By Lori Milner: author, entrepreneur, thought leader and founder of Beyond the Dress
There is no question that your ability to communicate confidently and authoritatively is critical to your career success. Presentations are amongst your most important opportunities to make an impression, to stand out and enhance your personal brand. It’s not simply another boring meeting. Get over thinking of presentations as burdens. Just by thinking about them differently, you can shift your level of confidence, and that, as you know, is the first step to improving the overall way you are perceived.
Here are some tips from ‘Own Your Space’ to make your presentations more effective:
The first step is to change your attitude towards a situation where you are in the spotlight to present. It could be as small as a team status meeting to addressing a larger audience. Meetings and presentations are golden opportunities to show your strengths in a public forum. Take full advantage of them. Just by thinking about them differently, you can shift your level of confidence.
Before going into a presentation, you need to decide how you want your audience to perceive you. Plan how you are going to dress, how you are going to enter the room and hold yourself.
Rehearsals with your slides are important, so that you can practice how you’re going to talk about each slide, as well as the transition from one slide to the next. Being well rehearsed and well prepared gives you a huge confidence boost when it comes to delivering your talk.
Make it about the other person – whether you are having a one on one conversation or addressing a group of people – focus on the other person. As Anele Mdoda says: ‘Be as interested as you interesting’. Ask yourself how can I delight the other person, how can I add value? By shifting your thinking to the other person, you remove the barrier of wanting to be perfect.
Use your body and your space to your advantage. Start by standing tall. Take a deep breath and move your ribcage up – it works wonders for your posture. Be aware of your stance - stand with your hips parallel to your feet. This is called ‘being rooted’ and gives the impression of a grounded, confident individual.
Remember – you are the subject matter expert or the thought leader for that specific moment in time. The audience or attendees will draw their knowledge from you on the day. Only you know if you leave something out in your presentation.
Here’s to owning your podium,
Warm wishes
Lori
LORI MILNER is the engaging facilitator, thought leader and mentor known for her insightful approach to being a modern corporate woman. Her brainchild, the successful initiative Beyond the Dress, is the embodiment of her passion to empower women. Beyond the Dress has worked with South Africa’s leading corporates and empowered hundreds of women with valuable insight on how to bridge the gap between work and personal life. Clients include Siemens, Massmart, Alexander Forbes, Life Healthcare Group, RMB Private Bank and Unilever to name a few. Lori has co-authored Own Your Space: The Toolkit for the Working Woman in conjunction with Nadia Bilchik, CNN Editorial Producer. Own Your Space provides practical tools and insights gleaned from workshops held around the world and from interviews with some of South Africa’s most accomplished women to provide you with tried-and-tested techniques, tips and advice to help you boost your career, enhance your confidence and truly own your space on every level. Own Your Space is the ultimate ‘toolkit’ to unleash your true power. It’s for the woman who wants to take her career to new heights and who is ready to fulfil her true potential.
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