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It is really important to develop presentation skills. There was a study
done in 2012 in New York, by the economist Sylvia Ann Hewlett. She asked
executives all over New York City and of all the executives surveyed, they said that
67% said that gravitas, executive presence, was the most
crucial thing to success in a career.
So yes, it really does matter.
It tells people how clearly you're thinking
and it tells people how confident you are.
So, it's as important as making sure that your clothes look smart. It matters.
Preparation is the most important thing to any kind of presentation. It's like
it's the tip of the iceberg.
What we see in a presentation is the result of loads of thinking and loads of practice,
so that it's smooth and clear and simple.
You want to treat the visual aids with that sense as well, you want to make
your visual aids really spare and clear and actually look really good, so that the audience
remember what you say because you've got it so distilled and so focussed.
It's like fractals or snowflakes, we want to see the absolute distillation.
Top five tips for giving a brilliant presentation actually come from a book I've researched.
I went and talked to A-list actors about their tips for confidence,
so a lot of these come from actors. The first one is Helen Mirren, she said
you've got to relax your shoulders.
Most of us get really nervous and we pull our shoulders up round our ears.
That speeds you up and it makes you look nervous, so you have to imagine you're wearing
a beautiful diamond necklace, or a medallion if you're a man.
The second one comes from Ewan McGregor and he said, you have to imagine
that you're thinking one thought at a time with the audience. Most people
become runaway trains and they rush and rush and rush. Don't. Stop,
pause, put the brakes on
and then people really listen.
The third one is George Clooney. He says you have to imagine the audience are old
friends, because it makes you smile, it makes you warm, it makes you charismatic.
There's another great acting one, which is you have to have a secret.
Because what a secret does, is it makes your eyes slightly twinkle and gleam
and it gives you kind of different charisma.
And then the final one comes from a young actress called Hayley Atwell,
who said if she was getting really nervous about going on stage, she imagines something
really lovely waiting in her dressing room, like a
a big glass of wine or lovely meal and she looks forward to that
and as she does the presentation, she has a sense that there's something nice to come
and I think that can really help if you're nervous, have a glass of wine waiting
for you to the end of the day.