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My 10 BEST Tips for Female Presenters to Rock It

It has been my experience and observation that women presenters tend to be more reserved and self-conscious. Female presenters tend to overthink everything and strive for perfection, even when perfection doesn’t exist. It’s a combination of things that make it more difficult for female presenters to begin, much less finish, a presentation. I have put together my list of advice that female presenters need to know.

Don’t let self-doubt creep in.Women are infamous for self-doubting their capabilities and shrivel at the thought of stepping in front of other people to talk. This doubt leads to feelings of inability to perform and allows the mind to wonder how listeners will judge and criticize. Women can do everything that men can do, and sometimes better, you just have to trust yourself that you know your subject matter and are extremely qualified to give this presentation.
Overcome the fear of public speaking.The chronic thoughts of self-doubt generally morph into full blown presentation anxiety complete with sweating, nausea, tension, and sickness. Even if fearful presenters get enough courage to step in front of others, they usually cringe and fold into themselves and struggle to finish. The fear of public speaking is a perceived fear, where the brain has been trained to react in a way that demonstrates one is inferior, you can overcome it with a little effort. You can avoid not only the fear but all of the feelings that go along with it. (Check out my article 5 Quick Tips to Overcome Presentation Fear.)
Stop overthinking.Women are well known to change their mind a time or two, but they also tend to overthink the situation. The debate on what to talk about, can I afford to leave this out, how do I explain the situation and not babble on and on, can leave your mind in debate for extended periods of time with no resolve.
Stop the madness!All of this thinking, wandering, and debating can make you tired before you even get to the presentation site. Ladies, we have a big job to do, and nobody is more qualified than you to do it. Any presenter has a single obligation to fulfill, and that is to educate the audience and ensure that the listeners walk away with information that is helpful to them; ladies just do it with more grace and poise.

Here are my best tips for female presenters to let go of the self-doubt and overcome the fear of talking to other human beings.

Prepare – Yes, you need to include the necessary points without any extra, and you can solve this with index cards. Writing one idea per card and laying them all out on a table can help the most indecisive presenter fully see what is necessary and what is not. Write it up in an outline and you have officially begun the presentation plan.
Evaluate – Every presenter needs to take a step away and think for a minute to evaluate the plan. You are looking for reassurance that your presentation is not overflowing with content, that it includes stories and examples, and follows some logical order to ensure that you know where you are going, and your audience can easily follow along with little effort.
Prep until comfortable – This advice is different for every person, so you will have to figure out what is the right amount of preparation for you to feel comfortable. You want to practice your presentation as many times as necessary that you can easily recall it without notes. Do not resort to memorization because this will cause many additional complications, trust me.
While you are still in preparation mode, now is the perfect time to go to the restaurant or hotel where the event will take place and get a good look, maybe even take some pictures of your own to study back at the office. If you are preparing for an event out of town, ask your contact person to send you pictures of the room or at least a sketch of the setup. Knowing this information will allow you to visualize the situation in practices and strategize where is the best place to stand for maximum effectiveness.
Dress for success – Plan out your wardrobe in advance, taking into consideration what the atmosphere of the presentation site will be like and if you’ll be wearing a mic. (It can get complicated running a lavaliere microphone cord through some outfits.) Take into account the decor of the room, and what you expect the audience to be wearing. Check my blog, What Do I Wear for My Presentation, where I go in depth on how to weigh your options.
Arrive early – One of my personal anxieties is not the presentation itself, but the travel to get there. Regardless of whether the travel time includes a simple car trip or a plane ride, you want to make sure that you have arrived early. If you have confused the location, then you have time to fix it, otherwise knowing that you are where you are supposed to be is a relief in itself and now you are not out of breath from running and rushing.
Meet the audience – Arriving early has its benefits because you have the time to take a few deep breaths and to meet new people. You are meeting the people that sacrificed their time away from work or family to see you present. You are meeting new friends that will be rooting you on and are excited to learn the new things that you have to teach. Most importantly, having the opportunity to meet the audience means you are no longer speaking to strangers; you are talking to new friends and knowing that tiny piece of information can turn your presentation from a lecture into a conversation just like speaking to any friend.
Own the room – Imagining that you are wearing your power suit can make you feel powerful. According to a 2010 study, taking a high-power pose, one that takes up maximum space with your body can make stress hormones ineffective. Take a quick potty break and psych yourself up, a one-person pep rally. You have done all of the necessary steps to make this happen; you are in control. Now is the time to own the room!
Celebrate because you did it – You followed through on the commitment and not only did you fulfill your obligation, but it was much better than you thought it would be. Maybe you even had fun and would consider presenting again in the future. Revel in the lives that you have enriched with your message and how all of that stress was for nothing. Concentrate on how interested the audience was the entire time you spoke and that they had so many questions about applying the lesson to their individual situations. Remember that for at least this moment, you were the teacher, and you made a difference.
Debrief & improve – After the celebration (maybe it even includes champagne) it’s time to think about the situation as a whole from an objective point of view and debrief with notes on what went well, and what can be improved. Consider any moments that you had to rephrase something because it wasn’t clear, or you had to add something that wasn’t supposed to be there but was, in fact, necessary. Remove any pieces that you initially thought were necessary, but weren’t. Now is the time to pull the index cards back out that weren’t incorporated into this presentation and think about how you can integrate them into a future presentation.

