Almost everyone hates speaking in front of large audiences. I’ve grown to almost like to give presentations. It gives me a chance to grow in my presentation skills and feel superior because I can do it well. Haha!

The reason I’m writing this post is because people in general are horrible presenters. I’m going through it right now in both of my classes. People are presenting and they just suck at it. But hope is near, it doesn’t have to be this way. If you are a horrible presenter here are some tips for you.

• Memorize what you are going to say. Nothing is more boring for me than someone reading something to me. Just give me the paper and I can read it myself, probably faster.
• Don’t memorize exactly what you are going to say. This is not a contradiction to the point before. You want some room to maneuver in your speaking. If you memorize exactly what you want to say and you stumble you tend to stop backup and start again. This is not natural. If you were speaking, you would stop and correct your self.
• Get out from behind the podium. Engage your audience. It looks better from my view and keeps my attention longer.
• If your slide is text, it should have a maximum of 4 lines of text no smaller than 26 point font. The first line should be the title of the slide. The rest should be your main points. Do not put everything on your slide. You should have main points on your slide and your speaking should include the detail.
• Your speaking should be different than your writing. You don’t speak like you write normally so why do it in a speech?
• Do not use fillers. No uhh’s, umm’s, hmm’s, etc. A silent pause may seem to you like an eternity and foolish but it is much better than using filler material.
• Feed off your audience. If it looks like they are confused, take some time to explain further what you are saying. If they don’t understand what you are saying after your speech, they are no better off than they were before. So take the time to explain your message.

Hopefully those tips will help you be a better speaker. I didn’t say they were easy, but next time I won’t fall asleep during your presentation.