slide show, does the room have a screen that you can view it on? If you need to to write things on a white board, for one, is there a white board? And second, are there markers and in enough colors? I saw this go wrong recently where the person had a marker but it didn't work! It must have been running out of ink because instead of being bright red, it was light pink. I could see what she wrote because I was in the front of the room, but I HIGHLY doubt those even a few rows back could see it!

Who's going to be there? Find out in advance who is going to be there. Send out an e-vite and have people RSVP to it. Yo

In all my years of public speaking, I have learned many techniques to help calm those butterflies in the ol' stomach before getting up in front of a group. Several techniques don't actually have anything DIRECTLY to do with speaking or being in front of the group at all!

One time I did a presentation on the topic of Public Speaking and in my intro I asked the audience to grab the big box of 'Fear of Public Speaking' I had placed on everyones tables. They looked around the room quite dumbfounded! Then I asked if I could go to the store and buy a big family-sized bag of 'Fear of Public Speaking', but by then they realized where I was going with this....the fear of public speaking doesn't actually exist, rather, it only exists in our minds!

Have a backup plan! If you are preparing a presentation and you are planning on using some high-tech approach (say a Power Point presentation), have a backup plan! Print enough copies of the slides so everyone in your group can have a copy and hand them out whether the Power Point presentation works or not. Also, one more word about Power Point and similar approaches, DO NOT write every single thing you want to talk about on the slide and read it word for word. My theory, if 2 things are identical (in this case, what you are saying and what the slides say) one of them isn't needed!

Print your handouts in advance! Do not, I repeat, DO NOT print your handouts on the day of the presentation, rather, at least 1 day prior. Why? It's simple, what if your printer or copy machine is out of toner? What if your LAN is down and you can't access the printer? What if you realize you are out of paper after only 3 handouts are printed? If you need to run to Kinko's to get copies made, it will be MUCH EASIER 2 days prior to the presentation than 20 minutes before the presentation is set to begin! Also, if you're speaking away from your home turf, print everything you need, put it in a folder and put it in your car 2 days before the presentation so you know it's there. There is nothing worse than showing up to your speaking venue and all of your handouts are sitting in your printer across town! (By the way, I speak from experience on all of these accounts!)

See the venue! If it is possible, see the venue prior to the presentation. I know this won't work every time, but if possible, try to make it work! You want to see how the room is laid out. You want to know what resources are already there. If you bring a Power Point slide show, does the room have a screen that you can view it on? If you need to to write things on a white board, for one, is there a white board? And second, are there markers and in enough colors? I saw this go wrong recently where the person had a marker but it didn't work! It must have been running out of ink because instead of being bright red, it was light pink. I could see what she wrote because I was in the front of the room, but I HIGHLY doubt those even a few rows back could see it!

Who's going to be there? Find out in advance who is going to be there. Send out an e-vite and have people RSVP to it. You

lized where I was going with this....the fear of public speaking doesn't actually exist, rather, it only exists in our minds!

Have a backup plan! If you are preparing a presentation and you are planning on using some high-tech approach (say a Power Point presentation), have a backup plan! Print enough copies of the slides so everyone in your group can have a copy and hand them out whether the Power Point presentation works or not. Also, one more word about Power Point and similar approaches, DO NOT write every single thing you want to talk about on the slide and read it word for word. My theory, if 2 things are identical (in this case, what you are saying and what the slides say) one of them isn't needed!

Print your handouts in advance! Do not, I repeat, DO NOT print your handouts on the day of the presentation, rather, at least 1 day prior. Why? It's simple, what if your printer or copy machine is out of toner? What if your LAN is down and you can't access the printer? What if you realize you are out of paper after only 3 handouts are printed? If you need to run to Kinko's to get copies made, it will be MUCH EASIER 2 days prior to the presentation than 20 minutes before the presentation is set to begin! Also, if you're speaking away from your home turf, print everything you need, put it in a folder and put it in your car 2 days before the presentation so you know it's there. There is nothing worse than showing up to your speaking venue and all of your handouts are sitting in your printer across town! (By the way, I speak from experience on all of these accounts!)

