Presentation tips from a professional emcee and keynote speaker
One question I consistently get asked in my stage and TV work – do you still get nervous?
My response is, always, “If you’re not nervous, you don’t care!”. Perhaps it’s subjective, but I don’t see how it’s viable to present in front of anyone without wanting to be thoughtful, inspiring, and enjoyable without being nervous. You want to do a good job, and it’s not exactly normal to get up in front of people and talk, and you don’t want to be boring or get anxious – and all that just creates nerves!
After 15 years of taking stages in every kind of environment: from countless keynote speeches and emceeing global events with upwards of 20k people live to perform in front of millions live on the top TV shows – every venue is different, but some fundamentals can truly help reduce your nerves. Insight into this topic, I am sure, runs the gamut, but this is all from my own personal lived experience and coaching. And one more thing to add. I am a self-taught extrovert. My background is in IT, and I thought I would be in a career behind the scenes. Turns out God’s plans are always better than ours and here I am a super nerd who had to quickly teach myself to be social in front of millions. It’s doable and it’s probably why behind the scenes I’m every speakers biggest sideline cheerleader. It has never been lost on me how especially intense it was in my first few TV appearances and huge stage events. I want you to have the tips no one taught me!
Oh, also, one last sidebar note – ask my right hand gal that has traveled with me for nine years how many people we have seen successfully “wing it”. The answer is TWO. Yes, just two.
Do not think you can wing it if you have time to prepare. I find it quite irritating and lazy to take that approach. The two that I have watched achieve it (I’ll hold the names) are something special and also have years of speaking in front of crowds.
So all that out of the way--- it has been noted that public speaking is one of the absolute most feared things to do. It doesn’t have to be. Let’s get you there with confidence with some key fundamental tips and 15 years of my lived experience on stages.
Overprepare your materials.
Know your content and then some. For a three-minute live TV segment, I have enough to talk about for at least an hour. I know the material inside and out. Talk about the topic with your friends and family and get their insight – it will only help add to the presentation in advance
Get excited about the material. If you’re not into your content, guess what – your audience won’t be either. I don’t care if the content is on TPS reports or TCP/IP Protocols (nerd jokes); find a way to make it enjoyable (or get some tips on my next article). You have to be convinced that the way you present the information -you would want to listen to it.
Do your presentation in front of as many people as you can in advance as many times as you can. Literally, give your talk or performance to friends and family, and fill a conference room with teammates. Preparation and outlining should start as many weeks in advance as possible and I would suggest rehearsing at minimum a week out.
Record yourself. I’ll date myself – but remember when you recorded your answering machine message ten times before you got it right? It’s not until you hear or see yourself back that you realize how things actually appear.
Smile. Smiling reduces nervousness, and also you come out the gate inviting and less like a serial killer.
Get that first line out of the way. Get your first line prepared, and do not change it. If you can get through the first line, you have set your brain up for success. Start strong and set the tone. It might just be one light but it is your introductory line for every person in the room. Regardless of your presentation style: whether you’re on a podium, on notes, or just off memory. Your first few lines should be memorized to a tee.
Focus the night before. Especially at conferences or big events, there is the temptation to get wrangled into a late dinner (hello, two-hour time burglary!) or drinks with colleagues. Don’t do it. Go to your hotel room or go home and focus on the presentation and get a good sleep. Yeah, you’ll be nervous and feel like you are perseverating over your presentation too much, but deep down, your body knows you are in focus mode and will just fall into over-preparation. You need to go into the next day with a clear head and not have your ears ringing from a noisy bar. And if it’s a must – show face briefly, then Irish exit. Everyone seeing you present is more important than ten people seeing you at dinner.
Remember, people WANT you to succeed. We ALL have shiny button syndrome and a million things going on. Your audience wants you to be exciting and dynamic. They are giving you their time and attention and ultimately want your presentation to be good so they aren’t bored!
Rehearsals – similar to tip #4 – you want to practice as many times as possible, but if your event is on a stage – do your absolute best to get a rehearsal on that same stage at least two times one to two days before the event. Did you ever have a really important meeting, and you drove to the building the day before just so you know there is no guesswork day off? Same thing. Know the roads in advance, and it will be a stress buffer. I have been working on events for 15+ years, and unless it is the rarest of circumstances, will I accept a rehearsal day off. I want to see the stage, the stage floor, how I will look on big screens for the audience in the back, and how my presentation sounds or how my slides or visuals look. I want to trick my brain into saying, “Oh, I know this place—we’ve done this before.” Typically if it’s a big enough event, there will also be crew around – let them chime in their thoughts if they’re watching. Oftentimes I will make select presentation edits or change my outfit after seeing the actual environment.
Stay tuned for my next articles on how to craft and deliver a memorable presentation and how to dress right on stage!
