Discover the 5 IF's of Dynamic Presentation Skills by Nancy Daniels The Official Guide to Public Speaking

What does it take to be successful in delivering a presentation? If you take my advice and follow the 5 Ifs below, I promise that your next speaking engagement will be easier, more enjoyable and less stressful. Will you still be nervous? I certainly hope so because nervousness is excellent. That adrenaline rush is something all great speakers experience. The secret, however, lies in being able to control it.

1. If you know your material, then you have just accomplished one of the most important requirements of good public speaking. The question is, however, do you really know your material? Have you practiced it out loud? If your idea of practice is to go over it in your mind, then you do not know your material and indeed many things can go wrong. The best presenters speak from notes or visual aids, talking ‘around’ their main points. They do not read nor do they memorize their presentations, aside from their opening statements.

2. If you make eye contact with your audience, instead of staring at the clock on the wall, then you will feel more comfortable because you will be talking to your listeners and not at them. If you treat your audience as if you were having a conversation in your living room, you will discover that you are first and foremost being yourself. Don’t try to be something or someone you are not. The honesty in being yourself is one of most important characteristics of a good speaker.

3. If you can use your face and your body to convey expression, as well as the tone of your voice, then you will be a much more interesting presenter. Too often at the lectern, we are so consumed by our nervousness that we lose all the color, the life, and the emotion in our presentation. What results is a monotone delivery that is lifeless as well as one that is most likely too fast and too high in pitch.

4. If you learn to breathe with the support of your diaphragm, you will discover a wonderful control over your speed, your pitch, your sentences and your breathlessness – total control over your voice. It is an amazing power to have that control but it can only happen when you allow your ‘chest to do your talking’ instead of just your throat, your mouth, and/or your nose. And, if you learn to breathe with that support, you will also discover the best means for controlling nervousness in any form of public speaking.

5. If you can successfully accomplish the above 4 requirements, then the 5th will be a given. If you approach your presentation believing that you are going to fail, I guarantee you will not be successful. You must believe in yourself and do the best job that you can do. Do not look for perfection because perfection is subjective and is not attainable in a live venue. Doing a good job, a great job, or even an excellent job, however, is!

Author's Bio
The Voice Lady Nancy Daniels offers private, group and corporate training in voice and presentation skills as well as Voicing It!, the only video training program on voice improvement. Visit her website at Voice Dynamic and watch as Nancy describes the best means of controlling nervousness in any form of public speaking.

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Nancy Daniels, the Official Guide To Public Speaking