PowerPoint

PowerPoint can help you overcome your fear of Public Speaking…

- Joel Heffner

One way, probably the easiest way, to overcome your fear of public speaking is to use PowerPoint.

Important Note: First you must really know how to use PowerPoint and be comfortable with it.
 

A key element that causes fear of public speaking is that the speaker is afraid of forgetting to say something. If you use notes, you may not want to look down or forget your place. If you read your speech, the audience will probably not pay attention carefully. Here’s where PowerPoint comes in.
You can use PowerPoint to remind you of what to say. I don’t mean reading off your slides! Your images or keywords on the screen should be enough to remind you of what you wanted to say. As you go from slide to slide all you have to do is glance up at the screen and be reminded of what you need to say.

Using PowerPoint is simple and can be very effective.

Remember

  1. You must be comfortable using PowerPoint.
  2. You don’t want to read from the screen.
  3. You should practice your speech enough to know what you want to say…without memorizing it. 
  4. Let the slides remind you of what you want to say.

10 Tips for Your First (or Next) Presentation

- Joel Heffner

It’s not easy to get up and speak in public. Here are 10 basic tips that may help overcome the fear of speaking in public:

1. Be nervous. The trick is to use your nerves in a positive way. Everybody gets nervous…even actors and politicians who speak for a living.

2. As the Boy Scouts say, “Be Prepared.”

3. Arrive early.

4. Speak to some people in the audience. When you get up to speak, you should think about talking to them.

5. Use props instead of notes…if possible. Looking down at notes is distracting. It is also a problem if you loose your place. Having props lined up in the order you need them will remind you of what you want to say.

6. If you need to use PowerPoint, make sure you are familiar with it and the equipment that will be used when you speak. Practice.

7. If you use PowerPoint, don’t read what is on the slide. However, you can use it to remind you of what you want to say.

8. If you forget to say something, only you will know it.

9. Do not try to memorize your speech. Trying to memorize a speech and then forgetting it in the middle can be devistating.

10. The audience wants you to be successful. Nobody comes to listen to a speaker saying, “I hope he bombs.” If you have something worth saying, the audience will appreciate it.