91 Practicing Your Presentation (7.2.3)

Practice Makes Professional

Earlier in this chapter, in the section called “Slideshow Design and Use,” you read the phrase “death by PowerPoint.” Another type of “death” you may have experienced while watching a presentation is death by lack of practice. This could come in the form of someone saying “umm” or “like” after every other word, rushing through their slides, going over the expected time limit, or several other issues that make audience members uncomfortable. Far too often, people think they can skip practicing, and far too often, audiences are subjected to cringeworthy presentations.

The best way to avoid the problems above is to practice the right way and practice enough. The following tips outline five ways to prepare thoroughly and effectively.

Practice Your Presentation Out Loud

Practice allows you to learn what to say, when and how to say it, and where potential problems may arise. Since you’ll be speaking at a normal volume during your presentation, you need to practice that way, even at home. This not only helps with memorization but also highlights any words you tend to mispronounce. Additionally, sentences that look good on paper may not sound right when spoken. Practicing aloud helps you hear what works and make changes before you’re in front of an audience.

Practice Your Presentation Standing Up

Since you will likely be standing for your presentation, practice that way. The default position for delivering a presentation is with your feet shoulder-width apart and knees slightly bent. Practicing in this position helps build muscle memory, making presenting more natural.

Practice Your Presentation with an Audience

The best way to prepare for being watched is to practice with an audience. Ask colleagues, friends, family, or a classmate to listen as you rehearse your material. Not only will this give you valuable feedback, but it will also help you become more comfortable being observed. During practice, it may also help to pick out objects in the room to glance at periodically—this can help build the habit of making eye contact with multiple people during your presentation.

Practice Your Presentation for Time

You’ll likely have a time limit for the presentation. As a rule of thumb, plan to leave a 60-second buffer at the end if something goes wrong. For example, if your presentation is set for 10 minutes, aim for about 9 minutes. If you rush or end early, have some extra detail ready that you can add. Practicing at least three full run-throughs at home will help you stay on time.

Practice Your Presentation by Filming Yourself

There’s nothing quite like seeing yourself on video to make you aware of distracting habits or areas for improvement. Watching yourself allows you to notice small things, like fidgeting, speaking too fast, or weak posture, that could interfere with your message.

Attribution

This section contains material from Chapter 11.4 “Practicing Your Delivery” in Introduction to Professional Communication and is used under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

References

References are at the end of this chapter.