Dear Readers,
Welcome back!!! Thanks for all your support and encouragement. This week the blog's viewership crossed 10,000 views and is currently just a little shy of 11,000 views. I am most surprised and happy that within just 45 days of starting this blog we have achieved this milestone. I am most humbled by your kind words and encouragement. Today, I will be telling you how a timid school boy like me became a good orator. Also, I will be sharing my secret for delivering a good presentation with all of you.
I was an above average student in school. But, I was very shy. I used to feel afraid to give any presentations in class. During my eight class, our English teacher asked all of us to prepare on any topic and give a presentation in front of the whole class. I was really terrified by this ordeal. I went to home and told my mom about the presentation. She asked me to speak about the deadly Latur earthquake and what we should do safeguard ourselves in the event of an earthquake.
I did a little study about the earthquake and prepared well for my presentation. Next day, my teacher started asking the students to come one by one and present their topics. A lot of my classmates were really confident and were speaking very well. I was listening very attentively and was feeling very nervous. When my name was called I went to the front of the class and began my speech. My English was fluent so the words were coming out quite well. However, I could not stop my legs from shaking. I was very nervous and my hands and legs were shivering with anxiety. Somehow, I managed to complete my speech. My teacher told me a few encouraging words and my classmates also clapped to support my effort. But, I knew in my heart that my presentation was a failure. My friends told me that although my speech content was nice but I could not do justice to it because of my body language. That day, I resolved to become a better speaker.
I went home and shared this experience with my mother. She told me that next time before a presentation, I should spend some time in front of a mirror rehearsing the speech. From then on, I started observing how my school teachers used to give their lectures in the class. Some of the new teachers used to blankly look at the walls or the room corners. They used to avoid any form of eye contact. Some other teachers were too loud or expressive. Few of the teachers were very mild and their lecture was barely audible. Basically, I used to study the lecturers as well as the reactions of the students. So, it gave me a fair idea of what was the best manner to deliver a speech while keeping your audience engaged.
After a couple of years, I was able to deliver a speech very confidently in front of the whole class. Sometimes, I used to imagine that there were a lot of pumpkins in front of me if ever I felt any nervousness. During my Engineering days, I had a chance to deliver several presentations which made me very self confident. Talking in front of so many people without hesitation helped to build my personality. I get a lot of appreciation from my friends, classmates and my colleagues for my presentations.
So, I want to share the secret of delivering a good presentation with all of you.
Welcome back!!! Thanks for all your support and encouragement. This week the blog's viewership crossed 10,000 views and is currently just a little shy of 11,000 views. I am most surprised and happy that within just 45 days of starting this blog we have achieved this milestone. I am most humbled by your kind words and encouragement. Today, I will be telling you how a timid school boy like me became a good orator. Also, I will be sharing my secret for delivering a good presentation with all of you.
I was an above average student in school. But, I was very shy. I used to feel afraid to give any presentations in class. During my eight class, our English teacher asked all of us to prepare on any topic and give a presentation in front of the whole class. I was really terrified by this ordeal. I went to home and told my mom about the presentation. She asked me to speak about the deadly Latur earthquake and what we should do safeguard ourselves in the event of an earthquake.
I did a little study about the earthquake and prepared well for my presentation. Next day, my teacher started asking the students to come one by one and present their topics. A lot of my classmates were really confident and were speaking very well. I was listening very attentively and was feeling very nervous. When my name was called I went to the front of the class and began my speech. My English was fluent so the words were coming out quite well. However, I could not stop my legs from shaking. I was very nervous and my hands and legs were shivering with anxiety. Somehow, I managed to complete my speech. My teacher told me a few encouraging words and my classmates also clapped to support my effort. But, I knew in my heart that my presentation was a failure. My friends told me that although my speech content was nice but I could not do justice to it because of my body language. That day, I resolved to become a better speaker.
I went home and shared this experience with my mother. She told me that next time before a presentation, I should spend some time in front of a mirror rehearsing the speech. From then on, I started observing how my school teachers used to give their lectures in the class. Some of the new teachers used to blankly look at the walls or the room corners. They used to avoid any form of eye contact. Some other teachers were too loud or expressive. Few of the teachers were very mild and their lecture was barely audible. Basically, I used to study the lecturers as well as the reactions of the students. So, it gave me a fair idea of what was the best manner to deliver a speech while keeping your audience engaged.
After a couple of years, I was able to deliver a speech very confidently in front of the whole class. Sometimes, I used to imagine that there were a lot of pumpkins in front of me if ever I felt any nervousness. During my Engineering days, I had a chance to deliver several presentations which made me very self confident. Talking in front of so many people without hesitation helped to build my personality. I get a lot of appreciation from my friends, classmates and my colleagues for my presentations.
So, I want to share the secret of delivering a good presentation with all of you.
- First point is to choose a good topic which interests you. If you choose, a boring topic then you cannot expect to engage your audience for too long.
- Second point is to prepare well for your presentation. You should try to collect as much relevant information as possible. Also, try to do a thorough case study and try to gather as much unique points as possible. Remember that no one wants to listen to the same old stuff. Always, try to add some new points which are not known to majority of the audience.
- Third point is to keep your presentation a secret. If your presentation gets leaked then the audience won't be interested anymore.
- Rehearse well. If you are delivering a speech then rehearse as many times as needed to make you feel comfortable with the topic. You can request your friends, wife or parents to sit in front of you and you can rehearse in front of them. This will give you more confidence when facing the actual crowd. Do not make prolonged eye contact. Always make it a point to look in each side of the audience for a few seconds and then turn to the other side. This will help to keep the audience more engaged.
- Always time your speech. This is very important. Please do not drag your speech. Keep your speech crisp and to the point. Try to take all questions at the very end so that there is no break in continuity. If you extend your time limit then you may risk losing the attentiveness of the audience.
- Keep your power point presentations professional and elegant. Do not add any flash pictures or glossy images. These images divert your audience from the actual presentation content. Do not add too many sentences in the power point slides. Keep key words in the slides and use them to make your speech.
- Do not forget to do a spell check on your power point sildes.
- Use some mnemonics to remember the key topics. You can write them off in a small paper slip or in the notes section of your slides.
- Always feel calm. Speak in a normal tone and avoid any theatrical effects. People feel more connected when a person speaks normally except if he is some kind of celebrity. The most important part of a presentation is that your message should be effectively communicated to your audience.
I hope you all liked this article. Please drop me your comments below this post. You can also send me an email. If you liked this post then you can share it on various social media using the icons listed below the post. You can also click on the +1 post button to indicate your support.
With Love,
Gunjan
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