5 Things Every Great Speaker Does Before Presenting

The average person ranks the fear of public speaking higher than the fear of death. The truth is, this fear could be hurting your professional and personal life. You may have been there before, but you still are probably nervous, sweaty and anxious. All of these feelings can be overcome with just a few tips that will help you to prepare for this moment.

In business, it is essentially important for you to be able to get your point across. It is likely that all of us will one day have to speak in public. Whether we are giving a formal presentation to an audience or asking our boss for a promotion, speaking skills are essential to getting ahead in the professional world.

Before your big talk, you’ve crafted your presentation, practiced it and should be ready to deliver it at the event. Your heart is racing and most of the hard work is already done, but are you truly prepared at this point? You may not have done everything you can to prepare yourself from success on the big stage.

In this post, I will be sharing with you 5 things every great speaker does before presenting:

1. They Study The Venue Logistics

Great speakers always check the venue of the event. Whenever possible, they arrive at the venue while the room is still empty. This is especially important if the venue is new to the speaker. This is the best time to solve any issues that might arise with the physical space. There are many issues to work out depending on the venue and the nature of your talk.

It’s crucial to get an understanding of where the audience will be sitting, where the projectors/other visual aids will be and how loud you may need to speak for everyone to hear you. If you’re using any technology tools to aid your presentation, you definitely want to test those items at this point as well.

2. They Meet Their Audience

An inexperienced speaker waits until they are introduced for their presentation before beginning to establish rapport with the audience. An experienced speaker on the other hand, understands that rapport can be built from the moment they arrive at the venue.

Great speakers will always try and mingle with their audience and put their ego aside. Instead of acting like some big shot, they will try to get their face recognized amongst the audience as early as possible. By doing this, they will establish relationships with people before hand that will make their presentation go even smoother.

3. They Gather Enough Material

What do you already know and believe about this topic as it relates to this audience? What additional research can OR should you do? These are the questions that guide experienced speakers to deliver great speeches. Delivering speeches has become so much easier with all that data within instant access on the Internet. They start by collecting all their thoughts and notes.

After they have exhausted their thinking on their topic, they go to the library, ask colleagues and do tons of research. When you are getting ready to educate an audience, you don’t need all the knowledge before hand. You can learn as you go and add to your presentation to fill in the blanks that you feel your audience will have as well.

4. They Devise An Opening With Impact

It may be humorous, surprising, informative or challenging but it’s always an opening that is original and memorable. The opening is crucial because this is how you make your first impression. You have less than 1 minute to get the attention of the audience before their minds will begin to wander off.

In business presentations, it’s important to tell your audience what’s coming up. You have to find a way to do this though without losing their attention and you can start by eliminating dull sentences from your speech. It’s much better to get your audience’s attention first and then to explain your purpose afterwards. Refrain from saving major surprises for the end and grab people with the facts and your focus as early as you can.

5. They Practice Their Entire Presentation Numerous Times 

Repetition and practice are the unsung heroes of public speaking. Great speakers know that they to continuously practice their presentations if they want to have success on the big day.  The more you practice your presentation, the better you will be at understanding where you need to improve your work.

In addition to that, you should either record yourself or have a friend/family member watch your entire presentation as you go through it. Ask them for their honest feedback or go back and watch your recordings to see where you can truly improve yourself. Practicing before the big day is vital to having success as a speaker!

Conclusion

Great public speakers may have a lot of experience delivering speeches, but they all continue to practice their techniques. With constant practice and the right approach, anyone can be successful when delivering presentations. In this post, I shared with you 5 things every great speaker does before presenting.