See the venue! If it is possible, see the venue prior to the presentation. I know this won't work every time, but if possible, try to make it work! You want to see how the room is laid out. You want to know what resources are already there. If you bring a Power Point slide show, does the room have a screen that you can view it on? If you need to to write things on a white board, for one, is there a white board? And second, are there markers and in enough colors? I saw this go wrong recently where the person had a marker but it didn't work! It must have been running out of ink because instead of being bright red, it was light pink. I could see what she wrote because I was in the front of the room, but I HIGHLY doubt those even a few rows back could see it!

Who's going to be there? Find out in advance who is going to be there. Send out an e-vite and have people RSVP to it. Yo

ntical (in this case, what you are saying and what the slides say) one of them isn't needed!

Print your handouts in advance! Do not, I repeat, DO NOT print your handouts on the day of the presentation, rather, at least 1 day prior. Why? It's simple, what if your printer or copy machine is out of toner? What if your LAN is down and you can't access the printer? What if you realize you are out of paper after only 3 handouts are printed? If you need to run to Kinko's to get copies made, it will be MUCH EASIER 2 days prior to the presentation than 20 minutes before the presentation is set to begin! Also, if you're speaking away from your home turf, print everything you need, put it in a folder and put it in your car 2 days before the presentation so you know it's there. There is nothing worse than showing up to your speaking venue and all of your handouts are sitting in your printer across town! (By the way, I speak from experience on all of these accounts!)

See the venue! If it is possible, see the venue prior to the presentation. I know this won't work every time, but if possible, try to make it work! You want to see how the room is laid out. You want to know what resources are already there. If you bring a Power Point slide show, does the room have a screen that you can view it on? If you need to to write things on a white board, for one, is there a white board? And second, are there markers and in enough colors? I saw this go wrong recently where the person had a marker but it didn't work! It must have been running out of ink because instead of being bright red, it was light pink. I could see what she wrote because I was in the front of the room, but I HIGHLY doubt those even a few rows back could see it!

Who's going to be there? Find out in advance who is going to be there. Send out an e-vite and have people RSVP to it. Yo

speaking away from your home turf, print everything you need, put it in a folder and put it in your car 2 days before the presentation so you know it's there. There is nothing worse than showing up to your speaking venue and all of your handouts are sitting in your printer across town! (By the way, I speak from experience on all of these accounts!)

See the venue! If it is possible, see the venue prior to the presentation. I know this won't work every time, but if possible, try to make it work! You want to see how the room is laid out. You want to know what resources are already there. If you bring a Power Point slide show, does the room have a screen that you can view it on? If you need to to write things on a white board, for one, is there a white board? And second, are there markers and in enough colors? I saw this go wrong recently where the person had a marker but it didn't work! It must have been running out of ink because instead of being bright red, it was light pink. I could see what she wrote because I was in the front of the room, but I HIGHLY doubt those even a few rows back could see it!

Who's going to be there? Find out in advance who is going to be there. Send out an e-vite and have people RSVP to it. Yo

slide show, does the room have a screen that you can view it on? If you need to to write things on a white board, for one, is there a white board? And second, are there markers and in enough colors? I saw this go wrong recently where the person had a marker but it didn't work! It must have been running out of ink because instead of being bright red, it was light pink. I could see what she wrote because I was in the front of the room, but I HIGHLY doubt those even a few rows back could see it!

Who's going to be there? Find out in advance who is going to be there. Send out an e-vite and have people RSVP to it. You probably won't get an exact number, but you will be close! (can you see how this could tie into the above suggestions? Handouts, venue size, etc) Is the CEO going to be there? Will there be customers and potential customers there? Some people prefer not to know in advance, but I personally think it is critical.

Prep time? Typically I won't take on a speech project or presentation without a minimum of 10-14 days advance notice. Now I know that isn't feasible in many peoples line of work, but again, thats just me. I know seasoned presentation leaders that will take something on with 3 days notice. Occasionally I will be asked to give a presentation that I have given before with 1 day notice, and I am okay with that. It's really up to you, there is no right or wrong, but rather, what works for you. It's a lot like dieting, when you think about it. Some people can have only 1500 calories a day, while others do much better on a high protein, low-carb diet! But the best suggestion I can give is try everything and see what works best for you!

In conclusion, I am convinced that, by following these suggestions, you will eliminate many of your fears when it comes presentation time! Public speaking doesn't have to be some nerve-racking thing, in fact, the good far out weighs the bad (perhaps thats a topic for another article!). There is almost no place I would rather be than in front of a group talking about something I know a lot about, and following these suggestions, I know it will be your favorite place too!