Erica Olson, founder of Speak Simple, has delivered 1,000+ presentations, coached hundreds, and won her clients millions of dollars. She is an author, professional speaker, interpreter, and presentation coach that helps her clients become comfortable when presenting and relate with their audience. Erica specializes in helping with technical professionals to simplify their message to engage audiences and win new work and includes strategy, preparation process, learning styles, simplification, & delivery. Her book, Speak Simple – The Art of Simplifying Technical Presentations, and her self-guided presentation course, SpeakU, are great resources for her numerous clients, many of whom Erica has helped to win millions of dollars in new work via bid presentations, thought leadership presentations, and increased keynote speaker fees.

The Orderly Conversation: Business Presentations Redefined

Business communication exists to move business forward. In a perfect world, that work is efficient and effective. Now, think about the last presentation or meeting you attended. Was it efficient and effective? No? You’re not alone. It’s time for a new approach, one that is practical and flexible enough to work in a variety of situations.

In this webinar with author Greg Owen-Boger, you will be introduced to the concept of The Orderly Conversation, which is a type of communication that combines a carefully organized message with flexible, spontaneous delivery. This means that while you prepare, you need to look ahead to the uncertainties of the conversation, and once the conversation starts, you need to adapt what was planned to what’s happening in the moment. And this is why the traditional approach of one-way speechmaking, which we all learned in school, falls short in the business setting.

This session is not about tips and tricks. Instead, it’s a serious, big-picture look at group communication. It’s about the skills and techniques you use to achieve your goal and manage the process effectively and efficiently.

In this webinar, we examined:

Engagement, thinking on your feet, and managing a genuine Orderly Conversation
Techniques to frame the conversation to provide context and relevance
How to prepare to be spontaneous
Skills for encouraging participation in the conversation while controlling the message
New language for coaching others

TheOrderlyConversation_HANDOUT_-PresentationXpert

About Greg:

Greg Owen-Boger is the Vice President of Turpin Communication, a presentation and facilitation training company in Chicago. He started with Turpin as a cameraman in 1995, and quickly moved on to instructor/coach, project manager, account manager, and now VP. Trained in management and the performing arts, he brings a diverse set of skills and experience to the organization. Prior to joining Turpin, he was a Project Leader for a boutique consultancy that uses live theatre to initiate the leadership development process.

Greg is the 2015 President of ATD, Chicagoland Chapter (formerly ASTD). He is a frequent blogger, popular speaker, and the co-author of The Orderly Conversation: Business Presentations Redefined. He is among many thought leaders who contributed to the book Master Presenter: Lessons from the World’s Top Experts on Becoming a More Influential Speaker.

Thinking of Doing a Google Hangout? Read This First

This is not going to be a technology article, so if that’s what you were hoping for… sorry. Nope, just good old fashioned presentation advice, but the kind you need when you’re going to be on camera.

I recently watched a Google Hangout where the content was all good, but the speaker’s on-camera performance left much to be desired.

Just a few simple adjustments would have made this presentation so much better, and I would have been able to focus on the content rather than the distractions of the visuals.

Here are some tips for you whether you’re live on a Hangout or shooting a DIY video for later upload.

1. Place your webcam at or above eye level

When you sit at your desk, your screen tends to be a little bit lower than eye level, unless you have a really high desk or a massive monitor. But when you shoot a Hangout or video, you don’t want to be looking DOWN at your audience, which is what will happen if you keep your monitor where it is.

If you’re using a laptop, elevate it on some books or a box, so that you’re looking directly into the camera or even looking up a bit. If you’re using a standalone webcam (anyone still use those?) position it the same way.

