1. Find your niche
Fabio Torlini, MD, WP Engine: Once you have a specific topic or issue nailed down, it becomes easier to get up in front of a large crowd of people. And the good news is that once you’ve spoken on a topic, putting yourself forward becomes easier and before you know it you’ll start to be considered an expert in the area.
Spencer Waldron, regional director (Europe), Prezi: The best speakers on the planet use the same guiding principles: they talk about what they’re passionate about, they obsess on how to give value to the audience, they learn to be great storytellers and they’re curious about human behaviour.
2. Choose the right event for you and your brand
Fabio: Make sure you choose an event that’ll be mutually beneficial; there’s no point speaking at events that fall outside of your message, expertise or business objectives simply because they involve a big audience. Often these will cost money and you’ll waste valuable time that you could have spent selecting speaking opportunities that advance both yourself and your business.
3. Put your audience first
Spencer: Think about what’s important for your audience and not what’s important for you. One of the best things you can do is start by answering four simple questions that Andrew Abela came up with many years ago:
- What does my audience think before I give the presentation?
- What do I want them to think after I’ve given my presentation?
- What does my audience do right now?
- What do I want them to do after I’ve given my presentation?
4. Tell a story
Spencer: Hands down this is the best way to get information across to audiences and to engage with them. There’s a lot of science behind why this works. Oh, and don’t present content they already know: much better to use conversational presenting instead. This is a more flexible approach where presentations can easily be turned into dialogues that are collaborative, dynamic and engaging enough to keep viewers tuned in from beginning to end.
"I’m going to be speaking at Ignite 2017 in three months time and I’m already playing with the outline of my talk"
5. Work out what your point is
Verity Dearsley, MD, The B2B Marketing Lab: Once you’ve done this you can build the narrative of your presentation. Are you looking to educate, inspire, shock or entertain? Think about the journey you want to take the audience on: I much prefer to think of it as storytelling rather than presenting. Keep it visual, don’t go crazy with text-heavy slides and use interesting or personal anecdotes where possible to provide context and make it personal.
6. Don’t underestimate the power of preparation
Spencer: The single biggest thing is practice, which sounds trite but it’s really not. I spoke at a conference last week and one of the first questions I got asked was how I made it look so easy. My answer was that whilst it may have looked easy, it wasn’t. I spent two months preparing the talk and deciding what should and shouldn’t be in it, and then eight hours the day before the conference practicing it over and over again. I’m going to be speaking at Ignite in three months time and I’m already playing with the outline of my talk. If you double the amount of time spent on your next presentation I guarantee it will be better: you’ll have more time to plan the outline, develop stories, find images and practice. Leaving it to the last minute guarantees a boring presentation.
7. Practice out loud
Verity: The main issue I see with first-time speakers is pace, which is why it’s so important to run through your presentation out loud. This helps to find ‘landmarks’ or ‘anchors’ in your speech; every time you hit one, take a long breath. If it feels like you are moving at a snail’s pace, you’re probably going at the right speed for your audience. Practice in front of colleagues and friends and if you don’t have a crowd or, it’s too nerve-wracking to begin with, try videoing yourself and watching it back. You need to get used to hearing yourself and it’s a good way to spot and address those nervous habits we all have.
"The best speakers on the B2B circuit are the ones obsessed with giving the audience value"
8. Embrace the fear
Verity: Picturing the audience in their underwear sadly doesn’t help. My advice is to feel the fear, and then do it anyway. They say ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ – in public speaking terms this translates as ‘familiarity breeds calmness and coolness in front of an audience!’ The only way to get over it is to keep doing it.
Spencer: I learnt a great tip from Simon Sinek, who said that before you give a presentation tell yourself: “This is exciting” rather than: “This is scary.” Your body has the same reaction to both fear and excitement – racing heart, sweaty palms. When I first heard this I wasn’t convinced, but believe me: if you do it a few times it really starts to work. We are what we think!
9. Don’t give it the hard sell
Fabio: There’s no harm in mentioning what your company does, but remember that the audience will want insights and a unique perspective on the topic, not a company update.
10. Learn from the best
Verity: Seth Godin and Rand Fishkin have huge brains and presentation skills that are second to none. But also check out Brené Brown and Susan Cain. And I was recently blown away by Gary Vaynerchuk at the HubSpot Inbound Marketing Conference in Boston. He’s one of the most energised, exciting and enthusiastic speakers out there.
Spencer: I studied Beth Comstock, Simon Sinek, Scott Harrison, Seth Godin, John Maeda, Gary Vaynerchuk and Steve Jobs in order to improve my performance. And one of my all time favourite keynotes is Scott Harrison’s keynote at Inbound 2013. I quickly learnt that the best speakers on the B2B circuit are the ones obsessed with giving the audience value. Too many speakers use the stage as a thinly veiled sales opportunity.
