Presentations: 5 Tips Towards Acing Body Language and Speech

Whether it be standing in front of 10 people or 1000 people, or even just sitting across the table at a job interview, we’ve all been nervous at one stage or another. Don’t worry this is normal. We aren’t all born great speakers.

The following article summarises 5 key things to keep in mind while you are in a presentation, or when you are simply in front of someone that you need to create some rapport with.

Your Eyes - Maintain 3:3 Contact

Perhaps the most personal non-verbal communication is eye contact with another individual. If you look at someone, and they look back at you, it’s your chance to make that personal connection. Use the 3 second rule: 3 seconds of eye contact to the audience’s eyes, and 3 seconds of eye contact on another object in the room (just not below you). Differ from person to person if you are in a large audience, and make sure you look as many eyes as you can. However make sure you gauge the different type of audiences you will be addressing, as not all cultures accept direct eye contact, and may find it threatening or rude: “Eye contact can provoke major misunderstandings between people of different nationalities. Keeping direct eye contact with a work supervisor or elderly people leads them to assume you are being aggressive and rude” [Wikipedia]

Your Mouth - Enunciation and Intonation

Effective enunciation is the act of speaking clearly and concisely, without mumbling or trailing off or using a lot of ‘umms’ and ‘ahhs’. Make sure you are confident when speaking, and that you are clearly communicating with the audience, not too fast, and not too slow. Normally, a good way to get better at these is to keep practicing or reading out loud. Other ways are to try to get your head around tongue twister sentances such as: “Six sheet slitters sillily slitting sheets”.

Linguistic Intonation (i.e. your accent / professional voice) also plays a role in presentation. In Australia, there is a tendancy to have an upwards inflection at the end of each sentance, which does not sound very professional at all. If you are in a 1 to 1 discussion, a good way to cover this off is to ensure that you emulate the way the other person is speaking, as well as their body language. Otherwise, try to speak sternly with conviction: that is, remain confident in your speech, and try to make your responses PGP: Particular, general, then back to particular.

Your Hands - Gestures Within Limits

If you are standing up giving a presentation, you should be able to use your hands freely but within limits. Try to only use hand gestures for important and critical statements. A sign of confidence is to speak with one hand in one pocket and another out, performing gestures at will.

If you are nervous and your hands are shaking, you may opt out to have your hands to be placed behind your back while speaking, as long as you don’t have them out at front. You will have the tendency to arch your back and slump your shoulders when your hands are together in front of you.Otherwise, it is advised to embrace the fact that you are nervous, and state it out loud. In fact, many actors state this, and often it will bring the audience closer to you as they can relate to you at a personal level.

Your Posture - Back and Body

When you are speaking and moving simultaneously, more than one message is being sent to the audience. It’s not what you are saying, it now becomes how you say it non-verbally. Standing straight with open shoulders indicates that you are an approachable and kind person. Specifically, you should try to have a straight back while speaking. If you are sitting, sit prime and proper and try not to slouch. If you are standing, try to stand with your legs straight, and not bent.

Your Secret - Dramatic Pauses

If you are asked a question, or are about to deliver an empowering statement, make sure you have a suitable pause at the start, and in between sentences that require more time to register in the brain. Pause for about 5 seconds to allow the audience to gather their thoughts based on your sentance, but make sure that you choose the right sentance to pause, otherwise you will look unprepared. When you are asked a question, clarify and repeat the question to ensure that everyone has heard it, including yourself. It is said that every 9 seconds during presentation the target audience should receive one coded message. Make sure that you pick out your messages carefully and present around these key points.

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