Hi Everyone, I am working on my communication and presentation skills.

7 Comments

1. AnonymousJuly 18,2022 at 7:55PM UTC

   I would study Ted Talks. I don't have any in mind specifically, though I'm sure there are good ones about giving presentations. In general, people who tend to give Ted Talks are really engaging and good at telling stories.

   A good rule of thumb for presentations is that unless you are presenting to people that are extremely technical, most people don't care about the nitty gritty details of products or projects. They don't care how a project is being done, but they do care why it is being done, when it will be done, and if it is over budget or behind schedule. Hopefully that distinction makes sense.

   For your first few presentations, especially internal ones, you might ask what they are interested in seeing. I suspect it will be metrics of some sort.

   There is also an organization called Toastmasters that is supposed to be good for practicing presentations. They have different groups around the world that meet up and this is what you do. Full disclosure, I've never participated, but I do know that it was designed specifically with this purpose in mind.

   Hopefully some of this helps! Good luck! :)

2. Debra SesholtzJuly 19,2022 at 4:26PM UTC

   The recommendation on studying Ted Talks is a good one. You can get more details on the TED Talk format by reading TED Talks: The Official TED Guide to Public Speaking by Chis Anderson.

3. JenniferJuly 20,2022 at 10:28PM UTC

   Great suggestion. There are even TED talks about storytelling!

4. AnonymousJuly 18,2022 at 9:27PM UTC

   PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE.

   No matter how many books or videos you watch, the only way you are going to improve is by practicing until you are confident. Every successful speaker goes through this. Once you practice enough, it will become effortless. Trust me, Ive been there. Consider the following tips I really wish I told my younger self 20 years ago.

   1) Know your audience and be able to articulate the most important message at the beginning and repeat at the end. If you present to various audiences, understand their business needs and tailor your presentations to what they can mentally be receptive to and digest

   2) Prepare speaking notes: Time yourself speaking to those notes. If it is too much detail, truncate as needed. But also know the material so well so you dont have to look at the speaker notes. They are there to ensure you stay on track. If you practice often enough, you will remember what parameter box to stay in as far as conveying content.

   2) Practice makes perfect. Practice out loud and talk through the slide sequence as if you are actually presenting (even if it is by yourself). Time yourself to help spot areas of improvement. If you currently get too much in the weeds that means you are not practicing enough to time the content conveyed. You do not have to practice in front of an audience if they are not readily available to you. Set aside some time, to talk aloud alone through the slides. Build an internal clock of how much time you want to spend on each focus area. Sometimes you want it to be an even amount of time per slide or maybe you want to focus on 1 important area longer than other slides.

   3) Take Command & Control of Your Audience: If you have a minimal amount of content to get through with plenty of time, then allow audience to ask questions. However if you have alot of content to get through with minimal time it is okay to ask them to save their questions for the end. And if people forget or interject, unless they are the CEO, or someone you report to, its okay to remind them how you decide to structure the presentation.

   4) Always have water handy. It is so easy for a speaker's voice to crack unexpectedly due to dry throat or even if the atmosphere has dry air. Even if you don't think you need it. Always have a cup, or bottle of water within reach just in case you need it.

5. AnonymousJuly 19,2022 at 3:01PM UTC

   I have noticed on LinkedIn Learnings there are a few webinars about presentation skills.

   • Make sure you have a high level conclusion that you want your audience to take away with on each slide. Not everyone is excited about details like you are. So you need to state the key messages that you want them to walk away with.
   • It may feel like repetition, but also recap your conclusions with high level take aways at the end. Apparently we are like children, it needs to be repeated a few times before it sticks.
   • I give scientific presentations and tend to make it "story -like" with an intro - meat of the data (not too detailed though) - and finish with if there are any impacts to the program. This last part is really what senior management is interested in.

   As others have mentioned, PRACTICE. It is such a pain and annoying, but worth it :) Good Luck!

6. Lisa PereiraJuly 19,2022 at 7:50PM UTC

   The Best Story Wins by Matthew Luhn is excellent.

7. Lisa PereiraJuly 19,2022 at 7:51PM UTC

   Also - if you have the $$ - Vinh Giang's Stage Academy is phenomenal