If you hate giving presentations, this thread is for you.
When I started my first job, I hated giving presentations. Avoided them any way I could. Nervous all day when I was due to present. At one point I understood that there's no way I could succeed in my job without getting comfortable communicating in this way.
I realized that presenting is an experience driven skill. The only way to get better at it is to do it. I was presenting maybe once a year. I saw that if I presented once a month, I could learn 12 years worth of experience in one year.
I also internalized a mantra I picked up along the way that "there is no such thing as failure--there is only feedback". This took the judgment out of presenting and made me focus on what I learned after each experience.
I started seeking out opportunities to present. In doing so, I developed these practices:
I write down my talk long hand. This helps me think through phrasing, how to build towards a point, and helps me remember what I want to say.
Memorize the intro to your talk so you don't stumble out of the gate. If you start strong, it will carry you into the rest of your presentation.
I create all my own slides. You can't deliver another person's talk. A benefit of making your own slides is you build up slide fodder that makes creating future presentations easier.
Record yourself and watch. You'll see odd mannerisms you make or hear yourself using crutch phrases to fill whitespace. It's painful at first. Then you'll eliminate them.
Know the first thing you want to say on every slide. You don't have to memorize your entire talk. But if you know the intro solid and the first sentence on every slide, you'll avoid "what I was I trying to say here" moments.
Read all the comments from feedback. Don't get too upset at the most negative. Don't get too enamored with the most positive. Focus on lessons, not judgments.
When you run into people right after your talk, ask them what stood out. You might be surprised at their takeaways compared with the point you were trying to make.
If you travel to a conference, practice the talk at least once in your hotel room. Just talk to nobody even if it feels silly. Note the time on each slide, so you can adjust the talk track to fit the time allotted.
It’s perfectly acceptable to finish early, but it affects other speakers if you go long. I wish I was stuck in an auditorium longer said no-one ever.
I tend to dislike taking questions after the talk because I feel like the entire audience is trapped waiting for this part of the presentation to end. I prefer to make myself available after the talk and let those who want to follow up do so.
If right before your talk you wonder if anyone will like it, or whether anyone will find it interesting. Completely normal. Been presenting for 20 years. Happens every time.
