The Art of Presentations

How many presentations have you been to - where you find that you've studied the back of your hand more than ever before...?

In reality, it doesn't take a lot to keep your audience interested and attentive, with a few basic techniques, such as changing the tone and pitch of your voice, for example. Whilst presenting - wake up your audience now and again with a raised tone to your voice, when you want to emphasise a point and whisper when you want to have their undivided attention - you watch them strain in to hear. Ensure that you have a very clear message during your presentation, with a mapped out path to get you to your finale. Don't let your audience sit and wonder what the point of the whole presentation is - make it clear from the onset.

Why not use some interesting props during your presentation (preferably heavy ones, that don't highlight your nervous shaky hands!), to add another dimension to your presentation? Try posing questions to catch their attention or make them ponder a point that you are trying to convey. How about a bit of audience participation now and again to make people become more involved in your message and actively participate - why should you do all the hard work?

This, amongst many of the other tips were shared by our guest Neil Firth of Vocal Coach and Andrew Thorp, at last night's well attended "Speakeasy" training session.