By: Eva Steepe
1. Don’t memorize
Memorizing what you need to say and then reciting it is not effective or engaging for your audience. It’s important that you are present with your audience even if your presentation isn’t perfect.
2. Don’t overthink
The audience is here to listen to you, not judge you. If you worry about what the audience is thinking, it may disrupt your speech. Instead focus on what you are talking about rather than what your audience is thinking. You are here to share what you need to share and that’s all that matters.
3. Don’t overcomplicate
Don’t use overly complicated words during a presentation. Often, simpler words are easier to understand, say and communicate what you need to. Professional language is perfectly okay and welcome, but it’s important you don’t cross the line between professional and robotic. You also want to take the audience’s vocabulary into consideration.
4. Don’t worry about messing up
Most audiences generally remember the gist of your presentation and not the specifics. They definitely won’t remember a few errors, so why worry about the possibility of them? As long as you present what you need to share, an error here or there won’t affect your meaning nor will it change your audience’s opinion of you.
5. (Try to) Have fun
Remember that your time in front of an audience will be over sooner than you think, so focus on the importance of what you’re sharing. You’re communicating something for others that is important but you should also try to enjoy yourself while you’re doing so.
Presentations are an important part of sharing what you know with others and once you get more comfortable with public speaking, they get easier and easier.