Sometimes there’s a lot of pressure and nervousness around having to give a boardroom presentation or a speech in front of your entire company.

You might fear that you won’t articulate your content properly, you’ll forget your main points or just have a straight-up brain fart.

Here are some tips to think about in the weeks or months leading up to your speech. If you’re new to public-speaking, careful consideration of these tips will make your transition into this world a lot less stressful.

Eye Contact

That’s right — just look at your audience. Now, you shouldn’t focus your gaze on one individual and let it sit there. That would be a bit odd and is consered rude or intense for most Americans. Instead, catch you gaze with one column of people and slowly work your eyes around the room.

Ok, so for real, what does this do to convey my message and engage my audience? Well, people love when you look at them! According to Forbes, “Eye contact produces a powerful, subconscious sense of connection that extends even to drawn or photographed eyes”. Studies conducted at Cornell University found that people were drawn to cereal boxes where the mascot looked directly at them instead of averting their gaze.

Practice

Sounds easy enough right? So, do it! Write and re-write your speech, but at some point you do have to practice. Get to a point with your speech where all but a few kinks are done and start practicing your speech whether that’s in front of a mirror, to a camera or your family — take some time to hear yourself speak!

According to Harvard Business Publishing, “Josh Kaufman, author of The Personal MBA, writes that to go from “knowing nothing to being pretty good” actually takes about 20 hours of practice – that’s 45 minutes every day for a month.”

Your family will probably get burnt out from having to hear you practice for 45 minutes a day, so setting up appointments with a speech coach, friends, or a local toastmasters chapter are probably better ideas.

Harvard Business Publishing suggests blocking out time during your day and making practicing a commitment.  And realize you’re probably going to suck at first — especially if you’ve never given a public speech, but with enough practice, you’ll be well on your way to giving an engaging and captivating public presentation.

Tell a Story

When was the last time you found a speech interesting and memorable and walked away a different person? Rewatch that speech and I bet you they used story-telling techniques to convey their message.

Storytelling is a powerful tool at your disposable –so use it! We all have stories — whether we realize it or not.

According to Duarte, “Stories build suspense by introducing a hero, a challenge, a journey, and finally, a resolution that delivers the hero into an improved reality.”

Stories let you take your audience on a journey, where your ideas are ultimately the hero.

Use a Teleprompter

Ok, we are a Teleprompter Rental company, so of course we have to throw this tip in here.

Teleprompter Rental Company

Look, teleprompters don’t have to be these devices that make you look mechanical or over-rehearsed — if used effectively, they can boost your confidence and increase your audience engagement.

Put some teleprompters downstage at your event and use them as a cheat sheet — we all need them sometimes. Either put the outline of your script or the full-script in the prompter and use it when needed. Now, because you’ve practiced this for at least a month, you won’t have to fully rely on the teleprompter, but it’ll be there to keep you on track and focused on the message you’re conveying to your audience.

Give a good Speech

Prompster hopes these tips will motivate you to engage your audiences and spread powerful ideas.

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