Eric Jacobson On Management And Leadership

Author John Baldoni suggests you consider the following  six things before making your next presentation : How will you open your presentation on a high note? Where might you pause for emphasis? How can you make time to rehearse your presentation? What are the high notes? What are your points of emphasis? What points might you emphasize with a pause? How will you close your presentation? Will you tell a story? Or, will you issue a call to action? Baldoni offers many other tips in his book,  The Leaders's Guide to Speaking with Presence .

If you don't want to get your speech off to a bad start, the communications experts at  Speechworks  suggest you: Don't apologize  (particularly about your anxiety or lack of preparation.  Apologies put your audience on the defensive. Don't start by telling a joke  (which may not be all that funny, or is irrelevant, or that may even be offensive to someone in your audience). Don't beat around the bush  (including, don't list off a lot of people you want to thank.  Don't waste your audience's valuable time) Instead: If you need to deal with your anxiety,  practice like crazy .  Rehearse particularly your first line over and over. Start your presentation by laying out for your audience a key issue that they are facing in their business . If you must thank someone, do it at the end, or  thank your introducer briefly, pause, and then start right into the meat of your message .