Public speaking is a vital skill required in all aspects of life. In order to lead an effective life, you have to communicate with people, appeal to them, and convince them of something. Therefore, being able to do these successfully is essential for achieving your goals in life and getting effective results.
Presenting and speaking to the public requires serious preparation. The preparation phase can be divided into two main parts theoretical and practical preparation. Theoretical preparation is the activities in which you plan what you will tell, and practical preparation is the activities in which you plan how you will tell it. Here in this article, you will find useful information and techniques to prepare an effective presentation and present it in the best possible way.
1. Theoretical Preparation for the Presentation
Making a presentation means that the appropriate content prepared for a purpose is carried out by the speaker in the most effective way with the right tools. The first step of this process begins with preparing the most appropriate presentation content for the community where the speech will be made.
1.1. Creating the Presentation Content: Creating the presentation content includes two basic steps. The first is the preparation of the background text of the presentation and the second is how this content will be presented in that process. Presentations can be made in two different ways, depending on the length of the process, short-term presentations (15 minutes -1 hour seminars) and long-term presentations (daily training). In order to create effective presentation content, you will need a quality document of 10-20 pages in seminars and 30-40 pages in daily training that you can use directly.
1.2. Prepare a Presentation Plan: Presentation contents are general documents. The version of this that is adapted to the audience to be addressed is called the presentation plan. A presentation plan is the flow of the presentation that the speaker intends to share from just before the presentation to the end of the presentation. Although most presentations take place within this program under normal circumstances, alternative plans should also be made, taking into account all the setbacks, for a successful presentation.
In this process, the speaker plans which parts of the documents he/she has prepared will be shared with the participants in which order. The presentation process is planned by considering the characteristics of the participants and their physical conditions. The presentation plan can be prepared by taking notes on the page, or it can be prepared based on the PowerPoint presentation. Since creating a presentation plan without preparing the general content can create difficulties, the general content must be created first.
2. Practical Preparation for the Presentation
Preparation for presentations is an important and serious process in which several different factors are brought together synergistically. In addition to the theoretical preparation of a presentation, what you will tell is prepared, as well as the practical preparation of how to make this presentation. Much of the practical preparation includes the internalization of presentation techniques. Part of it includes physical and mental preparation for the presentation.
An effective presentation takes place when the speaker is ready and in a relaxed state of mind. Especially in the mental preparation part, it is important to keep yourself in a relaxed mindset and control your tension and excitement. In order to prepare effectively for our presentation, you can practice visualizing in your mind by doing creative visualization. You should try to turn each frame of your presentation moment into memories by visualizing it in your eyes.
In the physical preparation process, small practice and repetitions are absolutely necessary for the actual presentation. For this, giving speeches in front of the mirror, watching yourself with video footage and speaking in front of a small group, and getting feedback from them will be of great benefit.
In addition, it is important to keep yourself fit until the presentation. You should pay attention to your nutrition and sleep pattern until the presentation. Some presentations can be strenuous activities that require a lot of energy. In times like these, it is essential to keep yourself physically and mentally healthy. It will be beneficial for you to do sports regularly and to be in a strong physical condition. You can also benefit from activities such as meditation and yoga to cope with stress and have a clear mind.
2.1. Effective Presentation Techniques
In order to perform effectively while giving a presentation, you will need presentation techniques, apart from being well prepared in terms of knowledge. To make an effective presentation, you can divide the speech into three parts: introduction, development, and conclusion. Below you will find the presentation techniques that you can apply in each of the three sections. By putting all these techniques into practice, you can perform your presentation in the best way possible.
The techniques shared in this section will be very useful when you are well prepared for your presentation in terms of content and you are fully ready to make this presentation.
2.1.1. Introduction Section
Getting started with a presentation is quite difficult. However, the outcome is too important to be left to chance. Therefore, it should be carefully studied beforehand.
The introductory part of your presentation is the stage where you share your purpose, thesis, and general presentation plan. Your first words in the presentation should draw attention and arouse curiosity by starting with a story, anecdote, or joke. A speaker can immediately grab the attention of the audience by:
• Start the Conversation with Curiosity. Increase your audience’s curiosity with the first sentence and win their attention. Starting a word with an expression that will have an impact arouses people’s curiosity and creates a desire to learn why. So start the first sentence with interesting things. Not the second or the third. To the first!
• Start the Conversation with a Story. We often like to hear speakers tell stories about their own experiences. Even the most inexperienced speaker can make a successful opening if he adopts the principle of arousing your curiosity with the story technique.
