Gain confidence in your presentations by following these tips

For most of us, effective public speaking requires a bit of discipline, preparation, and practice. These suggestions will help you develop your delivery skills and overcome presentation jitters.

When you're called upon to deliver a presentation--whether it's for a small group of your peers or a large gathering at a major event--you need to be well prepared, self-assured, and connected with the audience. These tips from Seattle-based writer and Web professional D. Keith Robinson promote a realistic approach to building a more relaxed and effective presentation style. His suggestions cover mental preparation, presentation guidelines, and delivery techniques:

• Visualize a positive outcome.
• Hang out with the other speakers (if there are any) and ask them for advice.
• Avoid complicated charts and graphs; they're hard for your audience to follow.
• Check the resolution of your presentation. Maybe go with 800×600 to be safe. You never know for sure how it's going to work out if you don't have full control over the environment.
• Prepare more than you can speak to, but also be prepared to get cut short.
• Don't read your slides. They should support what you are saying, not be what you are saying.
• Pause to let strong ideas sink in. This can be hard to remember, but your audience needs time to absorb and take breaks too.

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