- Do your homework
On your topic, audience and venue (research and rehearse)
- Use pauses
They help you and your audience
- Be properly introduced
Thank your hosts for inviting you and your audience for attending
- Use humour
It establishes rapport with your audience
- Arrive in good time and relax
Start as you mean to carry on
- Be confident
You've been invited, your audience is on 'your side'
- Take a deep breath before you start
Helps you and your audience get settled
- Viable visual aids
Make them easy to read, keep to a maximum of seven headings per chart
- 'Signpost' your talk
Purpose, structure and content - and keep your allotted time
- Be prepared
For questions and the unexpected!
- Maintain eye contact
Helps you check audience reaction and 'keep the bond'
- Finish with a punch
Leave them in no doubt as to your parting message/s
And to round it off..
Am average speaker delivers about one and a half words per second, allowing for pauses and emphasis. A talk of six minutes means no more than 550 words. So, if your first draft is 1000 words, start cutting!
The best of us may sometimes have to eat our words (J K Rowling)
