Prepare for Your Presentation Like a Tango Dancer

Presenting is like dancing tango: prepare so you’ll be asked to perform again!

Whether leading or following, the dancer should not depend on the partner for balance. The same is true for presenters. We should not depend on our audience to motivate us, spark our enthusiasm and keep us energized.

How does an Argentine tango dancer prepare? Well, surprisingly, after going through the basic steps, many famous dancers have told me that the most important exercise is to practice without a partner!  In other words, the dancer needs to be able to do the moves by him or herself without relying on another person. Read the rest of this entry »

My colleague and I recently prepared a forty minute presentation to become selected as one of the vendors of choice for a large Fortune 100 company.  How much did the two of us prepare? Read the rest of this entry »

I interviewed Daena on how she looks at nervousness. Daena Giardella is an actor, director, coach and consultant. She has been called one of the “trailblazers” of training and one-woman improvisational theater performances.   http://www.daenagiardella.com/pages/teachingcalf.html

What do you tell clients who say, “I am so nervous. I can’t do this talk”?

Your nervousness can be your best friend. Nervousness is energy that may contain a message from your innermost self. Your job is to understand what it’s trying to tell you. And then you can harness and transform it into passion and smart choices. Read the rest of this entry »

Wendy Capland is the founder and CEO of Vision Quest Consulting which provides the ultimate in programs for executive leadership development for top executives and their management teams. She is also the founder of The Magic Parties, a community of women who gather to birth themselves in new ways. http://magicparties.blogspot.com/

How do you calm yourself before a presentation?
I am not nervous anymore. After all, I’ve been doing this for 25 years. I do certain practices before I talk. I take deep breaths and ground myself. If I can, I close my eyes and do a spiritual practice of settling into my body, running energy from my feet to the heavens and then from the heavens through my feet.  I then focus on being with my audience and deep into myself at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »

“I want to engage the audience.”

Jim came to a workshop and said he wanted to be able to connect to the audience and have them make comments and ask questions. Then he gave his work presentation.

He talked very fast, never pausing between sentences. He was hard to understand as he did not say the end of many words. If someone in the class wanted to ask a question, the person would have had to interrupt Jim.

What’s wrong with this scenario? Read the rest of this entry »

Plan Your Opening & Closing

Charlie Rose is Senior Vice President and Dean at City Year. Charlie has helped build the organization into a national model for youth community service organizations. He speaks several times each month to City Year’s Core Members as well as to community organizations around the United States.
1.  What are the ways you prepare yourself before speaking?
First I think very carefully about my audience and what I want to accomplish. Then once I have decided my purpose, I plan certain events I do every time I talk. I always do my stand-up/sit-down exercise. I ask the audience questions like stand up if you are an only child. Stand up if your name is consistently mispronounced. Read the rest of this entry »

You seem to lose your place when talking and do not know why. You look at your slides and your mind goes blank. You are considering putting many more words on the slides to remind you what you need to cover.

More words on the slide: a smart or not so smart decision? Read the rest of this entry »

Suzanne Enright, president of Kensu Leadership Group, Inc. tells how she channels her nervousness. Her consulting company designs and delivers programs to accelerate the development of global leaders, with a focus on high-potential leaders and their teams in Asia and the U.S.

Suzanne, what are your two best ways to prepare yourself before speaking?

Number 1: I mentally practice. Read the rest of this entry »

Talk fast to fit it all in, or condense and speak calm and connected?

Kuan walked into the room ready to present when the organizer told him, “Sorry, we can only give you 15 minutes and not 30 for your presentation.” What does Kuan do? Does he talk fast to cover everything he planned? Or does he cut back his information and only present what is essential? Read the rest of this entry »

How do people like Scott Wahle handle their nervousness?  Scott has an extensive performance background. He was a Sports Anchor and Reporter at WBZ. He sang at the Boston Pops and has been in movies and live theater. If anyone knows about being “onstage” it is Scott. Here are Scott’s answers to my questions:

What are your two best ways to prepare yourself before speaking?

Number 1: Take ownership of the copy whether you wrote it or not.
If you look like you are reading it, you are telegraphing that you need to read it which means that maybe you don’t understand it without reading it. If you have internalized it, it is clear it is coming from your heart. Read the rest of this entry »