• Start with a Special Example. Long, abstract phrases are hard for the average listener to watch. Listening to samples is much easier. So why not start with an example?
• Show Something. Perhaps the easiest way in the world to get people’s attention is to show people something they can look at.
• Ask questions. If you start the conversation by asking a question, it will push the listener to think and cooperate with you.
• Start with the Word of a Famous Person. The words of prominent people always have remarkable power, so quoting an appropriate sentence is one of the best ways to start a good conversation.
• Link Your Topic to the Interests of Your Audience. Begin speaking in a way that speaks directly to the interests of your listener. This is one of the best methods out there to get started. It’s sure to draw attention. Considerable and very important things often interest us.
• Start with a Surprising Fact: Surprising facts can draw attention to themselves. Facts wake us from our daydreams, they grab our attention.
2.1.2. Development Section
The introductory part contains your thesis on the subject and your point of view on this subject. This is the “tell them what to tell” part of the conversation. The explanation part in the middle of the speech is the “tell them” part. In this section, you express what you have to say through narrative, exposition, rhetoric, or a combination of these. In the conclusion part, you tell the audience what you are talking about. You reach a climax by coming to a conclusion that will impress them and summing up what you have said all along.
• Your entire speech is simple and direct; but also interesting. People remember things they find simple and direct. At the same time, they remember better what they find interesting and lively.
• Try to communicate as much as possible to the participants. Engage with the audience by asking them questions and asking them to ask you questions. Get people to contribute to your presentation and feel a little responsible for the success of your talk, but don’t let it slip out of control.
• Choosing examples, stories, descriptions, and examples about the place they live in will make them feel that you are close to them.
• Telling something to people contributes 25% to learning, 50% to telling and showing them, and 75% more if you tell them and show them and make them apply.
• Talk to one person at a time and try to make eye contact with everyone as much as possible. Do not stay in one place while speaking, move around the stage.
• Pay attention to the audience’s reactions. Facial expressions and body language will give you important clues as to whether you are progressing towards your goal. Adjust your speech according to these reactions.
• If you notice during part of your speech that some of the listeners seem surprised and move as if they want to ask you something, you can say something like: “I want to make sure I can express exactly what I want to say…” Then turn to one of the surprised-looking ones and say, “I would like to know your opinion on this matter too.” you can say. The person you are looking at will most likely respond to you.
• There is a trick you can use to briefly raise the attention of the participants: By first lowering the pitch and volume of your voice, you’ll get people to listen to you. Immediately afterward, you increase the tone and volume of your voice and convey the message that you care about.
• Handouts: If you absolutely have to use your handouts in your presentation, shorten them as much as possible and write them down on a large piece of paper. Check them out if you have to, but don’t show them too often. For example, some people become very irritable and excited during the first few minutes of their conversation. Therefore, it is absolutely impossible for them to remember the speech they prepared. It would be helpful for such people to keep their summary notes at hand during their first experience.
• Use of Presentations: In addition to conveying information, presentations should have motivating and interactive features. There are some tools used in making presentations. The most important of these tools are PowerPoint/ppt presentations. (Sample Motivational Presentations) There are some key features in the preparation of these presentations:
– Slides require more visuals and less text. (Although it varies according to the content and the participant audience, 10-15 slides are sufficient for an average seminar and 30-40 slides for daily training)
– It is important to use the slides in a balanced way. Presentations should not get in the way of the training and should not distract the audience. Presentations with interactive participation increase the impact of the training.
– While utilizing visual material, a few small but important points should be kept in mind. First, don’t get between the light source and the curtain. Second, don’t turn your back to the audience while the screen is talking about the image, and speak from the side of the hall. Third, don’t stay in the back of the room unless it’s necessary or necessary for some dramatic effect you’re planning.
• Don’t Give Up Control: When engaging in a conversation, stay in control. Some listeners will try to take control. Listen to them, but then summarize what they have said and continue where you left off. This not only allows the listener to feel respected despite losing the fight but also helps you stay in control. Another way to stay on topic is to divert the conversation from someone else. When someone makes a long comment, you can choose someone else and ask their opinion on the subject. Listeners expect respect from the speaker, just as the speaker expects respect from the audience. Train yourself not to discuss the answer you get to a question you ask. Discussion is the fastest way to lose the respect of the audience. Listen to the response, point out if you disagree, but give the other person the right to defend that opinion. This will most likely get that person at the end of your presentation as well.
