Keep your listeners on their toes instead of putting them to sleep. There are few experiences more demoralizing than looking out at your audience during a presentation and seeing one of your coworkers out cold. Okay, so he was probably just tired. But a great presentation keeps your listeners on their toes and inspires them to think differently about whatever topic you’re addressing. That’s not to say that delivering a solid talk is easy. In fact, it’s incredibly difficult. To help you out on that front, we checked out the Quora thread, " How can I improve my public speaking skills? " and highlighted 10 of the most creative and insightful responses. Read on to learn how to captivate and energize your audience. Flickr/open hardware summit 1. Remember it’s not about you Presumably, the reason you’re giving a speech is to help your audience understand a topic you’re passionate and knowledgeable about. Keep this reason in mind throughout the presentation. As Quora user Joseph Prabhakar says : "Remember — it is not about you. It is about the audience. Once you take the focus away from you, it will help you manage your fear and direct your energy and attention towards the audience." Meanwhile, author and speaker Scott Berkun recommends thinking about why your audience is there and what five questions they’ll expect you to answer over the course of your presentation. It all boils down to one question , which you can ask yourself before you deliver your presentation: Will this talk benefit others — or just you? 2. Stick to what you know Entrepreneur and author Gary Vaynerchuk doesn’t hesitate to tell people what a good public speaker he is. He explains that the reason why some of his speeches are so good is because he sticks […]
