A Common Presentation Rehearsal Mistake
Imagine youโre practicing a presentation. Five minutes into your rehearsal, you get interrupted.
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After dealing with the interruption, you go back to your talk. Where do you restart your practice?
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If youโre like most people, you go to the beginning of the talk.
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And that is a mistake!
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Why?
It’s All About Attention
Because youโre giving too much focus to the opening of your presentation, and not enough to the latter parts.
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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.
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“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.ย
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 โjoltโ your brain to remember what you want to say.ย ย
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I promise you these techniques work. I can also promise you the first three or four times you do it, it doesnโt feel right. Itโs 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.
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As a result, the entire presentation got equal attention. And the version I presented to the audience was better.
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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.
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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.
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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
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Presentation Tip – Are You Making This Common Rehearsal Mistake?
ultima modifica: 2019-05-06T12:00:09-04:00
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Michaelโs mission is to help leaders, managers and sales professionals communicate with more confidence, impact, and influence. This passion is born from his own communication difficulties early in his career.
Fortunately, he discovered that public speaking is like riding a bike, swimming or driving a car - itโs a learnable skill. Once he discovered this โsecretโ he became a voracious student of the craft. He took courses, studied some of the worldโs best speakers and storytellers and continues to study presentation and business storytelling skills.
He is hired by companies and organizations, leaders, managers and sales professionals, and TEDx speakers to help them become more confident, impactful and influential communicators.
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