Presenting with Confidence...

Clients often ask how you can present with confidence.  The role of a coach is to be the ultimate Cheerleader and Accountability Partner.

One of my Clients knew his subject and had no confidence issues on the content, but found that he was delivering in a robotic way with very little engagement.  I encouraged him to try a more facilitative style, interact  with the audience by asking a few questions, which would work well in small groups.    If the group was too large, then he could try some rhetorical questions with a moment to pause. 

To start his presentation we also worked out a question that all the audience members could say yes to, and therefore stand up and then by reducing the amounts get them to sit down.  For example have you been to the cinema in the last year, hopefully the majority of the audience stands and then gradually reduce the number of people standing by asking last 6 months, 3 months, this month and ultimately this week if you have any left standing.

We worked through the different audiences he presented to and how making himself more personable by different types of engagement could make his style less robotic and give him confidence in his style. 

Another Client felt that they lacked presence, and when as a Coach I asked questions to identify why they felt this way, it came down to their voice.  They had physical presence but they had received feedback in the past that they were slightly monotone.  My suggestion was to read children's story books, and practice really animating their voice. 

The other practice tool was to highlight the key words that they wanted to put emphasis on ensure that these were highlighted in their notes or in bold on their slide deck. 

I encouraged them to watch presenters and newsreaders and see how they delivered tonality even on the hardest of news topics.

Being a coach is about being that accountability partner, so it was really important that I checked in with them once they had done a presentation and we talked through what had worked and what had not. 

Coaching is about that encouraging voice from the sidelines, empowering Clients to believe that they can do it!!

Please do get in touch to have a workshop on Presenting with Confidence or to have a coaching session bev@nuggetsoflearning.co.uk