2. Actually look at the webcam

I’m shocked when I watch a video or Hangout and professionals who should know better are looking down at the screen instead of into the camera. Just because you’re looking at someone’s face on the screen doesn’t mean you’re making eye contact with your audience.

If you want to make eye contact (and your audience wants you to), you must look INTO the webcam lens.

This takes practice, and for some presenters it helps to tape a picture of someone next to the lens. The more you get used to talking into the camera, the easier it becomes.

3. Put on some powder

Yes, guys, even you. The last thing I want to see on a livestream is some sweaty, shiny guy on the other side. I’m the least likely person to tell you to wear makeup, because I don’t enjoy wearing it, and it’s actually one thing that keeps me from shooting as much video as I should.

But you don’t need full stage makeup, just a little something to even out a blotchy complexion and keep you from blinding the viewer. A little basic street makeup for women and at least some powder for men is required to keep you from looking either shiny or washed out on the screen. And guys, that powder will need to go on your pate as well, if you’re losing your hair. Just sayin’.

4. Pay attention to your backdrop

If you don’t have a nice backdrop at your desk, fake one. Ruth Sherman taught me to put a plant or some flowers behind me to liven up (and lighten up) the scenery, even if I have to put them on a step stool.

Your audience can’t see what’s holding it all up; they just want something pleasant and non-distracting behind you instead of saggy drab curtains, a mishmash of books and knickknacks, or a big piece of drywall (which is what you would see behind me at my desk if I let you!).

You don’t have to have a fancy studio setup or expensive lighting when shooting video or live Hangouts. But as a professional who wants to be seen as an authority and an expert, you do have to come across as someone who knows what they’re doing and has the confidence of a pro. And the last thing you want to do is distract your audience with these piddly but noticeable mistakes.

Making these little tweaks to your appearance and to your performance will make a subtle but important difference in how your audience perceives you, your credibility level, and overall, your ability to make a connection and build a relationship with your audience.

About the Author:

Lisa Braithwaite is a public speaking coach and trainer based in Santa Barbara, CA. She is author of the Speak Schmeak blog as well as the free e-book, Present Your Best: 11 Strategies for Magnifying Your Confidence, Both Onstage and Off. For more information, visit http://www.coachlisab.com

How to Thrive in a Challenging Speaking Situation

Not long ago I had the pleasure of working with Carolyne Stayton, the Executive Director of Transition US. Transition US is a resource and catalyst for building resilient communities across the United States that are able to withstand severe energy, climate, or economic shocks while creating a better quality of life in the process.

Carolyne was scheduled to give a speech at the Bioneers conference in Marin County, CA, and she needed help with her preparation. Bioneers is a non-profit educational organization that highlights breakthrough solutions for restoring people and planet. Since 1990, Bioneers has acted as a fertile hub of social and scientific innovators with nature-inspired approaches for the world’s most pressing environmental and social challenges.

Carolyn’s topic was “Resilient Communities: Mobilizing and Equipping Local Citizen Action.” Here’s how she began her speech:

“I’d like to begin by using the analogy of “the story.” In our climate story, we are entering the chapter where the dragon has arrived. He’s breathing fire and scorching our crops. He’s melting the ice and causing tornadoes where they’ve never been seen before. He’s flooding our rivers, our cities, and our towns. And he’s madly extracting oil from our fragile landscapes.

So where did this dragon come from? He came from our decades of wonton consumerism. He came from our explosive carbon lifestyle. And he came from our blatant disregard for the laws of nature. This sounds like a pretty bleak chapter in the story, doesn’t it? It sounds like a story you want to put down and not finish.

But I’ve got good news for you. We are also at the point in the story where the hero arrives to save the day. And the best news of all is this: the hero is YOU! My purpose here today is to give you the information, tools, and resources you need to confront the dragon head on, to slay him. To sauté him. And to serve him up at a pot luck supper!”

The night before Carolyn was scheduled to give her speech, she sent me an email. She said she had the jitters and needed a last minute pep talk. I sent her a list of some things to do to further prepare her body and mind. Among them was to limit caffeine, drink plenty of water, sit quietly and breathe deeply, and visualize success before her talk.

Two days later I received another email from Carolyn. Here’s what she wrote:

Thank you so much for the last minute tips and for all of the wisdom you imparted. They really helped me. Among other things, I was very conscious of my breath all through Saturday. I stayed away from caffeine and I did drink lots of water. But I do have a story for you.

