I have an oral presentation tomorrow for my English class. Does anyone have any pointers?

I am a high school debater which means that I speak in front of large groups of people on a regular basis. Some of the best ways to fight the butterflies are:

1. Know your material.

If you’re giving a presentation make sure that you are very familiar with the material, that you know what you’re going to say and how to say it.

2. Anticipate questions.

There are certian things that people, or professors, are bound to ask you about your presentation. Try to think about possible questions so that you will be prepared when they are asked.

3. Focus on someone you know in the room.

If you know someone in the room focus on them while giving the presentation. If you feel overwhelmed you can look at that person and almost pretend that you are talking just to them.

4. Win over the crowd.

Try to start with an joke or witty saying. If you get the crowd’s attention or approval, you will likely feel better, knowing they are agreeing or atleast interested in what you have to say. Another way to do this is to keep the group interested by not speaking in a monotone voice, change it up! Try to make eye contact with people, to maintain their interest.

5. Practice!

If you still feel uncomftorable try to practice in front of friends or family, encourage them to ask questions and productively comment. If no one is avaible, talk to yourself. Sit yourself in front of a mirror and do your presentation, this way you will see what you look like while presenting and how you can improve.

Good Luck! Have a good breakfast tomorrow morning and relax! You’ve prepared, you’ll be fine!

Practice your presentation A LOT when you know it well, you’ll be able to go slower. Practice it multiple times, and see if you can get it at least 90% memorized. (It can be done in as day. I’ve done it before.) When you have to take some time to remember what you wrote, you’ll go slower. If you start going fast, catch yourself, and slow down. Maybe ask your friend to make a little signal, (like sticking up a finger or something.) For when you start talking too fast. Stop to maybe explain things to add time to your presentation. I love public speaking, but I used to freak about it, too. What I do is just practice to the point that I memorize my presentation, and it is SO much easier for me. (or at least feel passionate about the topic.) Good luck!!

Record yourself doing the presentation and time yourself.

Listen to the recording and count the number of times you use hesitation phrases like um, hmm, like, etc.

You want to sound relaxing and flowing. Most people start to speak really fast when they get nervous so remember to slow down when you speak.

After you have listened to your recording and critiqued it, then do the speech over again and seen if you do the same things.

Write on your note cards or speech little notes like don’t say um, make eye contact with the audience, speak clearly, slow down to a relaxed pace, speak loud enough for everyone to hear you, etc.

Don’t worry everyone gets nervous when they speak in front of crowds so just focus on trying to convey the information instead of messing up.

I had a presentation to do the other day and what really (really) helped was practicing as though I was doing the actual presentation in front of the audience. The more vividly you can imagine a real audience in front of you and act as though it’s the real thing, the better prepared you will be, and the more prepared you are, the less nervous you will be. Talk out loud, move around and let your mind get comfortable with the task it will perform.

Good Luck!

Well, since you are prepared remember to keep eye contact on either someone you like in the class or on an imaginary person sitting in the back of the class. Also remember to sweep the classroom with your eyes to make it look like you are trying to get people’s attention. For relaxation drink some tea before you do it.

Imagine your audience in their underwear, look just over their heads, have good notes, etc. These ideas may work, but I’ve found nothing works as well as knowing your subject-really, really well. Butterflies are normal, you will do just fine. Good Luck with your presentation.

I usually like rehearsing something out loud to see how it sounds and sometime sin front of others so I could practice in front of people and they could give me tips on what I could do to improve my speech and/or presentation.