In my previous blog post I spoke about our new puppy, Millie, and drew similarities between puppy parenthood and public speaking. Millie is almost 5 months now, and still causing chaos in our lives! But she has also inspired this latest blog post.  

As I had mentioned previously, Millie is very active and enjoys her walks. When she comes home from the walk, she always follows a routine. She comes into the kitchen, wanders around to check it out and have a sniff. Next, she lies down on her mat, having firstly moved it to a better position.

Finally, as soon as food is being prepared, she moves to the optimum location beside the kitchen worktop. She ensures she is seen by moving either side of whoever is preparing food.

What has this to do with public speaking? Millie is instinctively following the advice that I give to my clients when they are preparing to speak in public.

GET FAMILIAR WITH YOUR ENVIRONMENT

For an in-person event, this means arriving early to check out your speaking area. Get familiar with the room set-up. Where will you stand to deliver the presentation? Where will the audience be sitting? If you are using slides, where is the screen?

For a virtual presentation, get familiar with the platform that you will be using. If you are going to share your screen, practice in advance.

SET UP THE ROOM TO SUIT YOU

When you have checked out your speaking area, you might decide that you want to move things around to better suit you. Perhaps the podium is in a bad position. If it is possible to re-arrange things to better suit you, do so.

For your online presentation, set up your camera, lighting and background so that you don’t have any distractions for the audience.

MAKE SURE THAT YOU ARE SEEN

If you are speaking in a large room, make sure that everyone can see you. This might mean that you have to move around while delivering your presentation, so plan for that in advance.  If you can’t be seen, it is easier for the audience to switch off.

The same is true for virtual presentations. Do you need slides? If so, do they need to be visible all the time? If possible, exit the slideshow so that you are fully visible on screen, rather than in a little box in the corner.

Simple but effective tips that can help you be more confident in your presentation delivery.