• A Technique Against Forgetfulness: Despite all the preparations and precautions, in the middle of your speech to a group of employees, you suddenly find yourself completely blank and staring blankly at the audience, unable to continue speaking. An extremely terrible situation. In this kind of mental whirlwind, the best saver is to start a new sentence by repeating the last word, last phrase, or idea used in the last sentence. In the meantime, of course, don’t forget to think about what you’re actually planning to say. This endless chain of thinking method, if it takes too long, drags the speaker into irrelevant and absurd discussions. However, it is an excellent first aid for the damaged mind that has been interrupted for a while due to forgetfulness.
• You may always experience feelings of fear, shock, and some anxiety that come and go quickly in the first few minutes you come face-to-face with the audience. But if you resist for a while, you’ll get rid of everything but the initial fear, and only the first moment’s fear remains. After the first few sentences, you take control. You present the speech in a positive atmosphere and with pleasure.
• Improvising Speech: The demands of contemporary verbal life oblige us to quickly mobilize our thoughts and translate them into words fluently. A presenter needs to improve their improvisational speaking skills.
– One of the best ways to become a master at improvisation is to mentally prepare yourself for situations like these. When you are in a meeting or in a speech, ask yourself what would I say if I were asked to speak now. In what sentences did you support or oppose the proposals being made? Condition yourself for impromptu speaking at every opportunity.
– Enter a sample immediately. In this way, you save yourself from having to think about the next sentence in a jiffy. Experiences are easier to remember. It will give you the opportunity to warm up to your subject by getting rid of the anxiety of the first moment by getting under the influence of the conversation. And you’ll instantly grab your listener’s attention.
– There are three resources you can generate when you have to improvise: (1) Mention the listener himself. Give a specific example by talking about who they are and what they do. (2) You can talk about why you are meeting. An anniversary, an annual meeting, etc. (3) You can show your joy for something specific that another speaker has said before you by expanding it. The most successful improvisations are those that are truly improvised.
• The speaker should not speak with certainty, even if he knows that half of the community thinks as he does. Such an aggressive style, even if it wins him some votes, undermines the popular sympathy he might gain by being less firm and telling the truth in a convincing manner.
• The first essential element in a good speech is communication. The listener should feel that a direct message is being sent from the speaker’s mind and heart to their own mind and heart. Whether in a fifteen-person business meeting or in front of a thousand-person audience, the modern listener wants the speaker to speak directly, chatting, as if he were interviewing each audience individually in the same style.
• Be Natural: The only way to achieve naturalness is to practice. Find the person in the back of the audience who is looking the dullest and start talking by looking at him. Forget about the other people there completely at that moment. Chat with him. Imagine asking you a question and you answering it. If he had stood up to speak and you had answered him, this process would have immediately and inevitably made your speech more conversational, more natural, and open. Imagine that someone is asking you a question and you are answering it. Say out loud: “If you ask how I knew that? I’ll tell you…” For example, in the middle of your talk you might say, “If you ask me if I have any evidence for this claim, I have enough.” Then you can continue by answering your imaginary question. Such things will look completely natural, take the formality of your expression off, and make your way of speaking warm and humane. Such a style will come quite naturally to the listener.
• Sincerity, enthusiasm, and high enthusiasm will also help you. When a person is under the influence of his emotions, his true self is revealed. Obstacles disappear. The warmth of his feelings destroys all barriers. He acts as he feels, and speaks as best he can. So it is natural. After all, put your heart into your speeches.
• There are four things we all do unconsciously in a real conversation. But we wouldn’t consider applying them to public speaking. a) Do you emphasize important words in a sentence and skip the unimportant ones quickly? Do you give every word the same importance, or do you pay a little more attention to some? b) Do you speak with frequent raising and lowering your voice, as a small child does? c) Do you change the pace of your speech by skipping unimportant words quickly and spending more time on what you want to highlight? d) Do you pause before and after important ideas?
• Don’t rush. If you want to fully present yourself, appear in front of the audience rested. A tired speaker is not attractive at all. Don’t make the common mistake of putting off your preparation and planning until the last minute and then trying to make up for a lost time by working with both feet in one shoe. When you do this, your brain loses its vitality and freshness, you encounter insurmountable obstacles and you store bodily poisons.
• Take care of your clothing. It has been noticed many times that the listener respects the speaker only as much as the speaker takes care of his own appearance. Don’t the audience think that the speaker’s mind can be as sloppy as uncombed hair and unpainted shoes?
• Smile. Make them feel happy to be there when you’re in front of the audience. A Chinese proverb says: “He who does not smile should not open a shop.” We are either liked or not accepted before we speak.
