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How To Give A Great Presentation - HBR Ascend
How To Give A Great Presentation - HBR Ascend
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PRESENTATIONS
How to Give a Great Presentation, Even if You’re Super Anxious About It
Joel Schwartzberg
12 Jul 04 mins 2,949
I recently worked closely with a 24-year-old client—let’s call him Martin—who was tapped to
deliver a five-minute presentation at his company’s annual Town Hall meeting. Martin had
never given a public speech in his professional life, but his accomplishments impressed his
supervisors, and they wanted Martin to share his success with the rest of the organization.
Martin would have felt rightfully honored and proud, but one dominant feeling dwarfed all the
With three weeks until the event, that’s where Martin and I started—with his fear. Below, I’m
sharing eight pieces of advice I o ered to help him manage his anxiety, build an engaging
aversion is not really a fear of public speaking. It’s a fear of public humiliation—that you will
somehow screw it up and embarrass yourself.
But here’s the thing: Your presentation is not a public speaking contest and you’re not being
judged. You’re not even a performer; you’re a presenter, moving important concepts from your
Shi ing the spotlight from yourself to your ideas can make you less anxious because it focuses
you on your real job— not to be amazing, charismatic, or entertaining, but to e ectively convey
your point.
Of course, you must know your point in order to convey it. But don’t make the mistake of
confusing your point with a broad topic or theme. Typically, your point is a contention that a
Once you understand your contention, ask yourself four easy questions:
presentation. Boom.
Adjust as necessary, but a five-minute presentation means answering each of those questions
for a rough average of 75 seconds each. And so long as you make a point, no audience will ever
Think of your speaking notes as you would a shopping list: shorthand reminders (no complete
sentences) of what you need to cover and in what order. Your notes may be lengthy at first but
shorten them during your practice as you rely on them less and less.
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Remember: Your notes are there to support you, not script you. Audiences want you to relay
Whether you’re in a room or a Zoom, volume is critical to making powerful points. In addition
to making you more audible, increased volume instantly conveys authority, confidence,
I run an exercise in my workshop in which I ask every participant to speak in a louder voice,
then ask other students to weigh in on the resulting di erences in that person’s overall
impression. Universally, I hear reactions like “more assertive,” “more confident,” and “more
persuasive,” whether or not the speaker was, in fact, more assertive, confident, or persuasive.
5. Be yourself
A day before his presentation, Martin messaged me with a series of sudden questions: How
o en should I gesture? What happens if I sneeze or say “umm”? Should I start with a joke?
Audiences respond best to authentic, even flawed human behavior because they can relate to
it as fellow human beings. Coming across artificial, on the other hand, breaks that connection,
So if you’re comfortable gesturing, gesture. If you need to sneeze, sneeze. If you’re funny, be
funny. Being your most authentic self will also best convey your personal conviction for your
points.
6. Practice meaningfully
E ective practice is about having your mind and your mouth act together to produce points.
one of those two key elements. To practice meaningfully, say it out loud and in real time. You
don’t need an audience, a camera, or a mirror (in fact, avoid practicing in front of mirrors
entirely). All you need is time and space to run through your full presentation.
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This is also the only way to know precisely how long your presentation will run.
7. Turn nervous energy into excitement
Studies show that toggling from nervous energy to excitement may be as easy as telling
yourself “I’m excited” every time you think “I’m nervous” because the reactions are closely
related. Try saying, “I’m excited. I’m excited. I’m excited” in the minutes and moments before
your presentation.
Chances are good you will come across as excited, exuding passion for your point versus
8. Kill Roy
Meet Roy. He’s the voice in your head constantly trying to destroy your confidence, whispering
things like, “you’re boring them,” “this is not going well,” and “you’re embarrassing yourself.”
But know this: Roy is a liar. He’s the voice of your insecurity, trying to make you feel more self-
I hear Roy with my own ears whenever a workshop student starts a presentation with “I’m
pretty nervous…” or ends with “Sorry, I know that wasn’t great.” The ironic thing is that these
presenters never came across as nervous or underwhelming. That’s just Roy, doing whatever
The good news is that confidence is Roy’s Kryptonite. Recognize that the voice in your head is
lying and let your faith in your abilities and your points diminish Roy’s impact until no one can
hear him.
A er lots of practice, Martin eventually nailed his presentation, coming across focused,
confident, and passionate (which was confirmed in a follow-up survey including hundreds of
sta ).
To the audience, Martin “did a great job,” but he knows, I know, and you know that he
succeeded not because he was born a great public speaker or has a special gene for
fearlessness. Martin succeeded because he knew his point, his job, what mattered most, and
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