Quite often I have to attend all kinds of seminars, conferences, meetups, hackathons and presentations. Where at one fine moment one of the guests has to get up from their seat, pick up a microphone and talk about something. Moreover, it doesn’t matter what the topic of the kurultai is, time after time I see approximately the same “divergence”.
Do not check the functionality of the equipment
At least once during any conference there is a speaker tapping the microphone with his fingers, saying into it the intriguing “Once! Once!" and asking “How do the slides switch here?”
All this:
- time-consuming;
- distracts the audience's attention;
- creates a negative assessment of your speaking skills;
- makes you confused and nervous.
Tip: arrive at your performance venue early. See how your presentation is displayed on someone else's technology. It often happens that fonts fly off, errors and other force majeure occur. All this can easily be eliminated 10-30 minutes before the start of the performance. Ask the organizers to show you how to switch slides and turn on and off the microphone. Bring your laptop and flash drive just in case.
Do not stipulate the rules of the speech and be distracted by questions
Quite often I watch how a harmless performance turns into an oriental bazaar. Everyone is shouting from their seats, not listening to anyone, raising their hands and asking questions without listening to the speaker to the end. This is all due to the lack of stated regulations.
Council: Greet the audience, tell us about yourself in 2-3 sentences and indicate the format of your speech. You can tell what your story is about, how long it will last, and when is the best time to ask you questions. All this will allow you to outline the boundaries of what is permitted, protect you from all kinds of irritants and set your listeners in a working mood.
Further and below in the text I will attach small video examples. No offense. No malicious intent. I Googled and found the first videos that came across, which, it seems to me, are the most appropriate in meaning. If you find anyone you know, don't throw stones at me. I didn't do it on purpose.
Speak when no one is listening
I have never understood the tendency of people to start their speeches before the audience's attention is focused. Usually, when a person is performing, he goes on stage and immediately starts pushing his cart. Nobody listens to him, doesn’t bother him much, and now the middle of the performance is over. Sometimes all this looks like a continuation of the now popular YouTube show “What Happened Next.”
Council: Don't start talking while the audience is buzzing. Why waste energy trying to shout over a noisy hall? Typically, as soon as the speaker begins to increase the volume of his voice, the intensity of the noise increases. You can be silent until everyone calms down. There is an option to cover the microphone with your hand, then it will make a sharp, loud and disgusting sound, thereby attracting the attention of the audience. The main thing is don’t speak until they listen to you!
Stand with your back to the audience and read the content of the presentation from the screen
This is generally the most common situation. The speaker turns his back to the audience and begins to read everything that is written on his slides. You probably know that reading aloud is slower for any person than reading silently. Therefore, while the speaker is in the middle of his slide, the audience in the hall has been nervously smoking bamboo for a long time. And it’s good if the presentation is 10 minutes and three slides, it’s worse when the presentation is an hour and the slides are well over seventy.
Tip: do not try to voice everything that is written in the presentation. And in general, the presentation only complements your report. It's best not to get distracted by the slides. They should visually support the flow of your story.
Small font and a lot of text
There is nothing worse than a small screen, a large audience and a dim projector glow. As a result, you get an absolutely pale presentation, without the ability to recognize its content. Leave the desire to place text on top of pictures until better times. Animation and other special effects also take away the attention of the audience.
Council: Try to minimize the amount of text in your presentation. One slide – one thought. Point size from 32 to 54. If the font is not defined by the brand book, take the most common one (Arial or Calibri), in this case there is less chance that it will “fly off”.
Do not indicate your contacts
This happens to every second speaker. It would be good if his name and company were on the title slide. Often this does not happen, not to mention email, telephone and other communication channels. It doesn't cost anything, but it can greatly increase the effectiveness of your performance. Firstly, it cannot be ruled out that someone will want to share your presentation with colleagues or partners. And if suddenly the topic of your report interests important people, they will have to make additional efforts to find you. Secondly, quite often “a good thought comes later” and then writing “to the village to grandpa” is also without options.
Council: Include your details at the beginning and end of your presentation. It is advisable to show current details.
ZY I hope that the thoughts voiced above will not cause you sharp rejection. Of course, my story does not claim to be the ultimate truth. These are just personal observations, nothing more.
BONUSES: Instead of a conclusion, look at the final of the World Championship of Oratory. A very interesting spectacle.
Source: habr.com