5 Tips to Present Like a Pro

Louise Stevenson is the CEO of Speakeasy Coaching and Brighton Comedy Course. 

This is coaching with personality. Louise started a career in stand-up comedy in 1999 and has worked alongside Jimmy Carr, Alan Carr, Rich Hall and Russell Brand. Louise uses techniques from the world of comedy to help others create engaging content and deliver it with confidence and style. 

Speakeasy Coaching provides practical tools to transform the quality of your communications so that you no longer approach public speaking with dread and anxiety. With expert advice and encouragement, your confidence will increase so that you’re calm and ready to deliver a talk, pitch or presentation that makes an impact and gets results.

If you want to be an Authentic and Powerful speaker, here are 5 Top Public Speaking Tips.

1.Know your material. Pick a topic you are interested in. Know more about it than you include in your speech. Use humour, personal stories and conversational language – that way you won’t easily forget what you’re saying. Audiences want a conversational style from their speakers. The trick is to make it feel like a conversation.

2. Practice. Practice. Practice! Rehearse out loud. The more you do, the more you’ll remember your talk as well as gain a natural rhythm to your delivery. It’ll also become clear which parts you should put emphasis on. Edit and revise as necessary. 

3. Be organised. Know your content and arrive at the venue early. Greet some audience members as they arrive. Listen and observe the audience, compere and other speakers. This will give you an extra edge in that you won’t repeat content and you can add, comment or avoid (if necessary) earlier topics.

4. Relax. Take a deep breath as you approach the mike. This works in two ways; it’ll make you more relaxed and it will make your tone of voice much more natural. When you reach the mike, take a minute to smile get yourself set up and centred. This buys you time and calms your nerves. It also signals to your audience that you’re confident and calm. 

5. Don’t apologise for any nervousness or problems – the audience probably never noticed it. Don’t undermine yourself by saying I’m just, or I’m not very good at, or I’m not prepared. Have faith in yourself and deliver your message with enthusiasm and confidence.

I hope these tips have been valuable.

If you dread Public Speaking and want to be better at it, then explore our website https://www.speakeasycoach.co.uk/ for 121 or group coaching and see what coaching best suits you. Or to discuss email Louise@speakeasycoach.co.uk

Speakeasy, Coaching for Powerful, Authentic Speakers.