Your turn in the hot seat?

It’s 5am but you’re already awake WITH butterflies in your stomach and a longing for the day to be over. For anyone who is being inducted into the subtle art of giving presentations, this will be a familiar feeling.

“Some nerves can work to your advantage by giving you an adrenalin boost. But you shouldn’t be quaking in your boots,” says Mark Redfern, director of Malborough Training, an organisation that provides training to the social housing sector.

It’s amazing what a bit of careful research and preparation can do for your delivery.

One of the easiest ways to pick up pointers – of what not to do, as well as what works – is to pay close attention when watching others presenting. The colleague who talks to their PowerPoint presentation, rather than the audience, is obviously not someone to be emulated.

Another classic mistake is just repeating what is already displayed on the screen. Photographs or diagrams should support the presentation, but not distract attention from the speaker. In fact, Redfern says the assumption that a presentation only has merit if backed by PowerPoint slides is now, thankfully, on its way out.

The single most common reason for things going wrong is insufficient time spent on preparation. Redfern suggests you should aim to spend at least an hour preparing for every 10 minutes you will be speaking. And it is a good idea to have a dress rehearsal, perhaps with a friend or colleague. “If nothing else, you will get an idea about the timing,” says Redfern. “But it should give you more confidence on the day.”

Your colleague will also be able to let you know what your body language is saying. If, for example, your nerves are causing you to fidget constantly, you’ll know what you need to work on. And remember to speak very slowly and deliberately. “It might sound slightly ridiculous to you, but it won’t to your audience,” Redfern says.

If all this doesn’t make the thought of talking in front of anyone except your pet cat any easier, it may be tempting to dismiss “presenting” as something that just isn’t your forte. But it’s worth remembering that many of the skills that will transform you into a fearless, professional presenter are the very ones you need to climb the career ladder.

“If you’re ambitious, public speaking is an essential skill,” stresses Brendan Ryan, head of housing at Dover council. “Whether you work for a registered social landlord or a council, being able to communicate confidently is essential – and ultimately will influence the decisions made by the board or the council.” It’s not just about acquiring the confidence to stand at the front of a room full of people; asking a question from the back of the room at a meeting of 30 to 40 unfamiliar faces is just as important.

The ability to articulate your ideas out loud is also closely related to being able to present an idea clearly on paper. Working on something like a residents’ newsletter could actually improve your public speaking by helping to clarify what is, and what isn’t, an effective way of communicating. Concise, well-thought-out bullet points can be one of the best ways of getting a message across – and this translates to speech-making. Ryan and Redfern both say that making notes in bullet points, rather than an entire narrative, will help you come across more naturally and interact more closely with the audience.

And be sure to tailor what you say to your audience. “At the moment I’m speaking to tenants about the housing account business plan,” says Ryan. “To make this meaningful you must avoid jargon. Don’t say ‘void’ homes, for example, say ‘empty’ ones.”

When it comes to confident presentational style there is no substitute for experience, but even super-confident bosses, if they’re honest, will admit that they are not complete strangers to the 5am butterflies either.