Diane Windingland - 100 Tips & Tricks to Appear Confident in Presentations: Public Speaking Success in 5 Minutes or Less

Do you want to appear confident when presenting?

Not doubtful. Not insecure. Not nervous.

You may have experienced some of the following outward symptoms of nervousness when speaking:

• Speaking too quickly
• Poor eye contact with the audience
• Shaking hands and legs
• Trembling or squeaky voice
• Hunched posture
• Swaying or pacing
• Nausea
• Excessive sweating
• Shortness of breath
• Use of frequent um or ah or filler words, such as like
• Making statements sound like questions (upspeak)

Maybe you have even felt the downward spiral of nervous symptoms compounding, with increasing exacerbation of nervousness.

Confidence spiraling down

as nervous symptoms increase

Just as nervousness has outward symptoms, so does confidence. Confidence has outward manifestations that you purposely can display to not only appear confident but also start to feel confident too:

• Voice is loud and clear
• Speaking rate and pitch are varied (not too fast, not monotone)
• Eye contact is sustained
• Body language and gestures are natural
• Facial expressions are appropriate to content and include smiling
• Posture is straight, with shoulders back, but still relaxed
• Present, in the moment, focused on the audience

Imagine a more confident you in presentations of all kinds: meetings, conferences, phone calls, webinars, videos, job interviews, investment pitches, and more.

What difference could appearing to be more confident make to your career, to your business, or to your life?

A lot. Right?

You might be thinking, I dont want to just APPEAR more confident, I want to BE more confident.

See it. Be it. Achieve it.

If you can imagine how to appear confident (see it) and then take on that appearance (be it), you can start to feel more confident (achieve it). And then, feeling more confident will increase your vision of yourself as confident, causing you to act even more confident. It becomes an upward spiral, compounding your confidence.

Confidence increasing

with increasing confident appearance

Youve heard that practicing your presentation will help you to be more confident. This is true. But often it isnt enough.

You need to practice being confident. You need to decide to be confident. To prepare. To act confident. To act as if.

This book will help you learn quick techniques (most no more than 5 minutes long to apply) to appear confident in presentations, to help you act confidently, and ultimately to feel more confident.

The techniques are divided into 5 sections:

Section 1: Preparation (before you present)

Section 2: How You Are Seen (body language and facial expressions)

Section 3: How You Are Heard (voice and language)

Section 4: How You Answer Questions (handling the Q&A session)

Section 5: How You Present Virtually (presenting on video)

How to Use This Book:

Use this book any way that is most helpful to you! You could read it all the way through, or you could read a couple of techniques and practice those before moving on. You wont be able to learn all the techniques in one shot. Pick a couple that you think would make the most difference to start with. Practice those, and then add in some others.

For many people, Section 1, Preparation, will be most helpful in setting the mental stage for confidence. For some, Section 2, How You Are Seen, adjusting body language and facial expressions, will have the biggest immediate payoff. For others, Section 3, How You Are Heard, may offer enlightenment as to vocal presence and word choice. If you are about to face a Q&A session, Section 4, How You Answer Questions, may quell your concerns of the unknown. If you are going to be presenting on a video call, most of the above sections still apply, but you will want to check out some confidence-building suggestions specific to presenting online in Section 5, How You Present Virtually.