Fifteen minutes before my presentation, I was sitting on a bench in the sun, feeling my heart and connecting right through my legs and feet to the earth. Unbeknownst to me, my water bottle had tipped and had poured all over my notes AND the back of my skirt. Basically I was sitting in a puddle!

I had to wring my skirt out, walk onto the stage, and stand before the audience with a skirt clinging to the back of my legs and wet underwear! My practice and work on the presentation saved me. But instead of being nicely grounded in my heart, I was definitely more in my head. Apparently no one else noticed! So to add to your book of what not to do (fig leaf, etc.) feel free to add “don’t pour water on your butt”! Geez. Without your help, having the water incident happen would have absolutely immobilized me. Fortunately, I delivered adequately and from some comments, very well. Thanks from the bottom of my heart.

There is a lesson here. Even when you are prepared, confident, centered, and in control, things happen out of the blue. Good speakers take these unwelcome incidents in stride and roll with them, keeping perspective, going back to the long hours of preparation and planning, and moving on as if nothing had happened.

So the next time you’re ready to present and suddenly realize that you’ve just sat in a puddle of water, or that you forgot your slides at your office across town, or that your room set up is not what you expected, or anything else that could possibly happen, relax and rely on your practice, wisdom, and expertise to pull you through.

When you’re prepared and confident, you can thrive in even the most challenging speaking situations.

About the Author:

Angela DeFinis is the founder and president of DeFinis Communications, a presentation skills training company that offers a curriculum of professional public speaking programs and services for Fortune 1,000 companies in all industries. Specializing in Executive Speech Coaching, DeFinis Communications helps business leaders find solutions to their presentation challenges so they can successfully compete in a demanding marketplace. Visit her web site at www.definiscommunications.com

Emergency Surgery: How to Cut (or Stretch) Your Speech at the Last Minute

By Laura Stack

You’ve prepared for weeks to dazzle an audience with your brilliant 45-minute speech at a big conference…and then, 30 minutes before show time, an apologetic organizer approaches you. He explains that because they got a late start and an earlier speaker went on longer than expected (Mortal Speaker Sin), they can only spare you 20 minutes—so you’ll have to cut your speech short. What do you do now?

You can’t just toss your note cards in the air and stomp out. Obviously, you have no choice but to remain professional, smile, and reply pleasantly, “Don’t worry—leave it to me.” And then conduct some emergency speech surgery! On exceptional occasions (though rarely, in my experience), the opposite may occur: An organizer may ask you to stretch your speech further than expected to fill a time gap. Again, not an easy task; you have to fill the time with relevant information, not just fluff.

Since you can’t predict in advance the fate of any given speech, always be prepared to cut or stretch it—especially if you find yourself at or near the end of a session lineup. Here are a few tips to keep in mind for both cases. Let’s start with stretching a talk, since it represents the rarer of the two possibilities.

Stretching Tips

1. Over-prepare. If the organizers have promised you 30 minutes, don’t just do the minimum amount of research and preparation necessary. Prepare to speak as much as 25 percent longer than expected, just in case. Leave the least important points, extra stories and examples, and summing up for the end of the speech. If you don’t need to stretch, you can easily cut from the bottom up without decreasing the impact of your presentation.

2. Add some extras. Have some reserve stats, quotes, anecdotes, and examples on hand, so you can drop them into the flow of your speech as necessary. Make sure they fit the topic and back up your points—don’t use just any old story to stretch your length. If you picked up anything during your pre-speech mingling that seems relevant, use it.

3. Take questions during the speech. Before you begin, state your willingness to answer questions during the speech rather than just afterward. Let the audience do some of your stretching for you!

4. Speak more deliberately. If you absolutely must, slow down your talking speed slightly and spend more time making eye contact with individual audience members. But don’t speak so slowly that you feel awkward, or your listeners might focus on that instead of your message.

Cutting Tips

1. Start cutting right away. As soon as you get the news, accept that you can’t say everything you wanted to. In your head or on note cards (if you have them), start weeding out less important points, graphics, slides (if applicable), examples, and stories. At the very least, keep your opening and closing statements and emphasize your core message.

You might only have time to open, make one really solid point, and close.

2. Don’t panic. Just present your most relevant points in the time allowed. If you get the two-minute warning before you expect to, segue into your closing and wrap it up. Never just stop in the middle of your speech, or that’s what people will remember later—not your takeaway message.

