Congratulations on becoming a keynote speaker. Being the keynote is not child’s play, so you must be something else. To have been handed this responsibility, it must have been after careful consideration. No pressure. That being said, presenting an idea to people you may or may not know can be nerve-racking. The uncertainties alone could sometimes send shivers down your spine. But this nervousness will be close to invisible if you’re adequately prepared. Assembling your ideas and arranging them in a cohesive flow with the right words and images is a challenge to many.
However, preparing your presentation may not be as challenging as delivering it. And so here are some tips on how to make this a little easy for you. All the best!
1. Have a theme.
A keynote presentation is mostly themed to help the speaker narrow down their thoughts and dance around a core message. With a theme established, you can prepare your presentation, choose the right apparel, and settle on the most appropriate delivery method. You could also decide on a theme that is motivational, educational, or entertaining. Whichever one you settle on, have it in mind you’re expected to offer your audience value. If your presentation doesn’t fall along any of these lines, you might want to retake a look at it.
If you’re after some help and unsure where to start, presentation masters like Stinson Communications Inc. can help you develop just the right material for your audience. Their group of experts offers reliable writing services. Their big friendly team deals in event presentation, presentation development, presentation training, meeting presentation, and content consulting for various fields. Their trusted service also includes sales, marketing, teaching, and development of online writing services.
2. Prepare your presentation.
Once you have a theme established, you can go ahead and put down an outline for your presentation. You don’t have to be an experienced writer for this. Although you can seek quality writing help or other help of any type, you include the number of slides you intend to use and the references, graphs, tables, images, and others. These are salient presentation materials.
Also, please don’t make it seem like a writing assignment. Just let these elements reflect your theme and your core message. And as much as possible, keep your presentation short and simple. Use animation, symbols, tables, graphs, etc., judiciously. Do everything in moderation.
Also, avoid using stylish fonts and stick to simple and elegant ones with visible font size. Try not to pack a slide with too much information. The slides’ whole point is to break down information in the simplest form, and so do just that. In most cases, your keynote speech’s effectiveness is highly dependent on your presentation and so make sure it’s prepared in a way that’ll afford you an epic delivery.
3. Practice your presentation.
Practicing never hurts anyone. Even if you’re practicing for the umpteenth time, doing anything unprepared is just setting yourself up for possible embarrassment. If you can rehearse your presentation a few times before the day, you give yourself some comfort level in delivery.
Aim to have every slide memorized in a way that doesn’t have you reading verbatim. Do this, and you’ll appear very knowledgeable to your audience. You might not even have to go along with hand notes or prompts. Eventually, you’ll be able to engage with your audience and be ready for any question.
4. Tell a story.
As a keynote speaker, try to dish out materials strictly related to the theme instead of deviating from the core message with long anecdotes. Keep it short and simple. Your presentation is supposed to tell a story by using real-life examples to connect with people. To avoid boring your audience, a little humor here and there won’t be such a bad idea. That way, you can catch and maintain your audience’s attention and keep them entertained and yet informed.
5. Share your slides afterward.
Most times, keynote speakers are people the audience and like-minded people look up to. That means even after your presentation, a group of people might want to hold on to your material—assuming your presentation was a success. It helps if you can build a long-lasting relationship with your audience, even after your presentation. And sharing your presentation is the first step towards that.
It’s also a way of encouraging questions and engagements after your presentation. And so, if it works, you can include your professional contact details so they could reach out to you. Nurturing curious minds is a very productive way to use one’s time.
When preparing a speech, the complexity of learning can get in the way. However, with regular practice and quality assistance, you can get there.
