As a busy agent, there may come a time when you are asked to do a public speaking presentation for an audience larger than you are used to addressing. Here are a few simple tips to ease on-stage jitters and make your talk run smoothly.
- Make it visual: a great tool to get your message across, and also take some of the pressure off of you as a speaker is the Power Point Presentation. By integrating some useful graphics and writing up some pages of key points that you can go through with your audience, you will have an excellent co-pilot to calm your presentation anxiety. However, make sure that you are still focused on making your own connection with your audience—without the human touch, your message might get lost along the way.
- Fake it ‘til you make it: One of the best pieces of advice for public speaking is to make sure that you keep your nervousness to yourself as much as possible. Take a quick walk before your presentation to burn off excess energy, keep some water on hand to combat a dry mouth, and try and connect with some audience members before you go on to ease your comfort level over speaking to a large group of strangers. When you go on, be sure to stand up straight, smile, and project an air of confidence—soon you will have your audience engaged, and once they are on your side they will be your greatest motivation to deliver a winning speech.
- Make them care: The key to a successful presentation for both you and your audience is to project a level of passion for your chosen topic. In order to engage a crowd, you have to show that you care about, and are interested in what you are speaking of, and that it is important enough to spend time addressing. Show enthusiasm, use real world examples that will resonate with your intended audience, and move things along at a steady pace. Talk to your audience as though they are individuals instead of just part of a crowd, and emphasize the main points that you want them to come away with at the end of the talk.