• Be Yourself. When we take care of our listeners, most likely, they are also interested in us. If we frown, they will frown inwardly or visibly. If we appear timid and confused, they will lose their trust in us. If we brag about ourselves and act brazen, they will react with a self-protective egoism. We can be approved or rejected even before we speak. Therefore, we must make sure that our attitude will receive a warm response.
• Gather Together. If your audience is scattered at the beginning of your presentation, try to gather them together. So you can influence them with less effort. If your audience is scattered, tell them to come forward and sit close to you. Insist on this before you start speaking. Unless you have a large audience and there is no reason or need for the speaker to stand on the podium, do not take the podium. Get on the same level as your audience. Stay closer to them.
• Giving an Action-Oriented Speech: Begin your speech by giving details of your example that graphically illustrates the main idea you want to push. Then state your purpose in well-chosen terms, and describe exactly what you want your listener to do; Finally, give your conclusion that highlights the benefit or advantage that the listener will gain when he does what you ask him to do. This formula is best for short conversations; because it is based on curiosity to a certain extent.
• The personal experiences you describe in order to give an action take talk should: (1) You describe an experience that was a lesson to you. Thus, you instantly catch the attention (2) It is especially powerful when it is based on a single event that has had a dramatic impact on your life. Sometimes it didn’t take more than a few seconds, but this short period of time taught you an unforgettable lesson. (3) If you start your speech with sentences that answer one of the questions Who, what, when, where, how, why, you will be using the story, one of the oldest communication tools in the world, to attract attention. (4) Equip your example with relevant details. (5) Relive your experience as you describe it.
• Ways to Engage: (1) Something completely new is not interesting. The completely old one is no longer attractive to us. We like to hear new things about old things. (2) No subject interests people as much as they do. Have the other person talk about their interests, jobs, achievements, or, if that person is a mother, about their children. Listen to him with interest and enthusiasm. After all, you may not have done the talking, but you are considered a good speaker. (3) If you talk about objects or thoughts to people, you very likely annoy them. But if you tell them about people, it’s impossible not to get their attention. Conversations about people’s experiences are interesting. (4) Give Concrete Examples. Instead of talking about general and abstract things, try to include more concrete facts. (5) Words That Draw Pictures: One of the most important techniques in attracting attention is the technique of drawing pictures with words. A speaker who creates images before your eyes never bothers you. Next, a speaker resorting to colorless symbols puts his audience to sleep. (6) Interest is Contagious: Getting people’s attention is a matter of emotions and spirit. There are no definite rules. Remember, interest is contagious. If you’ve caught an interest in what you’re talking about, the audience is sure to catch on, too.
2.1.3. Closing Section
• The closing part of a speech is the most strategically important element of the speech. The last thing said stays in the memory the longest! “This is all I have to say. It would be wrong to say, “I must finish my speech now.” End your speech without saying that you will.
• Closing is something that needs to be planned. Is it wise to do this plan in front of the audience when you are under stress and your mind has to concentrate on what you are saying? Or does it make more sense to do it before, quietly, calmly? The speaker needs to know exactly what ideas to end his speech with. In fact, it would be useful to rehearse the closing part by using different expressions each time, but by trying to express his thoughts fully.
• More than one closing statement should be prepared. One of them will surely fit.
– Summarize the Points You Have Made in Your Speech: Even in a three-five-minute speech, so much is said that the audience finds it difficult to remember all of them at the close. But few speakers realize this. Listeners tend to vaguely remember many things. The best solution for this in closing: First tell them what you are going to tell them. Then tell. Then tell me what you said.
– Get Action: At the end of your talk, you can close in a way that gets people to take action. A heartfelt and motivating closure will stay in mind and impress people.
– Have a Humorous Closing: “Say goodbye to them while they’re laughing,” George Cohan was saying. If you have the skills and materials to do it, do it!
– End the Speech with a Poetic Quote: The most effective ways to end the speech are to end with a good joke or a poetic quote. In fact, it is ideal to find a suitable poem if possible. This will create the desired effect, add dignity and originality to the speech, and add beauty.
– Make it to the Top: Climbing to the top is one of the popular ways to end the conversation. This is a very difficult path, and it is not a finishing style that can be applied by every speaker and applied to every subject. If done well, the effect will be excellent. Sentence by sentence it becomes stronger and reaches its climax.
References:
Dale Carnegie, The Art of Speaking and Getting Things Done
Dale Carnegie, The Art of Effective and Beautiful Speech
