The 3 P's of Presentation Delivery

Tell me if you've been there.

It's ten minutes before your presentation begins and...

Your heart is POUNDING.

You are praying for an internet outage, natural disaster, or an emergency fire drill.

Your palms are sweating and you're having difficulty catching a full breath.

If so, you, my friend, are in Presentation Panic Mode. It's a terrifying place.

Thankfully, there is a way to make the suffering cease, to rise above, and to become a presentation delivering machine!

Enter the 3 P's of Presenting. Use these three proven tips to calm nerves, build confidence, deliver with executive presence, and even receive accolades for doing so.

1. Prepare. There are a variety of ways to do this, so here are a few of my favorites. Know your material inside and out. For several of your key points, do additional research. Have more information than your audience does and know that you know your stuff. Check who will be in the audience and anticipate their questions...or even ask them in advance. Familiarizing yourself with your material and your audience are incredibly effective ways to prepare.

2. Practice. Do you know on average how many times TED Talk speakers practice their talks? Care to take a guess? It's TWO HUNDRED times. 200! And it shows. That which appears to come naturally does not without plenty of practice...out loud, using the technology that will be accompanying you, and even in front of allies. I joke that my dog can deliver my keynotes by the time I’m ready, she’s heard me rehearse so much. Keynote speakers spend 40 hours, on average, of practice time.

3. People. What can you get to know about your audience in advance? Will you share the agenda? Will you ask what question(s) they’d like to have answered during your talk? Can you meet with a few of your future audience members in advance and run the presentation by them? Each of these steps will help you become more familiar with your audience and ensure that you’re aligning expectations of what’s to come. Add this as a standard task to your preparation and I guarantee you will feel your confidence rise.

Lastly, realize that not being afraid or never having nerves is not realistic, nor is it even a good thing! Fear and nerves indicate that it’s important and that you care. The bigger concern would be if you were devoid of nerves. Be sure to shift your mindset, however, and see your nerves as excitement, even passion for what you’re about to do. Think of them as turbo blasters that help you lift off!

Take a few deep breaths. Stand in a power posture and realize that when you follow through with the 3 P’s, you can do this, my Shero!