How to Give an Amazing Presentation

July 8th, 2013

A few weeks ago, I gave two talks to a group of optometrists. One focused on an approach to dealing with the patient with elevated intraocular pressure and the other on 4 Keys to World Class Productivity.

I used to get nervous when giving speeches but I’ve relaxed a bit now and realized that as long as your message is compelling the audience will overlook minor mistakes. While most people would fall asleep during a presentation on intraocular pressure, these optometrists deal with glaucoma patients on an almost daily basis and looked forward to learning more about how to approach this problem.

As I was preparing my speeches, I came across this amazing article on giving a killer presentations by Chris Anderson who works for TED.

The key points from the article are to practice, be passionate, develop a stage presence and plan your multimedia. But the main message is that no matter how polished and professional your speech delivery is, if you don’t have a compelling story it, will fall flat.

Chris Anderson writes of his own experience giving a TED talk, “Ultimately I learned firsthand what our speakers have been discovering for three decades: Presentations rise or fall on the quality of the idea, the narrative, and the passion of the speaker.” It’s about substance, not speaking style or multimedia pyrotechnics.

If you begin with an important message your passion will shine through and you can convince others to care as well. When you focus on the message and how important it is to get out, it takes the pressure off yourself to perform perfectly.

I urge you to read the whole article for tips on preparing your own speeches or presentation.

What’s the best advice you’ve ever received on giving presentations?

If you’re interested in listening to the speech on 4 Keys to World Class Productivity, sign up for my newsletter to be notified when it’s available.