5 public speaking tips you need to know before your next presentation

Public speaking is an essential part of many jobs. Employees must be able to deliver information in an efficient, easy to understand manner. Even if you don’t give speeches to packed auditoriums often, pulling these tips into your every day routine or employee training programs could make a difference in how you’re perceived and how well information is relayed.

• Allow listeners to ask questions: Engaging the meeting room or those in the audience can only strengthen the message you are trying to get across. Allow questions to be asked during or after the presentation so everyone is on the same page.
• Be yourself: You can only prepare so much for a speaking event or meeting. If you stumble or lose your train of thought, take a pause and regroup. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not.
• Don’t read to your audience: Using cue cards or short-hand notes is fine, but don’t read PowerPoint slides or a full paper to your employees. They want to hear you speak, not recite.
• Have a backup plan or goal: If you’re not getting to the point of your presentation, or the audience seems disengaged, switch it up. Don’t be afraid to change the overall goal halfway through if the one you had before isn’t actually what you needed.
• Know your audience: Knowing your employees or audience beforehand is key. Understand what you want them to take from the talk and what they want to be able to learn.

Mastery Technologies has a wide range of courses in its catalog to help spur employee development and growth, including a selection on communication skills, like public speaking.
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