3. Don’t force it. I’ve seen speakers kick it into overdrive and click frantically through their visuals in an attempt to cram the original speech into the time provided. Don’t be tempted to try this even for a second! You may get in too much of a hurry and flub it; and even if you don’t, you still need to speak slowly enough and remain coherent enough for listeners to absorb your message. Always cut rather than cram.

If you’re running your slide show, you can simply type in the number of the slide you want to “jump” to and press enter (you don’t have to click through them). So always print an outline of your slides!

4. Maintain your professionalism. Do your best with what you have. No matter how angry or frustrated you feel, accept the situation gracefully. Don’t become defensive, and never ever complain or make snide comments to the audience about the organizers’ poor planning if you ever want to be asked to speak there again.

5. Ask the audience to hold all questions until the end. If any Q&A was planned, I’d cut it out altogether and invite the audience members to come up front to chat with you afterward, as you don’t want to leave out any important points. You can even provide your social media coordinates or contact information for later follow-up.

The Bottom Line

Whether you end up cutting or stretching your speech, strive to do so without damaging its effectiveness—either by diluting its impact with extras or by trimming it too much. Exercise flexibility and always have a Plan B ready. Use this unexpected situation as an opportunity to show how well-prepared and professional you are. The organizers will be both grateful and impressed, and if you do it right, your audience will never know your talk didn’t go precisely as planned.

About the Author:

Laura Stack is an expert in productivity, and for more than 20 years her speeches have helped entrepreneurs, leaders, teams, and organizations improve output, lower stress, and save time at work and in life. Her company, The Productivity Pro, Inc., provides time management workshops around the globe that help attendees achieve maximum results in minimum time. Reprinted from Training Magazine

How to Create a Short Speech

By Nick Morgan

I tweeted recently that every speaker needs a 3-minute and a 20-minute version of her speech. To that I would add that every speaker needs to know how to give a minute-long response, in answer to a question, for example, or for responding to the media.

So how do you all of these well? What are the pitfalls to avoid? It can be surprisingly hard to say something interesting in a very short time, and to avoid running on at the mouth and saying too much. What’s the happy medium, and how do you think about it?

The minute speech is best handled as follows. Decide what you’re going to say, take a deep breath, and then give the headline. “I don’t think that mice should be allowed in the Vatican.” Then go on to give up to 3 supporting reasons, depending on your thinking and the time allowed. Hygiene, worry about the destruction of precious manuscripts, and the eek factor during prayers. Finally, finish off with a repetition of the headline: “So that’s why I think that mice should be banned from the Vatican.”

When you’ve got more than 3 but less than 7 minutes, think in terms of problem-solution. If you have a great story to begin the problem section, then do so, but don’t allow it to take over the problem section entirely. You need to spend half of your allotted time discussing the problem in as much detail as you can (which is not much):

Heretical mice are running amok throughout the Vatican. This deplorable plague has led to illness, destruction of some of the Vatican’s most precious artifacts, and the discomfort of many visitors and residents….About half way through your total time, switch to the solution and buttress that with as much logic and passion as you can muster. I recommend beginning with an excommunication, followed by mice traps, poison, and the playing of Barry Manilow recordings in the basement….

That’s really all there is to it. Keep it simple. If you want to conclude by describing the benefits of your solution, then go ahead, in a sentence or two.

Repetition and simplicity will help you keep your remarks organized and under control, and will help your listeners follow you.

The same advice holds for the 20-minute version. You basically have to remove half of the detail that makes for a solid hour-long speech. And watch your stories, because they will loom much larger in a 20-minute précis of your speech than in the full version. You’ll need to shorten those too, without cutting the essential detail that enables your audience to make sense of the story.

A good way to prepare a 20-minute speech is to create the logical ‘spine’ of your full speech – the step-by-step logic of the speech that explains the thought structure, shorn of the detail. It should take the form of a series of declarative sentences. Then, once you’ve worked out the logic, add back in just enough detail to fill the allotted time.

You’ll want to have these versions of your presentation on hand, ready to go, for times when your full speech is too long. If you’re a professional speaker, it’s part of the pro’s arsenal to be ready to give the shorter versions in order to be ready for any occasion.

About the Author:

Dr. Nick Morgan is one of America’s top communication theorists and coaches. In his blog he covers modern communications from a variety of angles, including the latest developments in communication research, the basic principles and rules of good communication, and the good and bad speakers of the day. His passion is to connect the latest brain research with timeless insights into persuasive speaking in order to further our understanding of how people connect with one another. For more information on his company, visit www.publicwords.com