Imagine you’re practicing a presentation. Five minutes into your rehearsal, you get interrupted.
After dealing with the interruption, you go back to your talk. Where do you restart your practice?
If you’re like most people, you go to the beginning of the talk.
And that is a mistake!
Why?
It’s All About Attention
Because you’re giving too much focus to the opening of your presentation, and not enough to the latter parts.
I know this because, for years, this is what I did. Then, a seasoned speaker pointed out my mistake. He told me, “when you get stuck practicing the opening of your speech and start over, you get good at that part of your talk. But, the rest of it doesn’t get the same level of attention.
“The result is that your beginning is compelling. But after that, the impact of your talk is diminished.
How do you solve this problem?
Push through it. When you’re practicing and you reach a point where you forget or start to stumble, keep going. Say whatever comes out of your mouth. Get to the next part of the presentation you can remember and keep talking. At first, this will feel like you’re pushing a big rock up a hill.
With repeated practice, you’ll feel more comfortable. And you’ll reach the point where the rock feels like it’s about to roll downhill.
One more useful tip – when you forget what you wanted to say, move. Walk to another part of your speaking area. This has a tendency to ‘jolt’ your brain to remember what you want to say.
I promise you these techniques work. I can also promise you the first three or four times you do it, it doesn’t feel right. It’s disconcerting because you feel like you’re going to never get that part of the speech right.
Why I Know This Works
I can say this because I was recently working on a new story. There was one part I couldn’t get past. I took the seasoned speaker’s advice and kept talking all the way to the end of the material. The fourth time I practiced, I got past that struggle point of the story. I smoothly moved through it and finished the rest of the talk.
As a result, the entire presentation got equal attention. And the version I presented to the audience was better.
One more idea for your rehearsals. Break your presentation into chunks – 5 to 10 minutes each. This enables you to practice in short bursts. More importantly, rotate through different parts of the talk.
For example, If your material is 30-minutes long, break it into five chunks of 6-minutes. Rehearse each one the same number of times. This helps you feel more comfortable because all material receives equal attention.
Be aware, this will be challenging at first. But, I promise it’s worth the time and attention. You will present a well-rehearsed talk from start-to-finish.
Recommended Resource
Coming May 20 – New Home Study course – Stand Up. Speak Up. Stand OUT!
On May, I’ll be releasing my new Home-study course – ‘Stand Up. Speak Up. Stand OUT!’
This program helps Leaders, Entrepreneurs, Managers and Sales Professionals just like you who want to:
Feel more confident every time you stand up and speak,
Impact more people with a clear and concise message
Influence others to ‘buy into’ your point of view.
Here’s just a sample of how “Stand Up. Speak Up. Stand OUT!” will help you become a more confident, impactful, and influential presenter:
You’ll discover a new level of confidence with a positive speaking mindset
You’ll create presentations that immediately grab the attention of others and hold their interest throughout your talk
You’ll deliver in a dynamic style that captivates every audience and has them talking about you long after you speak
You’ll have a proven and repeatable process that you can use to create presentations of any length, even on short notice.
Keep an eye open in the next couple of weeks for this unique program that will save you three-to-five years of frustration, time and money that I invested to discover these keys to world-class presentation skills.
Presentation Tip – Are You Making This Common Rehearsal Mistake? ultima modifica: 2019-05-06T12:00:09-04:00 da Michael Davis
"Michael transformed our everyday managers into conference presenters by coaching them and by challenging the traditional methods they were using to present. The outcome was phenomenal.
Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."
Robert Gerbus, President, Trans Ash, Inc.
Speaking CPR
5
2018-05-10T09:44:06-04:00
Robert Gerbus, President, Trans Ash, Inc.
"Michael transformed our everyday managers into conference presenters by coaching them and by challenging the traditional methods they were using to present. The outcome was phenomenal. Our conference was elevated to a new level of professionalism. Michael will be retained to help make our trainers become better communicators, both visually and verbally and to assist us with next year’s conference. We highly recommend him and Speaking CPR to assist with your next event."
“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me.
Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful. I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”
LTC (Ret.) Scott Mann, Green Beret, Storyteller, Trainer, Coach, Author
Speaking CPR
5
2018-05-10T09:45:38-04:00
LTC (Ret.) Scott Mann, Green Beret, Storyteller, Trainer, Coach, Author
“As a former Green Beret and professional storyteller, I give dozens of speeches every year. I am very selective about who trains me. Michael Davis exceeded every expectation and was one of the best coaches I ever worked with. His quiet professionalism, and unsurpassed knowledge of storytelling helped make my Ted X Cincinnati talk extremely powerful. I would recommend Michael, as a story and speaking coach to anyone with a high stakes talk to give. Michael will help you take your speech from good to great!”
“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for ourTED x Cincinnatievent. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers.I was impressed with howgenuine, exuberant, and in touchhe was with each speaker.
He truly has agift in connecting with the heart of each personhe works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk.All of the speakersraved about his work with them.Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”
Allison Wonders Gars Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati
Speaking CPR
5
2018-03-20T17:08:04-04:00
Allison Wonders Gars Speaker Coach Manager, TED x Cincinnati
“We are privileged to have Michael Davis of Speaking CPR as one of the Speaker Coaches for our TED x Cincinnati event. I had the opportunity to be on several of the calls with Michael as he worked his craft with his speakers. I was impressed with how genuine, exuberant, and in touch he was with each speaker. He truly has a gift in connecting with the heart of each person he works with and helping them to unleash their story into their talk. All of the speakers raved about his work with them. Each of them has had broad experience in speaking, but they all felt that working with Michael raised the bar on their ability to speak. You can listen to all of his speakers, Anthony Munoz, Richard Bernstein and Graeme Joffe, at http://www.tedxcincinnati.com/talks/.”
“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss.
Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money.
I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”
Natalie Holder Founder, QUEST Diversity
Speaking CPR
5
2018-03-20T17:33:18-04:00
Natalie Holder Founder, QUEST Diversity
“Investing in Michael is one of the best investments I have ever made. I speak on the subject of diversity in the workplace, which can at times be a difficult topic to discuss. Michael taught me a repeatable process that allows me to create a foundational concept, a logical structure, an opening that grabs the audience’s attention, and a conclusion that encourages my audience to take action that will save them time and money. I found Michael easy to work with, flexible with his schedule, and a wealth of information about the art of speaking. If you need to improve your presentation or speech, I highly recommend you consider hiring Michael. It is one of the best investments you can make in your own growth.”