How to Speak Well When Presenting 

Speaking Well When Presenting

Learning how to speak well in presentations is a skill so useful in many areas of professional and personal life. It’s all about getting your message across in a clear, strong way with an intriguing storyline that moves the people you’re addressing. To speak well when presenting means to capture and captivate attention; it entails transforming dry data into human interest stories. 

Whether you’re in a corporate boardroom, an academic lecture hall or a community workshop, verbal communication is all important. It’s an ability that is not just a way of passing on information, but also to persuade and motivate.  

So, whether you’re pitching a new business idea, disseminating research results or building goodwill among team members–from first impressions to last words, make sure you’re remembered for all the right reasons. Fortunately for anyone who feels their public speaking skills could use a little polish, you could benefit from taking one of our Presentation Skills courses to help you feel more confident in your abilities.  

Preparing Your Content 

A clear, concise message is the cornerstone of any effective presentation. That means digging deep into the matter at hand and exploring ways to make it relevant and relatable for your target audience. Start by asking yourself what the main point is you are presenting, why you are speaking and why it’s important to those listening. The process is to go through information, figures and perceptions to discover what you want to say. The goal is to make a story that’s not just factual but compelling and relevant.  

An effective speech is like a journey; it has an obvious beginning, middle and end. Start with an attention-grabbing introduction that sets the tone. Secondly, arrange the body of your talk in such a way that dives deeper into your main points. For a long-lasting impression and emphasis on the main point, have an unforgettable, catchy final sentence that will keep your audience thinking. 

What you say is one thing; how you say it is another. Choose words that are clear, concise and persuasive. Keep away from jargon and technical terms that an audience may feel alienated by unless the setting calls for it. If you are speaking and presenting with the right words, you can create in your audience a clear picture with vivid detail and feeling; through them, they will come to understand as if it is from their own mouths. 

Developing Your Speaking Skills 

Once your content is meticulously prepared, the next critical step is to hone your speaking skills. This phase of development is where you transform from a person with a message into a storyteller with an audience hanging on your every word.  

Voice modulation is one of your public speaking secret weapons. Vary your pitch, tone and speed to emphasise your points. For example, raising your pitch can express excitement or importance and lowering it conveys seriousness or authority. At crucial moments, you should pause and leave your audience time to take in key points. 

Articulation and clarity are the foundation of effective communication. Focus on pronouncing your words clearly while keeping them easy to understand. Also, watch out for grammatical errors – these can reduce your credibility or even make the message unclear. Your presentation is professional and authoritative when you speak clearly and articulately. 

Rehearsing your speech reinforces it in your memory, reduces anxiety and makes for a better delivery. When practising, stand in front of a mirror to observe your body. Analyse your voice modulation and pacing by recording yourself speaking. Ask for feedback from friends or mentors who can give constructive criticism. Apply techniques such as running through the actual presentation in front of a small audience to find confidence. 

Enhancing Your Stage Presence 

Your body language can be used to enhance your words. To convey confidence and authority, be mindful of your posture: stand upright, shoulders back and with an open stance. This not only gives the impression of confidence to your audience, but it actually can make you feel confident as well. And don’t forget gestures–use them to bring home key points and liven up the delivery. But don’t go overboard – movements must be natural and purposeful, not forced or over the top. 

One of the most important factors for your stage presence is eye contact. It keeps each member in the loop. Do your best to look at the various parts of the audience when you give a speech. This practice not only engages listeners, but you can also observe their responses and then adjust your method of delivery.  

Anxiety is a normal response to public speaking and one you need to learn to control before the big presentation. Techniques such as deep breathing and visualisation can be enormously helpful. Before you get up to present, breathe deeply and evenly to steady your nerves. Use relaxation techniques like mindfulness, meditation and positive self-talk to fight off anxiety.  

Interacting with the Audience 

Answering audience questions, especially tough or unanticipated ones, is an art in itself. Most importantly, be attentive and polite to every question. It not only demonstrates that you take the audience’s comments seriously but also gives you time to plan your response. When you hit a tough question, don’t hurry your response. Taking a short pause to collect your thoughts is fine. Be honest; if you don’t know, just say so and that you will follow up after the presentation. 

