{"id":3615,"date":"2019-01-30T10:01:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-30T10:01:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/?p=3615"},"modified":"2023-12-31T01:55:57","modified_gmt":"2023-12-31T01:55:57","slug":"7-steps-to-confident-business-presentations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/7-steps-to-confident-business-presentations\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Steps to Confident Business Presentations\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Unless you\u2019re an experienced and charismatic person, it\u2019s very difficult to show confidence at a business presentation. It could cause your audience\u2019s attention to wander and getting your point across could be challenging. People often don\u2019t take classes on public speaking so it\u2019s something that generally has to be learned as you go. So to help you out, we\u2019ve put together seven tips that will help you be more confident during your business presentations.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Give your presentation a narrative<\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>If your audience\u00a0won\u2019t understand your products very well then it\u2019s important to give your presentation a narrative. This means structuring it much like a story with a beginning and end. This will help hook the attention of your audience and could also make it easier for\u00a0you to give your presentation, but it\u2019s important to plan this ahead of time.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"lyte-wrapper\" title=\"How to Start a Speech\" style=\"width:640px;max-width:100%;margin:5px auto;\"><div class=\"lyMe\" id=\"WYL_w82a1FT5o88\" itemprop=\"video\" itemscope itemtype=\"https:\/\/schema.org\/VideoObject\"><div><meta itemprop=\"thumbnailUrl\" content=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fw82a1FT5o88%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" \/><meta itemprop=\"embedURL\" content=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/w82a1FT5o88\" \/><meta itemprop=\"duration\" content=\"PT8M47S\" \/><meta itemprop=\"uploadDate\" content=\"2012-03-12T04:02:38Z\" \/><\/div><meta itemprop=\"accessibilityFeature\" content=\"captions\" \/><div id=\"lyte_w82a1FT5o88\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fw82a1FT5o88%2Fhqdefault.jpg\" class=\"pL\"><div class=\"tC\"><div class=\"tT\" itemprop=\"name\">How to Start a Speech<\/div><\/div><div class=\"play\"><\/div><div class=\"ctrl\"><div class=\"Lctrl\"><\/div><div class=\"Rctrl\"><\/div><\/div><\/div><noscript><a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/w82a1FT5o88\" rel=\"nofollow\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-youtube-lyte\/lyteCache.php?origThumbUrl=https%3A%2F%2Fi.ytimg.com%2Fvi%2Fw82a1FT5o88%2F0.jpg\" alt=\"How to Start a Speech\" width=\"640\" height=\"340\" \/><br \/>Watch this video on YouTube<\/a><\/noscript><meta itemprop=\"description\" content=\"Conor&#039;s Latest Online Program: Leading Oneself and Others https:\/\/www.udemy.com\/course\/leading-yourself-and-others\/?referralCode=10BFF3989625D970CA0D Develop a Strategy to live a Meaningful Business and Professional Life I am Conor Neill. I teach. I share tips. I ask questions. I&#039;m a member of EO, President of Vistage in Spain and teach at IESE Business School. Shout out if you&#039;ve been there or done that ;-) on https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/rhetorical on https:\/\/twitter.com\/conorneill on https:\/\/es.linkedin.com\/in\/conor I&#039;d love you to subscribe. My best ideas for videos come from your questions. What is your struggle? Subscribe for my new educational videos: http:\/\/bit.ly\/utube-rhetorical Watch this video and more in the &quot;Develop Your Speaking Skills&quot; Playlist: http:\/\/bit.ly\/speakcourse I have been teaching Persuasive Communications on MBA courses at IESE Business School for 10 years. This is part of a collection of short lessons compiled from my courses and shared for use both as a support to my classes, and a way of sharing this valuable knowledge to a wider audience via these awesome digital tools ;-) Visit my channel for more videos: http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/rhetoricaljourney?feature=mhee Subscribe to receive new videos in your feed: http:\/\/bit.ly\/utube-rhetorical http:\/\/www.conorneill.com What are the first words of a speech? What should be the first sentence of a speech? How can you engage an audience from the first moment? There are 3 ways to start a speech.\"><\/div><\/div><div class=\"lL\" style=\"max-width:100%;width:640px;margin:5px auto;\"><br\/><span class=\"lyte_disclaimer\">[If you interact with the embedded video above and your browser is set to allow cookies, you agree for this 3rd party service to create and store local 3rd party cookies on your device.]<\/span><\/div><\/p>\n<p><b>Understand your audience<\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s important to learn about your audience beforehand so that you can plan it accordingly. For instance, if you\u2019re giving a presentation to industry professionals, then you can afford to use technical jargon. However, if you\u2019re addressing consumers, then it\u2019s best to structure your presentation to be easy to understand.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Don\u2019t try to hide your nerves<\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The more you try to hide your nerves the more they will show. A great way to hide them is to use it as excitement instead of just being nervous. Rather than trying to calm yourself, use your nerves to get yourself excited for your performance so that you\u2019re more persuasive when you address your audience.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>C<\/b><b>reate images to use during your presentation<\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_3641\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-3641\" style=\"width: 285px\" class=\"wp-caption alignright\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-3641\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Pres-Skills-Visuals-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"Example of data and visuals for presentation slides\" width=\"285\" height=\"190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Pres-Skills-Visuals-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Pres-Skills-Visuals-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/Pres-Skills-Visuals-1024x684.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 285px) 100vw, 285px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-3641\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Use exciting visuals to engage the audience<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Any presentation should have slides to accompany it and it\u2019s important to design these as early as possible so that you can refine them to fit the purposes they serve. If you need to use sets of data, then they\u00a0should be clear and easy to understand such as\u00a0coloured\u00a0charts, graphs and other visual representations of data.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Rehearse your presentation<\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Every presentation should be rehearsed before you go up on the main stage. Don\u2019t just write it up and read it back to yourself at home; raise your voice and pretend that you have an audience in front of you and speak to them as if they were physically there.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0 Another alternative is to sign up to a professional course and learn how to deliver captivating presentations &#8211; we have a number of <a href=\"\/presentation-skills-london.php\">presentation training London<\/a> courses available.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Remember your drink of water<\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Getting a dry mouth during a long presentation is not fun, so make sure you bring up a glass or bottle of water and sip at it throughout the presentation when the opportunity presents itself. For example, if you\u2019re showing a video clip then you may have a few seconds to take a drink of water to keep your mouth from drying up.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Realis<\/b><b>e\u00a0that the audience is rooting for you<\/b><span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>People often don\u2019t\u00a0realise\u00a0that as soon as you get up on the stage, the audience is actually rooting for you. They\u2019re here because they want to know what you have to offer them. They want you to succeed and wow them\u00a0with your presentation and they\u2019re listening to you because you\u2019re the expert.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Below, we\u2019ve included an informative presentation where you can study some advanced presentation skills.<span data-ccp-props=\"{&quot;201341983&quot;:0,&quot;335559740&quot;:276}\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<figure style=\"width: 150px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/asset\/image\/sharing\/thumb\/advanced-presentation-skills-for-sales-professionals.png\" alt=\"Infographic with helpful advice on presentation skills\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Further tips for great presentations<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Unless you\u2019re an experienced and charismatic person, it\u2019s very difficult to show confidence at a business presentation. It could cause your audience\u2019s attention to wander and getting your point across could be challenging. People often don\u2019t take classes on public speaking so it\u2019s something that generally has to be learned as you go. So to [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[638,633,636],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3615","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-professional-management","category-professional-development","category-soft-skills"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3615"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3685,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3615\/revisions\/3685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.stl-training.co.uk\/b\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}