‘Ladies and gen­tle­men, if I could say a few words, I’d be a bet­ter pub­lic speaker’ — Homer Simpson

Next week Mark is ven­tur­ing into a world that is daunt­ing to most of us, pub­lic speak­ing. Does any­one really embrace talk­ing to a room-​full of strangers, who look down, when you look at them?

We say, GO FOR IT, there’s noth­ing to lose and if you can engage with a group of people as opposed to one-​to-​one net­work­ing, then your pro­file gets seen tenfold.

We’ve come up with our top 10 tips for a suc­cess­ful present­a­tion and get­ting an audi­ence on your side.

1. Use Structure.

By plan­ning your struc­ture with an intro­duc­tion, main body, con­clu­sion and ques­tions, your present­a­tion will be more fluid and consistent.

2. Know your material.

Be pre­pared that once you have presen­ted, people will ask ques­tions. Know­ing your mater­ial thor­ough will ensure that people remain engaged and enthused to hear more.

3. Be con­fid­ent in what you are talk­ing about and relax.

The best thing to do is show, through con­fid­ence, that you know what you are talk­ing about. Let­ting go of your nerves will relax you as well as the audience.

4. Prac­tice.

With prac­tice, any present­a­tion you do will be per­fect. The more you prac­tice, the more you’ll be able to inform your audi­ence with.

5. Speak clearly.

Make sure that your audi­ence can hear what you are say­ing, pro­ject your voice and avoid from look­ing down.

6. Use pos­it­ive body language.

Make sure to use eye con­tact to keep your audi­ence engaged. Hand ges­tures and calm facial expres­sions are also effect­ive in cap­tur­ing an audi­ence. It shows that you’re inter­ested in what you are talk­ing about.

7. Use visuals

Visual images always engage audi­ences, because they can see evid­ence to what you’re talk­ing about. Even a touch of col­our can make a difference.

8. Engage the audience.

Use examples or stor­ies of situ­ations you have been in that are rel­ev­ant to what you are talk­ing about. It always helps to have some­thing to back up what you are saying.

9. Con­cen­trate on your mes­sage and your audi­ence. Don’t worry about nerves.

Nerves can make you anxious and scared. The best thing for nerves is to take a deep breathe and relax. Remem­ber your present­ing a mes­sage. Stay focused and the nerves will be forgotten.

10. Most importantly…Enjoy it!

If you want to see for your­self how Mark gets on, just click here and book your place at next week’s (Wed­nes­day 25th Janu­ary) Net­work­ing Hub at Basepoint Bournemouth (and it’s a FREE event)