08 Simple tips to develop great Presentation Skills - Public speaking tips _ Body language

Do you know any tips for great presentations ?

That's the question someone asked me a few years ago and I said no , because it really didn't matter to me as my work never involved giving presentations .

Then one fine day , I had to give a presentation to some of my clients , although they were just a bunch of people .

I never felt so nervous in my entire life .

I spoke very fast without breathing because I just wanted to get over the presentation soon .

I realize it's not gonna work like this .

My next present , next presentation has to be great .

Now , on the way to develop my own presentation skills , I discovered many little hacks that could improve the way we present things to the audience , maybe small or large .

So , in this video today , I'm bringing you these little hacks that would make a great amount of difference to your presentation skills .

Hi , I'm Akash .

And today I'm gonna share with you a few ways to improve your presentation skills that have helped me personally or I could say they have saved me on a number of occasions .

So let's get started .

Well , I'm not gonna start with your appearance .

How should you dress ?

It's common sense , I'm sure you all know that you need to be well dressed and appear great when you're supposed to stand on the podium .

Of course , you know that you're not gonna wear your most comfortable box of shorts and give a presentation .

But I would like to add something here , wear something that you're comfortable in only because you saw some presenter wearing that impressive jacket .

You also should jump in how you carry what you wear is important .

OK ?

Now , if I say that you need to be a genius with your presentation , that would sound unrealistic .

But you need to know these three nos even before you start preparing your presentation , these three nos are definitely the building blocks for any great presentation .

The first no know your room arrive early and stroll around .

So you know where you will be presenting , you get the feel of the place we humans always take some time to get adjusted to the environment .

Next , know your people know your audience beforehand .

If you have a brief background about your audience , you can tune your presentation accordingly .

What's the point of presenting something that is not in sync with your audience ?

Uh Let me explain that to you better .

Now , in the software industry , when uh when you develop a software understanding what the client needs is important , understanding that business is important .

If you don't do that , the outcome of the application , what the client has pictures would be completely different , even though you are great at your programming skills , same thing applies when it comes to understanding your audience .

If you do your homework , well , your presentation is sure to be accepted by the audience and finally know your speech , well , rehearse the presentation until you are comfortable with what you're saying and how you're saying it .

After all , you are presenting to and for the audience .

If you sound confused with your presentation and it's not absorbed by the audience , what's the point ?

So always remember these three nos know your room , know your audience and know your speech .

Well , take the comfort of knowing that nobody understands your presentation or your data in your presentation better than you .

There's a very popular mantra shared by a theater expert that says sometimes mess ups can happen .

The audience doesn't know your script so it could happen that you could mess up with some of the points in your presentation .

You might forget to highlight some important facts .

What would you do ?

Would you start saying sorry to the audience or maybe panic or freak out , come on , just relax instead of freaking out freezing up or trying to ignore it happen , just try to be graceful about it .

Chances are that it went unnoticed by your audience .

And even if it was noticeable , all you need to do is say , excuse me , I would like to add some more information here and carry on with your presentation .

Believe it or not , presentations can be fun .

All you need to do is be prepared and know your audience .

Well , are you one of those people who gets really nervous and start to walk up and down the stage ?

Like a polar bear and zoo mark a spot for yourself on the stage or bring a , bring a stool .

If required guys , people are watching a presentation and not a tennis match .

I'm really bad for shuffling when I'm talking , I even flap my hands around .

When I get excited with some points in the presentation .

Remember you're presenting , what do you want your audience to remember your poor body language or your great presentation ?

Do you want your audience to think about your message or your body movements ?

So be aware of your body language .

Do you wriggle from 1 ft to the other crossing and uncrossing your legs or stepping backwards a lot ?

Try to keep all these body movements under control .

Make some eye contact , eye contact , helps keeping the connection between your audience and you .

And is one of the key elements for a great presentation .

If you show your back all the time while reading your slides that will destroy the bridge between the audience and you .

And also remember staring down your audience without a bling can be creepy .

It's also stressful on you , shift your gauge and sometimes it's acceptable to glance at some note cards if you have one .

But also remember , just don't read those cards because reading those cards would be as good as reading those slides .

Come on , you need to smile .

Everyone knows you're nervous giving presentations is nerve-racking .

So make sure you're smiling and make an effort to make that eye contact with people .

Practice meeting the audiences .

I value rehearsing and it will feel a lot more normal in the quick presentation .

This would project you as a warm and friendly person and your audience will also be at ease using powerpoint .

Well , you're not the only one .

Do you know , there are around 350 powerpoint presentations given every second across the world .

And what do you think ?

Are they effective enough ?

They aren't that effective immediately after a 10 minute presentation , only 50% of the facts can be recalled by the next day , only 23% is retained and seven days later , just only 10% of the information , you know , this human mind has its own limits and it can only hold on to between three or say maximum seven points .

