Presentation Skills Courses - Top 10 Basic Improv Rules

Whether you are charged with the task of delivering a presentation at work, school, or for social purposes, there are a few factors to keep in mind.

The best presentation skills courses will teach you the following rules for improvisation, which is extremely important when speaking to the public.

1. Learn to think on your feet. This is one of the most important speaking and presentation skills to work on in general, whether you are improvising your speech or reading from prepared notes.

2. Establish rapport with your audience. You can draw in your audience by giving them facts that may relate to them personally, starting your presentation with a personal anecdote, or using humor. In presentation skills courses, students learn more about how to maintain this important line of contact and rapport.

3. Anticipate tough questions. Your biggest tool during improvisational presentations is the research that you conducted in advance. When you are researching an issue, be sure not to focus only on your own viewpoint, but read all you can about the opposing side as well.

4. Work on your timing. A good presentation will involve speaking skill combined with the right timing and delivery to inspire confidence in the audience.

5. Stand up straight to deliver your message with confidence. Imagine a string holding you up from the top of your head to the ceiling. This is taught in presentation skills courses to help speakers stand up straight, improving posture as well as vocal tone.

6. Maintain a positive attitude. Even when it seems like your views are under fire, if you stay positive, your point will come across much more palatably to your audience. Techniques to stay positive are taught in many courses in public speaking.

7. Listen to and accept other viewpoints. Show your audience that you are willing to take their views on board, and they will be more likely to listen to you in return.

8. Go in to the presentation with a clear goal in mind. Don't forget what your main aim is with your presentation. All of your statements, visual aids, and supporting facts should help support this main message.

9. Use your body language to support your message. As shown in presentation skills courses, a well-place gesture or movement can help bring your audience in closer to you.

10. Maintain a sense of immediacy. If your audience feels that your message is relevant to their lives now, it will help them stay interested.

These methods and more are covered in many presentation skills courses. By learning more about how to improvise in the real world, you can make your communication more effective not only in the workplace, but also in your day to day life.

At IMproSolutions we are passionate about helping you to overcome fear of public speaking. With courses in public speaking, including presentation skills courses, speaking and presentation skills training, and speaking skill tips. Read about our public speaking program from Author Scott Topper a three-time Emmy-nominated television show host, professional actor and speaker.

How to Put Your Nervousness to Good Use

In public speaking or any other type of live performance, the idea of trying to get rid of your nervousness is definitely not the right approach. Nervousness is that wonderful rush of adrenaline that can make you sharper, more alert and more focused. In fact, the benefits of nervousness are so powerful that trying to eliminate it is a huge mistake.

If you're not nervous, then you lose that wonderful edge.

The secret in dealing with nervousness is to learn how to take control of it. In doing so, you will find that it will work for you and not against you. And, the best means of controlling those nervous jitters - instead of your nervousness controlling you - is by breathing with the support of your diaphragm, something most people are unaware and most definitely not doing. The majority of the population resorts to upper chest or lazy breathing.

I am sure that you are wondering how breathing can make such a difference. First of all, many novice public speakers never even bother to breathe when speaking. This is why you often hear the pitch of their voice going higher and higher and their speed getting faster and faster. They are trying desperately to catch up on their limited air supply. The problem with this scenario is that lack of air, coupled with shallow breathing, actually increases nervousness.

It is a known fact that when someone is experiencing a panic attack, the 1st thing they are taught is to sit and take a deep breath. When you breathe in this manner, your body is able to rid itself of toxins in the blood that shallow or upper chest breathing is unable to do. Therefore, if you are a lazy breather and you are nervous addressing an audience, your breathing is actually increasing your nervousness.

When you learn how to breathe diaphragmatically, which is the same type of breathing used in meditation and yoga, you will discover that you are in control of your nervousness. When that happens, you are able concentrate on your message and your delivery instead of your nerves.

One woman with whom I worked thought she was going to vomit before addressing my class during our 1st session. After learning how to breathe with support, not only was she able to give presentations without being nauseous, but she actually got a promotion at work and was on the road speaking to all the branches of her bank.

Don't try to get rid of your nervousness. Learn how to breathe correctly and watch what your nervousness can do for you!

If you're hesitating to take the plunge into public speaking, ask yourself: "What's the worst thing that can possibly happen, even if I fail miserably in my first attempt at public speaking?" I'll tell you. You'll be embarrassed. Perhaps you'll be very embarrassed. That's it! And then what? Nothing, absolutely nothing!

What Happened Before?

Instead of imagining how terrible even that would be, do this: Think back to the most embarrassing incident in your entire life. What happened after that? Nothing that matters to you today, right? So, any discomfort you felt was just temporary, wasn't it? So, for all practical purposes, you could say that the result was... nothing.

Only if you've allowed that experience to control some aspect of your life can it be said that the experience actually harmed you. And, if that's the case, it's so only because you chose to allow it to. It's over, so let it go.

What If You're Criticized?

Back to the present. Suppose you somehow manage to give an absolutely horrible presentation. What then? Most people will be in your corner. The next time you speak, they'll pull for you, and will admire you for your courage.

