Leadership Roundtable: How to Quickly Improve Speaking and Presentation Skills

If your recent promotion requires a lot of presenting and public speaking, do you feel you’re  ready? Speaking in front of others can be nerve-wracking, especially if you don’t have a lot of practice. Fortunately, there are several tricks you can use to get up to speed in time to make that big presentation. We asked some experienced public speakers for their tips on how to improve your speaking and presentation skills quickly.Gloria West is project manager at Success Labs.If you’ve been promoted to a new level, watch people at that level make presentations as much as you can. See what their slides look like, how they engage people, whether people are interested. See what the expectation is at that level.Don’t hesitate to talk to your manager about how best to present to others: What’s the typical length of a presentation? Should I bring handouts? What’s the goal and expected outcome? Who will be in the audience? Look for opportunities to practice with your former peer group, if possible, and ask them for input.Many people hate giving a presentation to a group of any size. There’s a surprising number of people who otherwise are sharp, smart, put-together and mature who dislike getting in front of a room. I did a workshop once with professionals who worked for a large global company at high levels, and we did a short exercise on a 60-second presentation. Out of the 15 people in the room, only one said she didn’t mind speaking in front of the others. These are high achievers who aren’t shy and had no qualms about speaking up in class — but once they were put in the front of the room, they hated it.It would be as ridiculous for me to say “don’t be scared,” as it would be ridiculous to tell someone who’s not scared to be scared. But just because you hate it doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Acknowledge that it’s scary, and then move through it. Most people in the audience aren’t thinking solely about you; they have other stuff on their mind, so dial back that expectation. Stay interesting and stay within the time frame, and that’s a win.Jennifer Magas is vice president of Magas Media Consultants and an English professor at Fairfield University who has been teaching professional writing courses such as Business Writing and Professional Presentations for more than 18 years. She’s also an employment law attorney.Regardless of who you are and what type of job you currently have or plan to have, there's a good chance that one day you will be required to make a speech in public. It may be a presentation for your colleagues. It may be a toast at your best friend's wedding. It may be a statement at a community meeting. Whatever the purpose, you need to be prepared for that day.Join a business networking group where you have to present your elevator speech of who you are and what you do to potential clients, customers or even colleagues. Another way to build your skills is to take a free online speaking course or look into public speaking courses at your local college or community college.Prepare by knowing all your material and your audience. Analyze your audience's demographics, level of expertise, personality traits and biases.   But most importantly, give, rather than take. Give value to your audience. Base your speech on two or three main points. Your audience will not remember every little detail you tell them. They'll be satisfied if they leave with something they can use, and that is what public speaking is all about.Al Smith is president and managing partner at Transition Sherpa.Seek a mentor, such as a manager who’s been around awhile, someone who has a speaking ability and can give you coaching and critiquing. Another option is to join a group such as Toastmasters International; they can provide so much good feedback on any quirks you might have when you speak. Even natural speakers have these quirks. I was born in New Orleans and still listen to the Saints, and one of the announcers always says “I mean” before he makes an observation — I actually counted 50 in one half of play. Toastmasters can point these out and then you can work on them.Practice, practice, practice, practice and then practice. You need to know your material cold. No matter how many times I’ve presented a workshop or speech, I always prepare it first. I review the material every time. If you don’t have visual material, you need an outline in nice big print to keep you on topic. Avoid 3 by 5 cards — you can drop them, and then there they go and they’re everywhere on the floor and you break into a cold sweat.Looking for ways to improve your presentation skills or other leadership skills? Contact us to learn about our leadership development and coaching offerings.Success Labs is a leadership development and management consulting firm in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. For more than 25 years, our expert team of consultants has worked with hundreds of companies to explore their business potential and improve their company and cultural performance. Contact us to get proactive about your people strategy.