Honing your public speaking skills

Yes, Carmine Gallo declared that public speaking is no longer a soft skill. In fact it's everyone's prerequisite to success regardless of what field you're in - sales, surgery, engineering, politics, advertising, whatever.

Here are my insights on how you can stand out on your next presentation.

Master your topic

There is a fine line between knowing your topic, and actually mastering it. Knowing your topic is merely, well, knowing what it's about. If it's about computers, it may merely touch the basics such as hardware and software and keyboards and operating systems.

In contrast, mastery exhibits passion to your topic and deep empathy to your audience. Keep in mind that your audience can sense whether you're faking it or you're really digging into what you're talking about. If you show that you sincerely care and you know from the heart what you're talking about, your audience will love you and will see you as more credible and authentic.

Substantiate your main points

Don't just say "some people are vulnerable to phishing attacks." Prepare your hard facts and numbers and statistics and figures. Make it believable, as in "over 2 million people unknowingly click a phished website." Be specific, and always show substantiated claims.

Your presentation slide is your best friend

But let's not be too giddy and create a 100-slide presentation. Ever heard of PechaKucha? If you're in the know, according to its website, Pecha Kucha is simply the art of concise presentations. Devised in Tokyo in February 2003, Pecha Kucha is designed for presenters to deliver 20 slides with 20 seconds for each slide, for a total presentation time of 6 minutes and 40 seconds. This is particularly important when you are presenting a business case, and your client has other important matters to attend to.

Use professional slide templates

And yes, even if you've mastered PechaKucha, don't use fonts like Comic Sans MS or any cursive font. Your presentation design is a reflection of your personality and character and if you want a concrete example, you can watch the product launch of Microsoft .

Tell a story

Your audience are more likely to listen to you too, if you tell a story. You could narrate your experiences about your business, your customers, how you developed your product from zero to finish, and maybe even some of your personal experiences.

Pause for a while

It's common for rookie speakers to speak too fast and without even a short break, giving the impression that the speaker may be in a hurry or may be nervous and anxious. Relax. Take deep breaths. Effective speakers know how to pace themselves. Talk too slow and you'll bore your audience; too fast and they'll think you're rushing. Talk in a natural pace, as if you're conversing with a friend about your favourite topic.

Avoid fillers

I'm personally guilty with adding fillers such as "um", "uh", and "like", and I don't even realise it. Break the habit. Record yourself speaking and analyse your tendency to blurt these fillers, so you can avoid them in your next speech.

Use gestures

Don't just stand there speaking or you'll look stiff and hard as a rock. Use hand gestures naturally, perhaps walking a few steps every once in a while.

Have a Q&A portion

At the end of your speech, always have a question and answer session even if you know no one will ask. This will invoke audience opinion, making them feel like they're part of your conversation, and also answer lingering questions during the speaking part. Be ready for questions and objections the audience might throw at you.