DELIVERING AWARD WINNING SPEECHES: WHY THE COLD FEET?

I'm sure we have all had jitters at one period or the other while preparing for a public speaking engagement. Several arrows fly in our minds as opposed to the thoughts of our audience. The prime purpose of your audience showing up is to hear you speak, so why fret? However, every public speaker experiences nervousness at one time or the other - You are not alone in this!

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The saying goes, If you fail to plan, then you are planning to fail

Thus, it is important to have it in mind that planning for your presentation is of utmost importance.

Planning a presentation is in crafting and recrafting - in iteration and rehearsal - that excellence emerges.

Excellence requires a process of diligence and consistency which is paramount to your presentation. Excellence emerges from reiteration and rehearsal. They say practice makes perfect, good speakers do not just emerge, it requires constant practice. Grasping every opportunity to contribute meaningfully in conversations to improve your organization (of thoughts skills) as well as confidence skills. As you get continually involved in speaking, you achieve the level of quality that is required.

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Planning a presentation is like writing a love letter - you have the audience in mind. It is important you know your audience before hand such as their age brackets to understand how to prepare.

KEY STEPS BEFORE A PRESENTATION

Understand the power of your audience.

Your audience determines if to accept or to reject your view. Recognise the power of your audience. Ensure your presentation appeals to your audience. Check out the value you want to add to them . See the audience as the hero of your presentation, thus, you should give the hero (your audience) a special gift - add value to them, introduce something they do not know about. Add knowledge for their time. Provide insight about what they have no idea about before. Let them have a change of mind about an idea through your presentation.

Get to know your audience

Connect with the audience, look for what resonates with them. Ask yourself three questions:

• Why are they here?
• What are your expectations?
• What do you want them to do?

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Analyse your audience by Segments

There are different ways of segmenting the audience including:

• Politics
• Demographics
• Personality of people in the audience
• Atitude
• Interests

Find a Common Ground

If you tap into the group's resonant frequency, you can move the people to listening to you. Make the see from your point of view why they need to listen to you and to take actions accordingly. Figure out where you can have a common ground. For example:

• Share some of your experience they can relate to
• Identify common goals
• Use their qualifications.

HOW DO I CHANGE THE AUDIENCE

Think through who they are before they enter the room and who you want them to be when they leave, you will define their transformation by that.

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HINTS TO DEVELOPING STAGE PRESENCE

This is simple, avoid moving too much on the stage and make eye contacts with your audience, this will simply go a long way

Presentation is about substance, not speaking style or multimedia guru. The most memorable presentations are those you make your own!

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