speaking for success - how to not look like an idiot while presenting

i hate having to do presentations. especially if i'm not familiar with the subject. n i know that while i'm not the world's worst presenter....i'm not exactly good either. which was why i signed up for a presentation skills workshop last week.

its a great workshop. you got to see yrself on tape a total of 3 times...n there was free-flow of criticism thrown your way. but hey...if you wanna learn...brutal honesty will get you there..

a few take-homes from the workshop.....

dont put your hands at the back of yr butt while speaking. shows a defensive posture. plus it just accentuates yr already pearlike figure

tie/bun up yr hair to avoid the flying hand phenomenon - that strange event where the hand flies up to touch/stroke/caress unsuspecting hair

put on a jacket when making presentations if you wanna look good - somehow yr posture just gets better..u stand up a lil bit straighter..yr stomach's tucked in...didnt really believe it at first but its true

standing is just so much better than sitting. i know this since ages ago...but never actually put it to practice. but since i had to do things the right way at the workshop..i realised that standing does help. it literally keeps you on yr toes...you dont have the luxury of looking at the laptop screen...but you get to look more at the audience. which is a good thing.

eye contact. very important if you wanna be effective. plus it helps in making you less nervous. the more eye contact you have with the audience, the more you'll feel like you're having a conversation WITH them instead of presenting TO them

dont include rhetorical questions in your presentation. for eg: "How will this help you? Well it'll definitely help in the following ways....." Apparently this is bad, tho for the life of me i dont see why. i'm guilty of doing that in my presentations...but hey if its bad then i'll stop doing it

be very focused in your presentation. what is it that you want to achieve? be very focused with that. if you were just told that you have a presentation to make, dont immediately start with yr powerpoint slides. always spend a little time thinking of your 'objective statement', which goes like this..."at the end of my presentation, my audience will __________ because i would have told/shown them ______, ______, ______"

presenting IS NOT public speaking. when you're doing a presentation, you're a professional doing a job. its not a performance!

smile, smile, n smile again. dont need to look so serious, even if its a serious subject. helps in building rapport with the audience. of course, be careful not to end up looking like a fool