You should aim for three main points and your presentation would be remembered also avoid big wall of texts .

This is a common mistake .

A lot of presenters make with their power point slides .

I know it's tempting to stick every item of information on your slidess .

However , this will intimidate your audience and the recall value of your presentation would be limited .

Now , if you have too much of text on your slides , that would also force you to turn back to the audience , which is a big no in all forms of public interaction .

So guys keep your slides brief and let the audience keep the attention on you now , rather than focusing your mind on your presentation and how you're gonna do it .

Think about the message that you're gonna give , you'd come across as a more passionate and interested and would give yourself an expert presenter status as well .

You'll also make fewer mistakes because you won't be flustered .

Define the purpose of your presentation before you start designing your presentation .

Ask yourself what's the purpose of your talk in general ?

You're either informing persuading or building a goodwill .

So think about it .

Are you sharing your expertise , giving a step by step workshop ?

Do you want people to buy your product or service ?

Are you motivating people educating them or are you presenting case studies ?

Is it purely entertainment ?

Now , these are just some main themes you could build your talk or presentation around .

One of the best public speaking tips I have learned is to make sure that you're only gonna cover one main topic and just stay away from adding anything else you might want to share , although it might be important as well , it just takes away the power of your presentation .

Now , what do I mean by this ?

For example , this video is about how could you improve your presentation skills ?

Well , designing a good presentation is an important part of presentation skills .

However , my main goal is to introduce you to the important hacks for delivering a good presentation and not how to write a good presentation .

I will certainly do that in some other video .

But in this video , my main topic is how to deliver great presentations and I'm gonna stick to that only .

That's my main topic .

Although I might share a few highlights about designing a presentation , but that's not my main topic .

You need to draw an outline of your talk .

So you have a framework to start with because if you don't know the main purpose of your talk , no one in the audience will so always define the purpose of your presentation .

Hey , slow down .

It's not a race focusing on speaking slowly .

Should be one of the most important things in your talk because you're speaking for an audience where not everyone is an expert on the topic .

Possibly quite a few people have English as their second or even third language .

And it really just takes time for people to let new information sink in practice speaking slowly .

For some reason , people talk faster on stage .

I remember my boss always told me to speak so slowly until the point it gets uncomfortable .

That will be the perfect tempo for the audience .

I promise it's gonna feel a little weird initially .

But what's weirder speaking a lot slower than usual or stumbling over your words and confusing your listeners .

There's one more way you could learn to speak slower , listen carefully to each and every word that you say , only say the next word .

When you have listened to the first one .

Clearly , it will help you to certainly slow down your speaking speed and be more clear with your words and pronunciation .

Why do phrases like once upon a time in a land far away , immediately grab our attention because those phrases tell you , you're about to hear a story and stories are incredible communication tools .

When you tell stories in your presentation , they challenge our intellect , stimulate our imagination and touch our emotions .

Why does everyone loves a good story ?

Because stories communicate ideas and information that no other medium can now , no matter where you tell a story , it could be around a campfire .

When you're on a picnic , it could be by water cooler in the office or in a courtroom or even in an auditorium while giving presentations .

The impact of a story always remains the same .

When you tell a story , start strong be engaging , capture the interest of your audience and get them thinking with an impactful story related to your presentation .

Look through for anywhere that you can add in stories in your presentation or really a good or relevant image from where you could build the stage for telling your story .

Storytelling will make your presentation seem realistic as well as help your presentation to flow naturally and increase the retention of your presentation by a minimum of 65% .

So learn the art of storytelling .

It certainly works .

Now , listening to a presentation for any length of time can be a difficult process .

If the talk doesn't engage their attention , the audience will start to feel distance from your presentation , they will start to lose track of the flow of information and eventually fail to absorb your ideas and insights to engage an audience fully , the presentation needs to be energetic , purposeful and staged as if it is a direct conversation between you and the audience , direct interactions with the audience is harder as , as most presentations are one way only .

But if you find a way to get your audience to do something like er activity , chances are they will remember what you said much better .

The activity doesn't have to take long but just let your audience members speak or speak to each other for about a minute .

To give you an example .

I can recall a presentation I attended uh where the speaker asked the audience to close their eyes for a second and think about their first travel experience and then turn to the person sitting next to them and share their travel experience .

Very simple but so powerful as the rest of the presentation was all about powerful travel stories involving your audience is essential to make an impact .

Your presentation should pull them in , get their attention and stimulate their thoughts and understanding the way that you deliver .

Your presentation should create a bond with your audience and ensure that the audience receive a positive message about you and your presentation .

The single most important thing to remember is that there is no one good way to do a presentation .

The most memorable presentations always offer something fresh , something no one has seen before .

So do not on any account , try to emulate every piece of advice I offered here , take the bulk of it on board , but make the presentation your own .

You know what's distinctive about you and your idea play to your strengths and give a talk that is truly authentic to you .

That's all for today .

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