Public speaking and presentations provide great opportunities to the person doing the speaking: status grows, promotions become possible, sales increase, you're recognized as a leader and an expert. So why don't you find the time to practice?
I'm dismayed when people tell me they have to put meetings, emails, and teleconferences ahead of practicing their presentations. None of these activities has more potential than standing up in front of an audience and making a difference in their lives or they way they do business or work. None of these activities requires the other person to spend time and energy getting to the speech and expecting it to be worth their investment.
People also tell me they're better when they wing it. They say they have more energy and passion when they're not practiced. Simply put--baloney! This is a story you tell yourself to avoid the hard work required to practice and the effort it takes to schedule in the time to practice. If you calendar in a hour a day for a week, you have to tell everyone who wants you for that hour that you're not available. Because you don't believe you need to practice, you feel guilty protecting that hour each day. So you don't do it.
Many times I find that people use these excuses not to practice because they really don't know how to make good use of their practice time.
3 Steps will make your presentations practices successful:
- Prepare your content completely. Have slides ready; use note cards (not the notes page); collect your props, handouts or other media in advance and have them at hand.
- Find a private, quiet space that you can close off from interruptions. Instruct people not to disturb you. Leave your email sources and phones elsewhere.
- Stand up and talk through your content out loud. Allow for iterations that gradually increase speaking from your inner knowledge with less reliance on your note cards; start out taking as long as you need for your talk through, then gradually focus on honing your content to fit in the allotted time frame; concentrate on learning your content rather than paying attention to your delivery style.
What strategies do you use to make the time to practice your presentations? Share your ideas through our comment link below.
Just how effective would any athlete be in he or she went out on the filed or the course without practice? How delicious would a meal be that's prepared by someone who has never practiced cooking? Do you practice dressing for success, delivering your thirty-second introduction, or making a toast at a family gathering? Practice your presentation for the same reasons you do these other practices--for better results.
Thank you for the excellent analysis... of why we avoid practice, why we shouldn't, and how we can get around to doing it. I particularly enjoyed the summation of how to use that time. But let us not forget recording... audio or video. That recording can allow one to review your practice session and plan what to work on during the next session.
Posted by: Michael Cortes | February 09, 2008 at 08:29 AM