Will you be one of the millions who will watch the Queen’s 2015 Christmas Speech at 3pm?

The broadcast has been made every year throughout her reign since 1952 except one. No Christmas broadcast took place in 1969. This year marks the Queen’s 58th Christmas broadcast and last year 7.8 million Britons tuned into catch the address. Christmas is one of the rare occasions when the Queen does not speak on Government advice but instead gives her own views on events and developments that are of concern both to Her Majesty and her public, in the UK and elsewhere in the Commonwealth.

Whilst the Queen speaks for just 10 minutes, it got me thinking about public speaking and making presentations in general and the considerations that we all need to consider, royal or otherwise.

Increasingly, we are called upon at work to make presentations to groups, both large and small. Our performance is very often judged by how both professionally we handle these occasions and how well we get our point across to others.

90% of our message comes not from the words we use but from the way in which we say them and our body language as we say them – a key point for all presenters to remember!

This being the case, here are 5 Top Tips to sharpen up your presentation delivery skills:-

1.Your voice

38% of your message comes from how you say your words.

There’s nothing more tedious than listening to a presentation delivered in a monotonous tone of voice.

A voice that moves up and down the piano scale is far more interesting.

Try to vary the pitch, pace and power of your voice to add variety and emphasis.

Above all, speak clearly and speak UP!

Placing different emphasis on words and the tone of your voice can make a significant difference to the meaning of words you use. For example, “I never said Helen was the greatest presenter.”

By placing a different emphasis on a different word of the sentence above can lead us to eight possible interpretations – of the same words!

Expression

You should show how enthusiastic you are by injecting expression into what you are saying.

If YOU are not enthusiastic about your subject, then you can hardly expect your audience to be!

2.Your words

7% of your message comes from the actual words you use.

The exact words you choose to use will be largely determined by the needs of your audience. Use jargon only in its rightful place.

Take care to be very specific in your choice of words as different people can understand the same word in many different ways. For example, the word ‘frequently’ can mean anything from 40% of the time to 80% depending on who you ask! Whenever possible, quantify exactly what you mean to reduce misunderstandings and assumptions.

Always check with the spelling in any visual aids that you have prepared.

A visual headed ‘Strategy – the Next 5 Years’ is NOT the best start to your presentation!

3.Facial Expression

Your face is the most expressive part of your body for revealing attitudes and feelings. Audiences tend to focus on a speaker’s face as they listen. They use what they perceive to make judgements about the speaker.

For example, do you look sincere, cynical or friendly? Even though you may feel nervous, aim to look approachable…and remember, SMILE!

4.Pauses

Don’t be afraid of pausing. You don’t have to rush through it like an express train!

Give the audience time to take in and digest what you are saying. Always take a brief pause (maybe a quick sip of water) after the key points in your presentation for added reinforcement.

5.Positive attitude

A positive attitude is essential to your success. Look and sound enthusiastic about your subject – and it will rub off on to your audience. Enthusiasm is highly contagious, however so is a lack of it! 

DO use confident, upbeat language: will, can, challenge, achieve, opportunities, payoffs, results.

DON’T use weak or negative words such as: might, maybe, hopefully, problems, issues.

Always avoid excessive jargon, clichés, abbreviations and excessive ‘ums’, ‘ahs’ and ‘ok’s’.

If you want your presentation to be memorable – for the right reasons – then quite simply, you must deliver it in a memorable way. That means paying attention to your voice, your non-verbal signals and your visual aids.

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