the pause. It’s a simple way to change pace. For example, you should pause briefly at the end of a sentence or a long phrase. But you should also pause before making an important point and after, for emphasis. If you know when to pause and for how long, you can help your audience better understand you—and you show confidence.
