Alumnae careers resources: Presenting with impact
Start strong!
This is the point thatyou have everyone’s attention. The audience is all ears, full of anticipation and hopeful of learning something interesting.
Use this time wisely.
Startwith anecdote, awow fact, an observation. This will draw the audience in and make them lean forward to engage further.
A pause is powerful!
It gives you, as presenter, the chance to considerwhatyou are going to say next, and it gives the audience a chance to take in whatyou have just said.
More importantly, it gives you added credibility – emphasizing your point and showing the audience you are worth waiting for.
Dive in!
It’s a cliché but practice makes perfect.
The first time you say it out loud, you might realise important points you have forgotten, or points that aren’t needed.
You will also notice if it flows, or if you need to move things around, and how confidently you are able to projectyourvoice.
Find out more......
Michelle Obama is master orator.
Watch any of her speeches to see how she incorporates storytelling, speeds up or slows down for impact.And importantly there are so many quotable lines which the audience will share with others – orwill hit the headlines.
Hear Michelle speak
GretaThunberg is skilled at using the power of three structure in her speeches.
She also uses repletion effectively to emphasis her points.And importantly they always have a call to action – she doesn’t want people to sit on their hands after hearing her speak.
Hear Greta speak
Viv Groskop wrote the best book on presenting in recent times, called ‘How to own the room’.
It is aimed atwomen with imposter syndrome and encourages authenticity. This is achieved through making a connection with the audience, focusing on whatyour body language says aboutyou and getting out and trying it out – something Viv put into practice herself when she performed 100 comedy shows in 100 days. Find out more
