Already a Decent Speaker? Here Are 5 Expert Tips

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Already a Decent Speaker? Here Are 5
Expert Tips
Every great leader must be adept at making presentations. Here's how to perfect yours.
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I recently outlined the eight basic tips every presenter should consider. Here are five advanced tips will
make your presentation that much more memorable:
1. Start With Your Face
Make good eye contact by moving them across the room in a tic-tac-toe pattern and briefly locking
eyes with as many people as you can. Linger long enough to complete a thought or statement. You
want everyone in the room to feel you are giving the presentation just to him.
Your facial expressions should be deliberate and purposeful. If you look down or away, your audience
will perceive it as a lack of confidence or that you are trying to remember a point you forgot. Remember
to smile.
2. Use Your Body
Always utilize your body not your slides to keep your audience engaged. Use elaborate hand
gestures to emphasize size, shape, direction, or to make a point. Your motions will feel extreme, but
your audience is typically further away, so grand gestures will only keep people engaged and help them
visualize your point.
Resist any temptation to stay stationary behind a podium. Use your entire presentation space, and
make sure you move with purpose and command the stage. Never put your back to your audience.
Your slides should be simple and support what you say, but should not distract your audience from
focusing exclusively on you.
3. Master Your Voice
Your voice is your most powerful and important asset while you are on the stage. Use inflection wisely
to keep your speech interesting, and project your voice to the very back of the room. Understand that
how you say your speech is as important as what you say. A slight lift in your voice means you are
asking a question; ending your sentence slightly lower indicates authority.
The biggest mistake most speakers make is a failure to slow down or use pauses. Silence and space
between words allows for emphasis and lets your audience catch up with your ideas. Count to two in
your head after making a point or after the laughter dies down. It will seem like an eternity, but it's much

shorter than you think.
Avoid filler words or phrases: "like," "um," "so," "right." Become mindful of the things you say that are
unnecessary. Make every word choice wisely.
4. Shake It Up
No matter how incredible your presentation is, your audience has a limited attention span. Find
opportunities to make the presentation entertaining and interactive. You can field questions, use
technology like TextTheMob to poll your audience, or break into smaller groups to do an activity.
5. Practice a Lot
The most important thing you can do, above all other suggestions, is to practice, practice, practice.
Malcom Gladwell in his book Outliers says that it takes 10,000 hours to become an expert. The ability
to deliver a good presentation is no different. I record myself as I practice and use the video to help me
fine-tune my delivery.
Eric V. Holtzclaw is CEO and founder of User Insight, a user-experience strategy and
consulting firm. Holtzclaw’s weekly radio show, The "Better You" Project, shines a spotlight
on entrepreneurs’ business journeys. @eholtzclaw