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When it comes to practicing for an upcoming presentation, so many people say to me that they think they are not as good at public speaking as they should be.
When I quiz them I often find that they throw together their presentation at the last minute and rarely rehearse.
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Exceptional presenters rehearse. And they rehearse and rehearse and rehearse.
“But,” said a participant in one of my programs last month, “Seinfeld doesn’t rehearse, he does those jokes off the cuff.” Really? Are you sure? Most comedians I know put an extraordinary amount of effort into their comedy and they rehearse the same skit or line over and over so that their voice, body language, and facial expressions are congruent and make it as funny as possible. They rehearse so that they achieve their objective. As presenters we should do the same.
Here are some tips so that you rehearse as productively as possible.
Get up and do it! Stand up and deliver the presentation out loud as if it’s the real thing.
Don’t rote learn it – Use different words every time you rehearse. Don’t try to memorise every single word – just be sure to get the ‘gist’ of it each time.
Rehearse your opening and close – Spend more time on the opening and close as this is where you’ll embed your key messages for an audience. The opening is also is where you feel most nervous so if you’ve rehearsed this part a lot you’ll get off to a nice strong start. You know your content (the body of the presentation) and the body or middle is also where you have slides typically to help you, so the opening and close is where you should focus your rehearsal. One of the Executives I work with rehearses as she walks between meetings in the city. She’s admitted that people stare at her but she says she doesn’t care if it helps her nail that million dollar pitch!
Do it in different places – Rehearse your presentation in as many places as possible so that you’ve done it in so many different places that by the time you get to the meeting room or conference venue it’s just another location.
Do it in front of people – Many of my clients collect a group of key stakeholders from different teams to be their audience. For example, someone from each of the following: sales, customer service, marketing, human resources, accounts, technical. Each person will give feedback from their area of expertise which makes for some very helpful solutions for improvement.
Rehearse the questions - Brainstorm all the questions you think you’ll have to answer and be sure to plan and rehearse the answer in advance. Ask your audience to ask you your planned questions as well as any other questions they can think of when you rehearse in front of them.
Do it to time - The cardinal sin of public speakers is going over time. It’s self-indulgent and makes life hard for the next presenter. As a general rule you should almost double the time it takes to practice. That means if your presentation takes 10 minutes to rehearse it will generally end up going for about 20 minutes with questions and the usual interaction that occurs in a presentation (unless you are experienced at rehearsing real time). So rehearse your presentation with this tip in mind so that you don’t go over your allotted time frame.
Do it on tape – It’s a great idea to record yourself a couple of times. You can immediately connect to a computer via its USB port to analyse yourself. You’ll see the things you should keep doing and the things you should change or stop. And by the way, consider taping the actual presentation if it’s possible so you can congratulate yourself on your achievements!
If all else fails record yourself and play it into your ears while you sleep – this sounds awful I know. And to be honest I wouldn’t do it – but then I’m a very diligent ‘rehearser!’ A friend of mine who is a professional speaker simply can’t make herself rehearse – she says it’s too boring and she can’t make herself focus. So instead she records herself and listens to it while she sleeps and this is what helps her remember her content. It’s not for everyone – but it may work for you.
Michelle Bowden, presentation expert
Michelle Bowden is Australia’s presentation and influencing skills expert and one of only 35 female Certified Speaking Professionals in Australia. This is the highest designation for speakers in the world. Michelle is the author of How to Present: the ultimate guide to presenting your ideas and influencing people using techniques that actually work (Wiley), and STOP! Your PowerPoint is Killing Me! For further tips and techniques to dramatically improve the way you communicate, present and influence please visit www.michellebowden.com.au