Encouraging audience interaction can add a lot to your presentation. Stimulate engagement by asking open questions, holding instant polls, and requesting volunteers for demos and activities. Choose your methods of engagement according to the size and type (such as physical, online, etc.) of the audience; smaller groups can be more easily brought into dialogue, whereas addressing large audiences may require a moderated Q&A session or digital tools such as live polling. 

Watch for body language, facial expressions and overall interest from your audience. Be ready to change your pace and style if you see any signs of confusion or lack of interest. This could mean changing the tone and pace or even leaving out parts of your presentation in favour of generating greater interest. The ability to read and respond in real-time is a skill that takes a good presentation and makes it great.  

Utilising Technology and Tools 

Presentation slides are a helpful visual aid, but it’s crucial not to be over-reliant on them. The key is balance: don’t use slides to deliver all the information, but rather as reinforcement points. Also, slides should be visually attractive and not cluttered with too much information. Use bullet points, pictures, graphs or diagrams to represent your ideas. Don’t overcrowd slides with text. Your audience should be listening to you, not reading the screen. 

When using a microphone, check beforehand that it works and adjust it to your speaking volume. Remember to keep the distance between mouth and microphone consistent so that you don’t have any problems with audio quality or feedback. If you choose to use other technology, like a laser pointer or clicker, practice with it in advance of your presentation so that everything runs smoothly.  

Notes are a useful tool, but they can have the effect of inhibiting interaction with your listeners. Even if notes are used, they should be kept to a minimum and inconspicuous. The idea is to keep it from sounding like you’re reading the audience a monologue from your notes. Practise until you know your notes so well, they are a safety net, not a crutch.  

Personalising Your Presentation  

Including personal stories can help to humanise your presentation and make you a more compelling speaker. Even the most mundane life experiences can become an effective tool so long as they resonate, are communicated well, and meet your overall theme. Personal stories really do have a way of lowering defences, making the speaker more human and approachable to their listeners.  

When preparing your presentation, you must keep in mind the backgrounds and expectations of your audience as well as their knowledge level. You may choose some data or evidence for a more technical audience, while lay readers want simpler language and fewer numbers–more stories and analogies. Also, keep in mind the type of presentation; a business meeting will not be like an informal gathering in the community. If you’re able to change your style, then this increases the power of communication. 

Listening to the work of successful people who speak well when presenting can help a lot. Note how these speakers employ language, tone, gestures, and other forms of speech to connect with their audience. Pay attention to how they design their speeches and deal with audiences and difficult questions. Both their successes and their mistakes are worth studying.  

Conclusion: Continual Improvement in Public Speaking 

At the end of every presentation, review what went well and what went wrong and think about ways to make future ones better. Look over your choice of language, interaction with the audience, body language and whether you were able to answer questions or solve problems. Self-reflection is of great value in showing where improvements need to be made and what works well. But remember that every presentation is a lesson, even if it doesn’t end up the way you want. 

If you really want to perfect your public speaking techniques, then professional training can be truly invaluable. Our public speaking courses can be completed in-person, remotely or as a hybrid, making it simple to access the education you need for professional development.  

Importantly, tackle every presenting opportunity to speak with passion and in a spirit of learning. From a small team meeting to a large conference, each occasion gives you an opportunity for improvement as a speaker. The more you talk, the easier it gets.  

Further Reading: 

 
Here are more resources to help you on your journey to quality public speaking: 

• The Power Of Pause In Presentation – Take a deeper dive into the ways that you can utilise pauses in your presentation for impact and memorability. 
• Presentation Tip: How To Use Eye Contact – Eye contact truly connects you to your audience and helps give you an idea of how effective your communication is.
• Effective Presentation Tips: The End Is The Beginning – Learn more about the art of inspiring your audience and creating an impression that lasts beyond the presentation itself. 

How to Speak Well When Presenting