• Don’t let the light of the visuals put you in darkness. • Make sure you know how to put things right if they go wrong. • If you can, be ready to present without any visual aids at all. Controlling the audience Many presenters concentrate so hard on the material that they
ignore the audience. They have no idea of the messages that their
body is sending out. They are thinking so hard about
what
they
are saying that they have no time to think about
how
they say it.
You are performing. Your whole body is involved. You must
become aware of what your body is doing so that you can control
it, and thus the audience. A few basic principles will ensure that
you keep the audience within your control.
Eye contact You speak more with your eyes than with your voice. Your eyes
tell the audience that you are taking notice of them, that you are
confident to speak to them, that you know what you are talking
about and that you believe what you are saying.
Look at the audience’s eyes throughout the presentation.
Imagine that a lighthouse beam is shooting out from your eyes
and scanning the audience. Make sure that the beam enters every
pair of eyes in the room. Focus for a few seconds on each pair of
eyes and meet their gaze. Don’t look past them, through them or
over their heads. Pick out a few faces that look particularly
friendly and return to them. After a while, you may even feel
confident enough to return to a few of the less friendly ones!
Include the whole audience with your eyes. Many presenters
fall into the trap of focusing on only one person: the most senior
manager, the strongest personality, maybe simply someone they
like a lot.
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