You Speak, But Do They Listen?
As said by Peter Drucker, “The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn't said.”
Trust can be achieved through communication. By building an environment in which trust can flourish, credibility and loyalty will follow. In a previously published post, we discussed the five skills of an effective presentation: engaging language, eye contact, body language, expressive speech and interacting with visuals.
Besides the five skills, a good communicator also needs to prepare his content and the content delivery. In preparation of the content, you have to know your purpose and your audience, have an outline and rehearse. Everyone knows what components are needed in preparation but not everyone know how to prepare.
Written by Bill Rosenthal, CEO of Communispond, this Forbe's article discusses a good way to prepare for your presentation. Rehearsing in front of a mirror, imagining an audience in front of you and delivering your presentation with passion, at home. As written in the article, with proper preparation, you could surprise yourself and during the presentation day, you will come across as a natural.
Another benefit of practicing in a real-world mode is the possibility to adapt. Indeed, you'll need to be prepared enough to adapt to any audience, or issues that could occur on the day itself. For example, if your projector breaks down, you'll still be able to present, or if you are so confident in your material, you will be able to move from your original material to make it better according to audience and situations on the presentation day.
How do I rehearse?
If possible, rehearse in the place you'll be presenting in, this will allow you to be more familiar with the space given. If this is not possible, find a similar environment. It will be easier to get into the real-world mode.
Record yourself. Try to video tape yourself, and look out for your posture, voice and movements. It's always a surprise to see yourself on video the first time, you become aware of the “umms” you might constantly say or you constantly touching your hair due to nervousness.
Review your content. During your rehearsal, you might find that you have too much information. Make sure your sentences are simple to understand and the audience is able to understand clearly what you are trying to deliver.
In the video below, during an Effective Public Speaking training at Sterling Campus, we discuss good public speaking skills and how it builds leaders. You can be trained to become a good speaker. Learn more about our presentation skills training here.
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