Last month was a big month for people giving presentations. Steve Jobs launches the iPad, for example and ex-Prime Minister Tony Blair gives evidence about the war with Iraq. To be honest, Mr Jobs had the easier time of it, for two reasons. Firstly, his audience wanted him to do well (whereas Mr Blair was being interrogated (albeit politely) – but more importantly perhaps, Steve Jobs had time to prepare and practise.
I’m sure Tony Blair practised too – after all one of the most common points made by commentators was that there weren’t any questions that he’d not already been asked, so it’s not as if he went in ‘cold’ – but Steve Jobs had the luxury of setting his own agenda and of rolling it out in front of his audience in his chosen order. Never underestimate how much of an advantage that gives you: it means you can rehearse your presentation coherently, for a start!
Of course, if you don’t rehearse, you’re not taking advantage of that opportunity and you’re deliberately putting yourself in a worse position than Tony Blair – the first time you open your mouth is the first time you hear what you’re saying. (At least Tony had chance to practise in other interviews!). Why would you do that to yourself? :)
So how much practise time do you need? Well that’s rather like the old question about the length of a piece of string. The answer is “enough but not too much”. Even worse than not knowing what you’re going to say next and being terrified (which the audience may very well not notice) is knowing too well what you’re going to say next and being bored (which the audience will certainly notice and not forgive you for). The trick is to rehearse until you know exactly what you’re going to say, but not necessarily how: in other words, you should always be able to predict your next paragraph, or even sentence but certainly not your next word.
Good points here. Thanks!
One of the worse things you can do is to try to memorize a speech.
If you don’t mess it up, you’ll sound like a recording.
Your point is to know your subject, and know it very well.
You then speak with authority as an expert!
You’re right about rehearsals – a speech that sounds scripted will rarely be engaging, and will be difficult to adapt to any changes in the audience. At the same time, rehearsal is essential to delivering a successful, persuasive presentation.
Perhaps the best thing to do is to allow yourself more time for practice than you think you need – it is always easier to stop rehearsing with a couple of hours to spare, than to rehearse in a panic up to the moment you step on stage!