Practice, Practice, Practice!
It's 2021. I'm sure you have some New Year’s resolutions: exercise, volunteer, read books…
Add, ‘improve presentation skills’ to that list.
Whether you’re on a video conference, making marketing videos, talking to your team, or eventually presenting in-person, you’re going to have to speak in 2021.
Given the importance of communication, improving your presentation skills is essential to your success.
Like learning to play guitar, golf, or knit, improving your presentation skills takes practice.
We get asked all the time, how much should I practice? Good question.
Malcom Gladwell brought the idea of “practicing” into the limelight in his book “Outliers: The Story of Success.” One of his most memorable conclusions was that you need “10,000 hours of focused practice” to become an expert. And while that may be necessary for complete mastery, short, focused practice sessions can go a long way to improving your speaking skills.
In order to become a more effective communicator, we recommend the following:
SMALL BLOCKS OF TIME: Science has demonstrated you should practice in small, focused sessions to achieve the greatest growth. Think 10 to 15 minutes a few times a week. Opting for short, focused practice sessions that are spread out over time will most efficiently produce the gains you're looking for.
BREAK IT DOWN: Trying to improve every speaking skill at once is a zero sum game. You want to practice one or two skills at a time. During one practice session work on your intonation and changing your rate of speech, during another session work on gestures and movement, and in a third session focus on eliminating umms and ahhs. Not only are partitioned practice sessions more interesting, they're also more effective.
ONE SECTION AT A TIME: When practicing an upcoming presentation, don’t try to rehearse it all at once. Divide your presentation into roughly even ‘sections,’ and practice them one at a time. This will prevent a common problem that develops when you try to practice your whole presentation from start to finish--your introduction will be great, but your ending will suffer. By compartmentalizing your presentation and working successively on each section, you ensure each component receives the practice it deserves.
USE TECHNOLOGY: Nowadays, recording yourself is easy. You can set up a personal Zoom room and record yourself or you can record on your phone. Not only will seeing yourself on camera give you a new perspective into your presentation mannerisms, it will also get you more comfortable presenting to camera (a must in these days of non-stop virtual meetings). When you review your recording, watch to see if you’re changing your pacing and tone, gesturing above your waist, and making meaningful eye contact with the camera. After reviewing the footage, focus on making one improvement and try again.
Practice may not produce immediate perfection, but you will see nearly instantaneous results.
Add public speaking practice to your New Year’s resolution, and the next time you have an available 15 minutes, practice.