MOSES! i gotta do a presentation in front of hundreds!

[vash]

KRAP! i got decent at making presentations/speeches in front of smaller crowds..but i think i will vapor lock in front of an auditorium. i am not good at public speaking..i hate it!

boss man loves my smaller venue stuff..and "volunteered" me to make a presentation! happens at the end of the month.

just curious. moses once mentioned a pill that can calm anxiety and make a presentation bearable. maybe smoke a bowl, and do a shot of mescal?

SOB! this is gonna suck.

[red-beard]

"Imagine them all in their underwear"

That has to be the stupidest thing, ever. Especially if there are hot chicks there. And even more so if the chicks are very not-hot!

[vash]

auditorium full of engineers..i imagine army panties...gag.

[stomachmonkey]

klonopin, little yellow, can make one a bit uncoordinated, impair your balance but that seems to go away with more use.

[Wickd89]

I have done many and have come to enjoy it.

1. Do not just read slides (if you have a presentation)
2. Speak from the heart and summarize what your critical points are.
3. Enjoy that you have something worthy to say that others can learn from.
4. Ignore the one or two that hate you, the other 99% are ok with you..
5. Know your subject extremely well, and the 1-5 points you want to get across...

Dress nice. Shave. get there early and walk the room. Chat with the audience before calms your nerves. Do not give yourself any time to get nervous; just get up and get on with it...

[trekkor]

Just keep your eyes closed the whole time.


KT

[Jim Richards]

I've done a couple of conference presentations where the audience was quite large. In one of these large presentations, the majority of the audience was hostile to the presentation that I was delivering. I knew that would be the case ahead of time, so I just smiled and kept on point, even as I was being heckled. Real character building stuff.

Generally, I think the large audiences weren't all that much different than presenting to a group of 1-2 dozen people. Just take plenty of time to prepare your presentation, and think about what questions your audience might have and how you might answer them. Keep smiling.

[Mrmerlin]

first thing you need to do is change your words,
if you tell yourself that your going to do a great job and keep on that path , then your results should mirror this thought path.
Prepare yourself for the presentation in front of a mirror, dont slouch,
you will be spectacular, and volunteered again for your great presentations skills

[trekkor]

Largest group I has spoken before is about 1500.
Usually 100-150, a few times a month.

You'll get used to it.


KT

[s_morrison57]

1/2 a bottle of Jack should take the edge off. Kidding of course. try looking above the people not at the people them selves, you have to scan the crowd just don't stare at them, if you know your stuff it will be a cake walk. The Q&A will be the hardest part if your not ready with the answers, run through it a bunch of times, not thinking what your going to say but actually give your talk out loud.

[gassy]

I'm totally going.

[jriera]

I have done many (many) presentations to large groups (personal record is to 3,500 people) and I am one of those individuals that really enjoy public speaking (and English is not even my 4th language), a few suggestions based on experience (aside from the other previous recommendations), none of them chemically induced:
- Be very familiar and have practical experience with the subject
- Review the presentation, not just the slides but in presentation mode (some screens may not show)
- Do not read the slides, people can do that. Talk about the slide
- Speak slower (about 10% slower) than you will normally do, if you feel that you are rushing take a deep breath and slow down. Vocalize
- Look at the people, right to left, left to right
- Stand still or walk, do not stay behind the podium or shift your weight from feet to feet
- Do not have anything in your pockets; cigarettes, lighter, loose change, etc.
- Be early, setup and test the equipment, walk the room and talk with people/audience
- Allow time for Q&A session
- Enjoy it!!, there is no difference between small groups and large groups

[Paul_Heery]

Many years ago, I was working for a network security firm. One of the salespeople asked me if I would come with him to the United Nations to speak about computer network security. as I did this all of the time, I said "Sure". Now, I was anticipating that I would probably be speaking with maybe 6 to 12 people from their IT group while drawing on a white-board.

We got to the UN building and had a brief meeting with our contact in his office. He led us down the hall and we opened a door where there were about 400 people seated. This was the room:



It took me a second, but I realized that there is no real difference between addressing a group of 10 or 500. I knew my subject matter cold and that is why the group was there. I just moved forward and actually had a great time.

[Dottore]

Originally Posted by Paul_Heery

It took me a second, but I realized that there is no real difference between addressing a group of 10 or 500.

Exactly. I've done a lot of this in the past. Early on I used to take a slug of whisky before each gig. Helped to keep the butterflies away.

After a while this was no longer necessary.

Some key pointers:

-Know your stuff.
-Keep it simple: try to get only a limited number of points across.
-Speak slowly.
-Humor is good.

Remember the old saw: "A good presentation is like a mini-skirt: It should be short enough to be interesting, and long enough to cover the essentials."

[Moses]

Originally Posted by vash

KRAP! i got decent at making presentations/speeches in front of smaller crowds..but i think i will vapor lock in front of an auditorium. i am not good at public speaking..i hate it!

boss man loves my smaller venue stuff..and "volunteered" me to make a presentation! happens at the end of the month.

just curious. moses once mentioned a pill that can calm anxiety and make a presentation bearable. maybe smoke a bowl, and do a shot of mescal?

SOB! this is gonna suck.

Inderal. Small doses. Miracle drug.

[California#1]

Put a lemon drop in your cheek and know that public speaking is an intangable asset that very few people possess and that if executed well, over time will turn into a tangable asset.

[Dave L]

you should take a look at a book - presentation zen. It really is more about designing presentations but I guarantee the presentation will be much better than any other you have seen. Most in the audience have been bored to death by power point and the book really takes a different approach and you will hold the audiences interest.

My best presentation story is showing up with a 50 page presentation to present to 75 people. Only problem was the person who booked the room neglected to arrange for a projector. I muddled thought it without the projector and actually had some really possitive comments about it.

[Gogar]

It's much, much more difficult to speak to 10 people than 1000. You'll be fine. Think of cratches.

Slap, Slap, like that.

[Tidybuoy]

Maybe your boss "volunteered" you because you are better than you think.

Prepare your speech and practice. And maybe practice in front of a couple friends who will give you constructive input.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Wickd89

I have done many and have come to enjoy it.

1. Do not just read slides (if you have a presentation)
2. Speak from the heart and summarize what your critical points are.
3. Enjoy that you have something worthy to say that others can learn from.
4. Ignore the one or two that hate you, the other 99% are ok with you..
5. Know your subject extremely well, and the 1-5 points you want to get across...

Dress nice. Shave. get there early and walk the room. Chat with the audience before calms your nerves. Do not give yourself any time to get nervous; just get up and get on with it...

+1 on all of these - especially #5. I have done many of these and actually enjoy it. I rehearse almost exactly how I am going to "talk" each chart over and over so when I get up there it just flows naturally.