Present Like a Pro: Strategies for Commanding the Room
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nervous about your next presentation
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whether you're presenting to a small
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virtual group or a packed conference
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room there are steps you can take to
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become more comfortable with public
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speaking preparation after all is the
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best fear remover hi I'm Professor
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Richard Bowman a faculty member at the
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University of Phoenix I have delivered
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hundreds of presentations to
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organizations in Industries ranging from
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education telecommunications insurance
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and everything in between let's dive
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into how you can prepare to deliver
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presentations that will knock the socks
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off your audience let's get started
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preparation starts with knowing what you
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are trying to accomplish too often
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people focus entirely on the audience
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when the objective should be the
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priority consider whether you're trying
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to inform or convince your audience
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about a certain topic write down your
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objective and use it as a metric to
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determine what should be in your
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presentation everything in your
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presentation should work toward this
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objective if it doesn't remove it
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now that we're objective driven we can
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focus on the audience if you don't know
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who you're talking to you're going to
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have trouble making the connections you
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need to achieve your objective ask
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yourself these questions how old is my
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audience where are they from what kind
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of experiences might be familiar to them
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what might not be answering these
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questions can help you figure out the
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best language and examples to connect
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with your specific audience having
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different examples to make the same
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points can allow you some flexibility to
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address your audience on their terms
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when you're giving a presentation you've
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got to know what you're walking into
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when presenting virtually demo the
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presentation practice speaking into the
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camera and work out any technical issues
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in a controlled environment that level
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of preparation is extra important when
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you're presenting in person get in touch
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with the venue ahead of time and ask
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them what you'll need to bring
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arrive early and try out everything from
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the microphone to the clicker that
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advances your slides position your
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handouts and visual aids so that you
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have easy access to them during the
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presentation when you do this work ahead
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of time you can spend less time focusing
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on the technical aspects and more on
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making connection with your audience
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that's really where the magic happens
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now let's talk about delivery this is
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the make or break point of your
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presentation and then where confidence
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is key nervous speakers tend to speak
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quickly and oftentimes don't even know
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it take a breath and speak calmly the
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audience wants you to succeed as much as
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you do don't let the moment get the best
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of you remember that idea of demoing
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your virtual presentation record it and
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listen back do you sound like the kind
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of person you want to listen to
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this tip has helped me countless times
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to be confident in my presentation
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memorize the first seven words these
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first seven words can be an outrageous
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statement or a joke or a question but it
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must hook your audience memorizing those
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few words will do wonders for your
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confidence and engage your audience
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here's an example I use to capture the
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attention of a crowd at a management
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conference want to be in business next
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year
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these first seven words spoke to my
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audience's unique needs and interests
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and it grabbed their attention
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Beyond these first words you should know
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enough of your presentation to speak to
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it from memory but don't stress if you
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have to check your notes it's better to
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check your notes and deliver a great
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presentation then try to memorize it all
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and forget
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all right let's wrap this up at the end
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of your presentation don't ask if there
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are any questions
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instead ask what are your questions and
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wait once you have the first question
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more will follow alternatively if your
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presentation is in a virtual setting you
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can find moments in your presentation
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for audience members to submit questions
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through the chat
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a successful presentation will often
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include repetition to drive the point
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home so let's recap what we've learned
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how do you prepare and deliver a
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presentation that will lock the socks
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off your audience
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preparation is the best fear remover
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know what you want to accomplish
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know who you're speaking to grab the
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attention of the audience
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conclude with
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what are your questions okay what are
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your questions feel free to ask them in
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the comments below and make sure to
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subscribe for more videos like this
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thanks for watching