Five Great Tips for Guest Speakers

Regardless of whether you are marketing online or in-person, a product or a service, something that costs $1.00 or $10,000 USA, there’s going to be a time somewhere that you will make a presentation.

This week’s guest blogger has some tips when that guest speaker is you.

Five Great Tips for Guest Speakers

If you’ve been chosen as a guest speaker for a business event or conference, the first thought some of us might have is ‘How am I going to do this?’. Talking to our peers about our expertise can be a daunting prospect, so here are five fail safe tips to keep your audience engaged and to keep you in control.

1. Keep calm
Getting up on stage in front of hundreds of people can cause many of us to panic, and when we panic, we don’t make the best speakers. Remember to keep calm: breathing techniques are important here, so practice simply taking a deep breath in through your nose, holding for a beat, and breathing out through your mouth. Simple, but very effective.
2. Remember who is in charge
You have been asked to be a guest speaker because the audience, the organisers and your peers believe you are the authority on this subject. Don’t forget that they want you to be there, so enjoy the opportunity to talk about your knowledge and experience! Think about what you love so much about the subject you are presenting on, and make sure that is conveyed to the audience.
3. Don’t look down
There’s nothing worse than a speaker who looks at their notes, mumbles and never makes eye contact. While you don’t need to stare deeply into the eyes of everybody in the audience, remember to cast your eyes over the audience’s heads to ensure that they connect with you on both a verbal and visual level.
4. Practice, practice, practice
Spending an hour or two in the week before the conference practicing what you’re going to say, your timing and the order of your presentation is very important. If you feel comfortable with what you’re going to say, so will the audience. Practice your timing with slides before the event to make sure that everything runs smoothly.
5. And finally, don’t rely on anything but yourself!
Having a few notes or verbal reminders on your presentation slides is very helpful, but make sure you don’t rely on them too much. The audience want to hear what you’ve got to say, not read about it on a bright screen that’s too far away. Use visual and written cues to help you stay on track during your presentation, rather than letting them become restrictive.

Author Bio: Joel Harrison – Editor at www.b2bmarleting.net bringing marketers together in an online community