Leadership Turn

Tips for the First-Time Speaker

by Denise Grier on March 21st, 2007

You are thrilled when the boss selects you to give a presentation. The client your company is trying to bring on board is huge. You know this is your time to shine. But you are nervous as hell. You think there are infinitely more qualified candidates among your colleagues who could give this presentation. You have never spoken in public. You wonder why you were chosen.

Stop that negative thinking. Your boss did not get where he is today by making bad decisions. And though speaking in public for the first time is daunting, the tips below will help to assure that your presentation is a success.

• Research the potential client thoroughly, and their products or services. Write down the things that you feel are pivotal.
• As you research, let the information help you to envision the kind of presentation you want to give.
• Create a theme for your presentation. You want to stand out, be remembered for giving a great presentation. Try to come at it from an angle that is unique from presentations your colleagues have given. As they say, “think outside the box.” Just don’t get too far outside the box. There is something to be said for convention. Get too strange and you lose your audience and maybe even your credibility.
• Plan. Plan. Plan. You’ve got it. I can’t say enough about planning. Write out your presentation as if you were writing a play–enter stage left, from the moment it begins until the last handshake. Even take into consideration things that could potentially happen. Remember what your grandma said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.”
• Take notes. Having note cards handy when you are ready to speak is crucial. Of course, you should actually know by heart what you are going to say, and looking down at notes too often will not make a good impression on the potential client, your boss, your colleagues, not even on some stranger that might be sitting in. This is the key to a good speaker, in my opinion. They USE notes, but they do it so seamlessly that the audience is not distracted.
• Go the extra mile. For instances, reading material. Say your company’s portfolio or prospectus is normally printed and bound in standard folders. Take things up a notch and have them bound in a more expensive, more attractive carriage, even if it means dipping into your expense account. If the client is served coffee and donuts, send out for croissants from the corner bakery to go along with the sweets. (You said you wanted to shine!)
• Speaking of shining, make sure you look and smell your best. That means scrubbing yourself to a shine. Clean out your ears. Buff your heels with a pumice stone. Clip your toenails. Whatever regular rules of hygiene you follow, crank them up a notch too. Don’t laugh. Accounts have been lost over something as minor as bad breath. You should be crisp and impressive, from your outfit, your hair, your shoes, right down to how your fingernails are manicured.
• Think positive. Project positive thoughts from the moment your boss chooses you to give the presentation until the moment you step up to the microphone.
• Be confident. Nothing says success like true confidence. It is attractive and contagious. If you have used these tips, there is not reason you shouldn’t be totally confident that you, and your presentation, will be a big hit.

I hope these tips have been helpful to the first-time speaker. But they need not only apply to first-speakers. Old pros might benefit from doing a quick run down just to see if you are still operating at your maximum potential.

Good luck and good speaking!

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POSTED IN: Communication