Page 51 - Twenty Four Lessons for Mastering Your New Role

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This ensures that your voice envelops the room. If you mutter or
mumble in the early going, your audience might decide you have
nothing to say and tune out.
Stand up straight. Balance your weight on both feet so you don’t
lean or slouch. Rest your arms comfortably at your sides and gesture
naturally. Just make sure to keep your hands away from your face.
You don’t want to rub your cheeks, run your hands through your
scalp or gesture too wildly so that you wave your hands and arms in
front of your face.
Make friendly eye contact with different individuals in your audi-
ence. Ideally, look at someone directly while you state two sentences.
Then establish a visual connection with a listener in another part of
the room for the next few sentences, and so on. Don’t let your eyes
dart around the room too quickly without locking on an actual per-
son.
Follow these rules to enhance your public speaking:
Customize your remarks: Stay flexible by adhering to a general
outline, not a verbatim text. If you read a speech word-for-word,
you’ll put people to sleep. Invite questions throughout the presenta-
tion so you give listeners a chance to chime in.
Engage the whole group: Nervous speakers may focus on two or
three allies in the audience and ignore everyone else. Make eye con-
tact with people in all four quadrants of the room. Give equal atten-
tion to friends, foes and strangers. Seek out the folks seated in the
back so they don’t feel excluded.

Use “add-on visuals”: Minimize the use of slides. Only incorporate
visuals into your presentation if they clearly add something special.

“Presentation: a visual and aural event intended to
communicate, for the purposes of providing infor-
mation, helping to understand, gaining agreement,
and/or motivating to act.”
—Jennifer Rotondo

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