Malcolm Kushner

Successfully preparing a speech involves gathering and organizing your information and practicing your delivery. When you’re speaking in public, use visual aids to help get your message across to the audience, make sure your speaking location is prepared ahead of time, and get a handle on stage fright. A variety of helpful Web sites are available on public speaking.

The key to a successful virtual presentation is the same as the key to a successful face-to-face presentation: preparation. Consider the following guidelines to ensure that you're ready for your virtual presentation. Knowing which nonvirtual rules apply Always remember that a virtual presentation is still a presentation.

Problems can occur at any time during a presentation that involves an audience. Visual aids can get screwed up; loud sounds can interfere with the audience's understanding of your point; or you might just make a mistake in what you say — or how you say it — during your presentation. The time to think of a witty line to deal with a problem in your presentation is before the problem occurs, because more than likely, you'll be too nervous at that moment.

Whether you're giving a business presentation or delivering a soliloquy onstage, stage fright can rear its ugly head. The fear of getting stage fright can itself cause stage fright to strike you dumb. Don't be afraid of stage fright. Just keep the next several tricks in mind, and you'll be ready for anything. (Unless you get so nervous that you forget the tricks.

Business presentations don't always have to be about numbers, charts, and graphs. Sometimes telling a story can help your audience grasp a concept more readily than staring at raw data. As communications expert Jim Lukaszewski says, "A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a good story is worth 10,000 pictures.

Don’t let unforeseen circumstances put a damper on your speech. Get the details of the location where you will deliver your speech ahead of time and use these tips: Get to the room early so that you have time to make changes if it’s set up improperly. Close the curtains so that the audience can’t stare out the windows.

When you speak in public, you have to prepare your speech by selecting and organizing material, and writing a clear message. Once you’ve written the perfect speech, you need to prepare for the delivery. Writing your speech These guidelines will help you organize your material and write a speech. Resist making a speech that you don’t want to make.

Good visual aids will highlight your speech. To avoid mistakes and display your information efficiently when using the appropriate visual aids, follow these guidelines: Make slides and overheads easy to read by avoiding too many words per line, too many colors, and designs that are too busy or too small. Check text for spelling errors.

When you're ready to deliver your well-prepared speech, follow these simple steps to make sure that your room is in order, too. These checks will be sure to eliminate any last minute surprises. Get to the room early so that you have time to make changes if the set up doesn’t suit you. Check the laptop and the projector for your PowerPoint presentation or other technical equipment to make sure you know exactly how it all works.