If your message is important, your presentation has to be memorable. It’s as simple and challenging as that. Effective public speaking means that your ideas should stand out, so that you’ll stand out. Here are five suggestions to make your speech or presentation more interesting, engaging, and successful.
- Energy and emphasis
- Pitch inflection
- Rhythm and pacing
- Pauses and silence
- Vocal quality
5 Techniques for Giving Memorable Presentations
- Think about how your topic has been dealt with in the past. How did previous speakers handle the subject? What advantage or disadvantage did those approaches have?
- Temporarily suspend your expertise in your topic in your own mind. Imagine that you’re brand new to this subject, looking at everything from a beginner's point of view. Issues, problems, or challenges which were too familiar for you to see clearly before may come sharply into focus. Is it easier to make your points clear to your audience now?
- Create something interactive for your talk or speech. It might be a group activity, or something as simple as audience members asking a question of the person next to them. To many of your listeners, this will be a new and refreshing concept.
- Shake up your audience! Let them know that they can’t be passive observers hiding in the back of the room. Ask questions and expect actual answers.
- Consider every obstacle that comes between you and your audience: technological, physical, intellectual, or emotional. Typical culprits include podiums, seating arrangements, and failure to establish common ground with your audience. Whatever it is, find a way around it or through it to reach your listeners.
At Public Speaking International, we use theater-based techniques to make your speeches and presentations memorable. Call or email us today. Let us tell you how we can help you speak for success. We look forward to hearing from you soon.
More Public Speaking Tips:
Public Speaking – Your Most Important Communication Tool
Using Your Voice
Handling Nervousness
Mastering Nonverbal Communication
Persuading an Audience