What are some strategies for young professionals to speak confidently during presentations?

For young speakers, you need to know your audience and design your presentation around the audience. No, one slide doesn't fit all. Polish your pitch, nail the dry runs, and for the love of Agege bread... do not read the slides.

For young speakers, instead of "know your audience" go where you know the audience. This can be a college group, ROTC, Student Union, book club, or join a Toastmasters club. Go into familiar territory as a young speaker.

You can research your audience by asking questions, reading feedback, or reviewing previous presentations. Knowing your audience will also help you anticipate their questions, objections, or concerns, and prepare your responses accordingly.

Understanding your audience is foundational in presentation preparation. Research their expectations and what you want them to take away. Tailor content, tone, and style to meet their needs and interests. Gather insights through questions, feedback, or past presentations. Knowing your audience enables anticipation of questions, objections, or concerns, allowing you to prepare responses that resonate effectively. This audience-centric approach enhances the relevance and impact of your presentation.

something I have found helpful is at first knowing your audience to the best you can. Because everytime it's not your presentation, your skill to understand what your audience expect from you do matters. Research on the topic you are going to present, confident develops itself when you are well known on your topics and subtopics. While presenting, what I feel is if we convey what we know rather then what is written in the presentation we can do better.

Crafting a well-structured presentation is key for coherence and impact. Ensure a clear introduction, body, and conclusion, utilizing transitions, signposts, and summaries for guidance. Define a purpose, message, and call to action, ensuring every element aligns with them. Planning your structure aids in organizing thoughts, preventing rambling, and maintaining focus on your goal. A structured presentation not only enhances audience comprehension and retention but also facilitates a more confident and effective delivery.

You should also have a clear purpose, message, and call to action for your presentation, and make sure that everything you say supports them. Planning your structure will help you organize your thoughts, avoid rambling, and stay focused on your goal.

For a 7-minute presentation, two or three main points fit the timeframe. It needs to have a good opening and closing (conclusion).

One thing I’ve found helpful is to plan your structure so it flows like a story. If you can relate to your audience, don’t be afraid to state a fact and then tell the story of how you have lived experience with this. I have found this always develops rapport as you bring a research based delivery that you can back up with personal anecdotes.

Organize your presentation logically. Structure it with a compelling opening, clear key points, and a strong conclusion. This framework not only guides the presentation but also instills confidence in the speaker.

Not enough young professionals nowadays do the tried and tested method of practicing in front of a mirror. But I would take it one step further and instead video record yourself during a trial run. Reason being is that, while watching yourself in the mirror while actively giving the presentation, allows you to self-correct in the moment, it also splits your focus and you aren’t able to pick up on as many opportunities to improve as when you rewatch a recording of yourself and make notes on what you want to change.

Practicing is key, also a key trick a former boss taught me very early on in my career is to focus on few key points instead of just reading the slide. Use slides as an aid not scripts to bring out your message.

Delivery of the presentation involves both verbal and non-verbal communication. It can affect how lasting the impression of the presentation will be on the minds of audience. The presenter is advised to have a confident body posture and fluent delivery of core concept of presentation which comes through practice.

Practicing will help you improve your voice, body language, eye contact, and timing, and also help you identify and correct any mistakes or weaknesses. Practicing will also help you memorize your key points, but avoid reading from a script or relying too much on notes.

I cannot overstate the importance of practice and rehearsals. It is an opportunity to catch issues with transitions, timing, pauses, body movement, and facial expressions. I am a fan of recording a speech.

One of the most powerful ways to get feedback is watching a recorded video of yourself. By doing so, you can practice your skills and techniques in a safe environment, find ways to improve/adjust your approach, and build confidence.

Actively seek constructive feedback to identify areas for improvement. Incorporating feedback not only refines the presentation but also contributes to continuous improvement, enhancing confidence for future presentations.

If you are a member of a Toastmasters club, you can use that as a way to get feedback on your speech. Or record it, and replay it as a way to see and hear how the audience would receive your speech.

Indeed, seeking feedback is invaluable for refining presentation skills. Gather insights from diverse sources—mentors, peers, and your audience. Embrace constructive criticism with openness, using it as a tool for improvement in subsequent presentations. Feedback provides a lens to recognize strengths, areas for improvement, and opportunities for adjustment in your delivery. By incorporating feedback into your ongoing practice, you create a continuous learning loop, enhancing your ability to engage and communicate effectively in future presentations.

Through my voluntary experience at a national charitable initiative, I was often called upon to speak about my journey through the organisation or discuss other ideas. It took me a few tries to successfully calm my nerves before public speaking but quickly learnt about a common misconception. There are no issues with being nervous at all, it shows you care about what you have to say, if you didn’t care about how you’ll be perceived then why would you be nervous? The key is to learn how to harness this and turn it into passion. It can be different for everyone, for me it’s practicing in front of a mirror but just find what works for you. Remember don’t try to get rid of your nervousness, instead use it to boost your passion.

While it may be easier said than done, to exude confidence when we are nervous, it’s important for us to be at ease. Or at least appear to be at ease. Deep breathing may help to reduce our state of anxiety. Find ways to induce a state of calm. What are some of the things that can help you untangle the frazzled ball of nerves? Music? A chat? Being prepared, having contingency plans in place and making time to practice beforehand are crucial in helping anyone feel more at ease. Try not to be so hard on yourself too, if you’ve done all you can to prepare, show that you are enjoying yourself as you share the information which your audience is waiting to hear. Believe that they are on your side and try not to aim for perfection.

For my most challenging speech a few years back, I went to the stage way before opening when it was empty. I gave the speech in my head. I walked the stage. I pretended I was giving the speech in a room full of people. This helped me get used to the new environment and manage my nerves.

Read more about your topic .. be well-prepared .. discuss your subject with professionals .. watch others' presentations about similar topics .. practice your presentation very well

Preparation is key! Consider if there are any gaps in your presentation or knowledge, what questions are you likely to get? Are there any questions you’re hoping not to get? By anticipating questions, and possible answers, you can ensure you’ve thought about your topic from a variety of angles and are prepared for any questions that may come up!

Record, Rewatch , Repeat When preparing for an oratory competition, I would record every single attempt of my speech to evaluate my performance. Rewatching your recordings has the same effect as a team watching the tape of last week’s game. Having multiple people critique your work can be a great for getting, if they have genuine feedback. Repeat this process over and over until you have mastered it, then do it some more!

Focus on your presentation and topic not on the large crowd of audience. Don't fear about forgetting pointers in your presentation, because your audience do not know what you are going to say.