Let's Present!

Imagine you are the keynote speaker at a major conference hosted by a major multinational corporation. You are speaking in front of an audience of thousands of business professionals. Are you nervous? Are you well positioned? Where are your hands placed? Are you coherent, captivating, and engaging? You might not ever be in such a position, but you a very likely to give oral presentations frequently in your career. Board meetings will include presentations. You are probably going to get up and speak to an audience with a power-point in the background. I hope you prepared your presentation. You need to be well rehearsed and should be prepared in various ways. In rare cases should you read a document in front of everyone. That just shows your lack of skills. You should be extemporaneous, i.e. you talk at length without a script. Sometimes your manager will have you report on a certain subject on the spot. Then you'll have to go impromptu. Gestures and hand movements are very important while speaking. Make sure they aren't just being folded by your waist, tucked in your pocket, or twirling in your hair. Stand up with a good posture. Don't have your hips or your legs dangling around. Analyze your tone of voice. Make sure your pitch isn't ridiculously high, nasal, or monotone. Have variation in your pitch to captivate the audience. But don't go so wild that they will make you a running joke. Like all other presentations, the oral presentation needs to have a solid opening, a strong purpose, a clear agenda, and a powerful body. Oral presentations have the ability to inspire, influence, inform, and captivate. I hope you will be able to harness these influences in your career as a powerful advantage.