5 Easy Tips for Presenting In Real Life

Our workplaces are opening back up and in-person meetings are following suit.

Presenting in real life will likely feel strange at first. Even those who thrive on in-person meetings are finding that “normal does not quite feel like normal.”

After delivering their first presentations in real life, some of our clients felt overwhelmed and exhausted. They hadn’t prepared … and it showed.

Here are 5 easy tips to help you become real life ready:

1. Practice. Use your old friend Zoom to record a practice run of your presentation. Watch the recording and course correct as needed. Then make your first audience a friendly one. Assemble a few family members or friends and ask for feedback about how you appear and sound while presenting.
2. Do less. In the excitement of returning to in-person presenting, the tendency is to deliver too much content. Audiences disconnect when overloaded. Leave them wanting more.
3. Be mindful of your vocal pacing. In your enthusiasm to present in front of an in-person audience, you may find yourself speaking warp speed fast. If this happens, simply pause, take a breath while glancing up or down, then restart at a slower pace.
4. Avoid awkward moments by deciding in advance how you are going to relate to others before and after the presentation. For example, will you shake hands, bump elbows, or just nod?
5. Understand the audience is making an adjustment, too. Acknowledge the elephant in the room. One idea is to open with a quip: ask everyone to mute themselves and turn their video cameras on. Then smile.

Bonus tip:

After 14 months of virtual presenting, make certain you pay attention to what you wear below the waist!