Try these 8 power points
for presenting more confidently

by Darlene Price and John Messerschmitt

No matter where you are on the corporate ladder, confident presentation skills get you noticed, remembered and promoted. By developing good, solid speaking skills, you increase your value to your company. You also increase your career options and improve your professional and personal life.

Not sure how to get started on these lofty goals? Begin by practicing these eight tips to help you present yourself more confidently.

1. Seize the opportunity
A key building block for developing confidence as a speaker is to speak, and speak often. Seize every opportunity you can, personally and professionally, to speak in public. If someone invites you to "stand up and say a few words," or a co-worker asks you to make a presentation, jump at the chance. In fact, don't wait to be asked -- volunteer!

2. Use the 'as if' principle
If you want to be a persuasive presenter, start acting "as if" you are. Dress, speak and behave as a confident speaker would. Assert your knowledge and expertise by speaking up in meetings, contributing articles to company or trade publications, and positioning yourself as the presenter on a particular subject. When you think and act as though something is true, you help make it happen.

3. Realize you are the expert
If someone asks you to speak or give a presentation, there's a reason -- namely, that people perceive you as an authority on a subject and they want to hear what you have to say. That should give you some self-assurance. Trust yourself as a presenter, and you'll project confidence.

4. Meet your audience before you present
A good way to build your confidence (and instill a great first impression) is to arrive early and, as guests enter the room, introduce yourself, shake hands, smile and look them in the eyes. You will be surprised how this exercise rids you of nervousness. It also sets the tone for a relaxed, natural delivery, making your presentation seem more like an extended conversation among friendly people.

5. Visualize your success
Before any presentation, mentally walk your body and emotions through your talk. See yourself speaking with confidence and poise; hear yourself speaking with eloquence; feel your energy as you stand before an enthusiastic audience. Your body will respond to the pictures you hold in your mind. Then, when it is time to perform the real presentation, your thoughts and emotions are in control -- you know you've been there before.

6. Make anxiety your ally
Many of us get a pounding heart, buckling knees, sweaty palms, a dry mouth and "butterflies" as pre-speech symptoms. These are nature's way of preparing you for action. The key to conquering anxiety is not to abolish it, but to learn to use it effectively. Those jittery feelings are the very tools you need to make a dynamic presentation -- they increase your energy, heighten your awareness and sharpen your intellect. Rather than squandering this energy in fear, use your natural physiological reactions to think faster and to talk more fluently and with greater intensity.

7. Rehearse, rehearse and rehearse some more
As the 19th-century essayist William Hazlitt wrote, "We never do anything well till we cease to think about the manner of doing it." Rehearsal familiarizes your mind and body with the mechanics of presenting. Practice frees you to focus on the message, not the manner of delivering it. This way, during the real event, you are less self-conscious and more audience-conscious. So be sure to rehearse your presentation out loud -- even in front of a "dress-rehearsal" audience if you can. That way, you can actually hear what works and what doesn't.

8. Realize that your audience wants you to succeed
Listeners respond to you based on their own self-interests, which means that instead of critiquing your speaking abilities, they're concentrating on your message and how it can benefit them. So it helps to remember that you and your audience are on the same team, advancing together toward a solution. When you give a winning presentation, they win, too.

Darlene Price and John Messerschmitt are co-founders of Well Said Inc., an Atlanta firm specializing in live business presentations. They have been professional speakers and presenters for more than 50 Fortune 500 companies. Their in-house corporate training workshop, "Presenting Success," focuses on presentation skills. Contact them at 770.804.9722, www.wellsaid.com.

Originally published in the August 1999 issue of Presentations magazine. If you would like a copy of this issue contact the Circulation Department at 800.707.7749 or circwork@lakewoodpub.com.