Are you a freshman? Is the fear of giving a presentation to your classmates and professor eating you alive? Don’t worry, we have all gone through this stage in our life. However, this article will show you the dos and don’ts on how you can deliver a presentation without being nervous.
1) Choosing a topic:
Do: The first and most important tip, before presenting you should choose a topic that is interesting, informative and simple for you to write about.
Don’t: Choose a hard topic where you couldn’t even continue getting more information about let alone know how to present it.
2) Grabbing your audience’s attention:
Do: At the beginning of your presentation, you should start strong by grabbing your audience’s attention. For example, ask a question, say an important quote, and maybe start with an excited story that is connected to your topic. All of these things will help you get all eyes on you.
3) Audience awareness:
Do: While presenting always remember to keep eye contact with your audience, smile at them, and make them feel like they’re part of your presentation. For example, ask a question related to your topic and let them answer it.
4) Body language:
Do: According to Skills You Need, “It has been estimated that more than three quarters of communication is non-verbal.” Move your body, walk around and don’t stay in the same spot while presenting for long because staying idle can actually increase your nervousness.
Don’t: Cross your arms or put your hands behind your back or in your pocket. These things are in the NO NO list.
5) The tone of your voice:
Do: Use your voice in an effective way; don’t keep the same tone a lot because at the end your audience will end up looking like this:
So it’s a must to change your tone all the time. Emphasis on the important sentence and words, be loud then be calm when needed.
6) PowerPoint slides:
Do: When presenting using PowerPoint, don’t put more than 10 words in each slide so your audience can focus more on your speech and message.
Don’t: Read from your slides because you’ll end up being monotonous and boring and as a result you’ll lose your audience’s attention.
Do: In presentations you must wear formal clothes and make yourself look decent.
Don’t: One big mistake is to wear jeans, t-shirts, sneakers and shorts.
7) Overcoming stage fright:
Do: Lastly, if you have a stage fright (stage fright: nervousness/fear before or during appearance to the audience) calm yourself down before your presentation, breathe in and out, smile, and before you present think about something you love. These things will help you ease your anxiety.
In conclusion, it is recommended to be confident, have faith in yourself and everything will end up looking PER-FECT.