But what if someone says something negative to you about your presentation? It's unlikely, but if they do, take it away from them by beating them at their own game.

If they say it was bad, you thank them and say they're just being kind to you, that it worse than bad, it was simply atrocious! As you go on and on, they'll soon tire of it, stop you and say that you're getting carried away, it wasn't that bad. They'll try to balance the scales, and will wind up complimenting you. So, you can effectively neutralize even your worst critics by outdoing them.

However, the odds are maybe 100 to 1 that you'll never have to employ that device. So, where does that leave you? With no audible critics except the worst critic of all - you. Let's go back to your most embarrassing incident. Who has been your worst critic about that incident since it happened? You. So, self-criticism was the most harmful result of the incident, not what others did or said.

You're In Control!

That's good to know, because it tells you that the worst outcome of your giving the worst presentation of all time will be the criticism you'll level at yourself. What's good about that? Well, that's the only thing you can control after your presentation! So, the outcome is in your hands. You'll determine how things turn out by how you choose to view the matter afterwards.

Of course, you can easily avoid what's mentioned above, and make it a good presentation, and you will. We'll talk about what you can do in other articles. The point of this article is that you can effectively deal with whatever may happen, even it you hit the jackpot and give the worst presentation ever!

Mastering the Brag/Bash Balance

I'll never forget how hard my Mom laughed when I got the term wrong. I mentioned that I preferred it when speakers were 'self-defecating.' She coughed onion soup through her nose, sent me to a dictionary, and I never made that mistake again.

'Self-deprecating.' It's a quality we admire and a technique that we advocate in good speeches and presentations. But doing it well is a tricky balancing act. Too much, and we lose the underlying 'follow me' effect; that psychological pull that inspires audiences to emulate our behaviours. Too little, and you position yourself as an abrasive braggart, earning audience reactions like, "I can't believe they paid him to come here and preen."

I have to walk this line in my own presentations. I have some humorous stories about embarrassing moments in my life, including:

- The time I fell off a treadmill at gym and landed up in a pile against the back wall, ankles around my ears - The time the IT guy accidentally loaded porn onto the screen behind me while I was speaking to an audience, and - (One that I'm still working on with my therapist).

... but I also need to refer to some victories, in order to illustrate certain key points; incidents like:

- Winning the Toastmasters Championships for public speaking in my country five times - Landing my first job on radio, and - Publishing my first book.

If your speeches are structured in such a way that you need to refer to personal incidents to make your points, are there any useful guidelines you could follow?

Absolutely! Let's explore them by looking at each end of the scale in turn:

1. 'Bragging':

The rule of thumb is this: All self-promoting illustrations must have intrinsic value. They must contribute to the audience's understanding of your message. They have to make a point. If they don't, they shouldn't be there.

Of course you want the audience to know about your credentials, but if they don't add to the speech, they should be relegated to your introduction, if they appear at all. Be secure enough to accept that not every audience needs to know everything you've accomplished.

Our job is to focus on making them greater people, not to illustrate our own greatness.

And so, the question to ask is this: Am I telling this story because I want them to know about my accomplishment, or will this genuinely inspire them? Intrinsic value is always the key.

2. Self-deprecation:

Self-deprecation does not necessarily have to have as much intrinsic value as its counterpart. To a large extent, we use it for the emotional impact it will have on our audiences. Therefore, the criterion becomes:

- It should move them (to laughter or tears) - It should help them to relate to you as an accessible human being - It should create an enjoyable, entertaining effect.

What it should not do is take you so far away from your actual point that you dilute the effect of your message. Nor should it make your audience feel uncomfortable. The usefulness of self-deprecation ends where self-pity or self-indulgence begins. Ask yourself: Am I telling them this because it will create emotional impact, or do I simply want pity?

Another useful purpose for self-deprecating stories is to create emotional tension before a triumph, for greater contrast in your speech delivery. You can sell an idea more effectively if you talk about your pain before you applied the idea. In this instance, your 'down' moment exists to throw greater light on the 'up' moment to follow.

A talk about personal finances, for example, can be brought to life with a self-deprecating story about how poor your own financial scenario was prior to your application of the forthcoming ideas. The further down you were, the greater the impact of the subsequent triumph. Without that subsequent triumph, you are merely using your audience as a therapist... And that's not what you get paid for.

Then there's the delivery:

When you must tell one of your success stories, don't try to play it down. It actually comes across as a reverse form of bragging, which is equally annoying. If you won the World Championships in one or other field, don't try to diminish its effect by saying, "I won a contest." Say, "I won the World Championships." Belittling a legitimate achievement doesn't make you look humble. You're just over-doing your attempt to avoid bragging, and it shows. If it is truth, state it. Don't play it down. But always begin by asking: Is there intrinsic value to the audience?

Some of the most ticklingly fantastic humour we'll ever create is born in our most embarrassing moments. Some of our most powerful points find their genesis in our own accomplishments. Present them with the right balance, and your audiences will come to love the human being bearing all before them!