You can answer like this: practice, go on stage, give as many presentations as possible - and you'll get all the nuances. But is this a good advice? Not always.
You should give an excellent presentation in the nearest future - and the stakes are too high to make the right decisions in a few years of public speaking. Let's try to figure out which myths are really far from the truth, and which ones are not myths at all, but the truth itself.
Myth 1. A bad topic makes a presentation poor
False. There are no bad topics, there are bad public speaking skills and poor preparation for the presentation. You can make any topic absolutely interesting and exciting - regardless of whether it's about cleaning the sewers or about the art of the eighteenth century. The success of the presentation is not only a topic. You decorate it with your shining personality, your brilliant knowledge, your charisma, your qualitative preparation, your ability to interest and engage the audience into the discussion process. So choose a topic carefully, but do not blame the topic for the failure of your presentation.
Myth 2. Practice is the key to success
Half false, half true. It's true because many rehearsals help you to feel yourself more confident, you feel better staying on stage, improvising, you feel your audience and just better know your material. A large number of real public speeches in front of a crowd of people helps you to gain experience. But! Only in the case if you do this correctly and know how to draw conclusions from your own mistakes. If you are rehearsing and practicing bad and wrong ways of giving presentations in public, this will not lead to success. Moreover, it is easy to get used to an incorrect skill and have problems with getting rid of it later. So the golden mean is important - find out, HOW, and only after – practice.
Myth 3. No need to take care of the technical side
False. In fact, you are here to inspire, encourage, motivate and lead people behind you, that's not about tech! The main thing is that there should be at least an old projector and an equally old remote control, and then - whatever happens. This is a big mistake! Absolutely all the impression of your presentation can be spoiled by technical problems: hardware issues, software compatibility, poor video streaming, even with questionnaires that are not so easy to keep in the old fashion way. PodioBox will help you forget about all these issues - you will easily give a presentation using this tool as a super remote control (or imagine yourself as an orchestra conductor), and also you will be able to engage the audience, because everyone can join the process using his own gadget.
Myth 4. If you use a super-tech, speaking skills are not important
False. You have already learned all the benefits of PodioBox and have forgotten about technical problems and issues, your audience actively participates in the presentation and interacts with you, slides are displaying, video is broadcasting, and it seems to be all right. But remember - you can always spoil everything with your poor preparation. The technical component and quality of your training, your presentation skills should be equally good, and nothing else. There can't be any trade-offs, you shouldn't choose one thing! Combine the quality of knowledge and preparation with the quality of the presentation tool - and this will lead to success.
Myth 5. First few minutes are the most important
True. This is proved. In the first 2-10 minutes (depending on the total duration of the presentation) you either grab the attention of the audience, or you can't do it. This will predetermine the outcome of your speech, your success and your financial reward, and also the fact whether people will come to you for more or you will never see them again. To make it work, use hooks for the audience, recommendations on how to get their attention, and rehearse the beginning well. By the way, it's not necessary to start with a story about yourself - it's not always appropriate and interesting. Use a variety of ideas to start and be very careful with humor and jokes.
Myth 6. Questions and answers should be at the end
Half false, half true. In most cases, nothing will happen if you postpone the Q&A session at the end of your speech. But there are experts' opinions that in this case it will be more difficult for you to keep control over the results of the presentation. The finale of the Q&A session is always unpredictable. And if you will be asked a question that you can' answer, or if the answer is controversial, it may spoil the impression of your show. With PodioBox you can conduct polls and surveys at any time during the presentation, immediately collect the answers and display them on a common screen (optional) in a graphic or text format, collect opinions and conduct live questionnaires. It's comfortable. And when you are going to do it, it's up to you.
Myth 7. Your audience is interested – so you can finish it later
False. First, by default, no audience will give you interest from the first minut. Unless you are a world-class star, but even in this case, at the very beginning of the presentation you need to grab their attention. The stars just know how to do it. Attention must be earned correctly, and throughout the presentation you should constantly keep it. Secondly, when you finish the presentation later, you show disrespect of your listeners' time and plans for the rest of the day. Even if the topic is very interesting, build it so that you can tell everything at a fixed time. Finish on a high note and leave on time. This is always remembered well!
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