Nail your next presentation with these golden rules

Last week I did a presentation and completely stuffed it up. Yep…even though I’ve done hundreds of talks, presentations, seminars, even a TEDx in front of thousands of people, I stuffed this speech up.

The talk was for my opening of my solo exhibition and I’m not sure what happened. I do know that I was exhausted, not grounded, hadn’t practiced, and weirdly felt people would judge me (even though most of them were friends).

The result was a jumbled mix of words, thoughts and nervousness.

What I do know is I didn’t follow my golden rules. As you probably know, it took a lot of courage for me to step into the spotlight (if you don’t, watch my TEDx about this journey). Along the way I have developed key steps to public speaking.

Prepare and practice

The more prepared I am, the less nervous I am. Research your topic thoroughly and prepare your speech and then practice, practice, practice.

Know your audience

Before any speaking opportunity find out information about the audience. This will help you to tailor your speech to their needs and level of knowledge.

Find your lighthouses

My friend and speaking coach, Mariette Rups-Donnelly taught me this, and I use it every single time. Find the lighthouses in the room. They are the people that are engaged and listening to you. Speak to them and they will feed you energy. It works every time.

Relax and deliver

Try to overcome your nerves. This was the hardest thing for me to do, but it’s important to relax and be yourself. You can use relaxation techniques such as controlled breathing to calm your nerves and make sure you are prepared.

Become a regular public speaker

Trust me, the more you practice public speaking, the more successful you will be. Start by speaking at small events and then build up to bigger ones. Say yes as much as possible to every speaking opportunity.

And sometimes you stuff up. And that’s OK. We regularly sing the song “Let It Go” from the movie Frozen in our office. Don’t hold on to failure, let it go.

I think the most important thing is to grow from the obstacles on your path and find wisdom through their solutions. And always – always – treat yourself with love and care.

Tweetable: Golden rules for public speaking @CatrionaPollard bit.ly/2lCCQng

By Catriona Pollard, Public Speaking

Overcoming self-limiting beliefs – TEDx

It’s so wonderful to reflect on experiences. Two years ago I did a TEDx talk on a topic close to my heart – overcoming self-limiting beliefs and finding our spotlight moments.

No matter if you are an introvert, extrovert or something in between, many of us struggle to move from the shadows into the spotlight.

Being open to ‘Yes’ enables us to redefine the spotlight, understand we all deserve to be there and share our voice with the world.

From my own personal experience and also from working with people making the transition from unknown to recognised expert, this is what I’ve learnt.

Connect with your why
It takes courage to be truly seen and heard. While we might want to have a desire to move into the spotlight, I believe it needs to have purpose.

It’s about letting our self-limiting beliefs collapse around us and ask the larger question of why? I believe it’s not about literary being in the spotlight, it’s about the synergy and connections you create when you are there.

Be of service
I believe we all have stories to tell that will help others in some way.

We have experience and expertise we have developed in our lives that should be shared because others will benefit from it. The world needs to hear what you have to say.

As soon as I realised that stepping into the spotlight wasn’t as me, it was about you, and what you take away from hearing my voice, it really helped me because I realised I was being of service.

Be yourself
Moving into the spotlight is not about being someone you’re not. Neither is it about changing your personality. It’s about allowing your true self to emerge from the shadows and being illuminated.

And it’s not necessarily about striving and seeking. It can be about standing still and feeling the ground beneath your feet and allowing people to come towards you.

It’s also about being brave enough to be vulnerable. When you are vulnerable you create connections with people because you are speaking your truth, and quite often it’s their truth as well.

Believe in your stories
We live in a world where we are encouraged to compare ourselves to others. As soon as we do this, we start living smaller lives. We start thinking our stories are not as important as theirs.

We need to have the confidence to know our stories are valid, not matter how big or small.

And finally, it’s about being open to yes
Who are you not to shine your light? Who are you not to have a voice? Who are you not to make the world a better place?

It’s not about becoming louder, it’s about becoming bolder. It’s about being open to yes.

Yes is magic. Yes is illuminating. Yes can open up opportunities you never even dreamed of.

So I’ll leave you with a question.

What are you going to say yes to today?

Tweetable: Overcoming self-limiting beliefs and finding our spotlight moments @CatrionaPollard @TEDx http://bit.ly/2d2sfeD

Personal Branding, Public Speaking, Thought Leadership

My TEDx talk: Being open to ‘yes’ [Video]

I spoke about a topic close to my heart at TEDx Macquarie University – Being open to ‘yes’.

No matter if you are an introvert, extrovert or something in between, many of us struggle to move from the shadows into the spotlight. Being open to ‘Yes’ enables us to redefine the spotlight, understand we all deserve to be there and share our voice with the world.

Here is my TEDx talk and I hope that sharing my challenges about stepping into the spotlight and what I have learnt along the way inspires you to do the same.