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Presentation skills aren’t something that you’re born with. They are something that you can learn. After all, Barak Obama wasn’t born making speeches and Churchill started life with a voice impediment. Presenting can be something you enjoy! And, as we all know, if you enjoy something it usually makes you better at it. So rather than a vicious circle of nerves, fear and failure; by following a few simple techniques you can create a brilliant, friendly circle of fun,excellence and success. Presentation skills are simply the tools you need to enjoy yourself. you can learn a great deal by working with a trainer, but here are a few presentation skills tips to deal with some common concerns and get you feeling confident.

1. Own the space – when a superstar enters, they own the room.If you arrive early get into the presentation room before your audience. Walk from front to back,walk round the edges. Have a look at the stage from the audience point of view. Make it yours. If you’re late and the crowd are waiting, do the same thing but with your eyes. Scan the presentation room; take in the details before you begin. Even if you feel nervous,you’ll start to make the space your own.

2. Don’t hold your breath – simple as that really. When you are anxious,your breathing becomes shallower; this affects your voice and drains the confidence from your presenting. Place your hand on your tummy button and breathe down deep. If it’s mid presentation, take a drink, give the audience a question to discuss, and send your breath down low. Steady your ship.

3. Relax your feet – another rapid fire remedy. The panic is rising, your voice is shaking and your hands are trembling. Stand still and relax your feet. Let go a little. Your feet are your foundation, let them take the weight. Trust us; it’ll make you feel better in a moment of panic.

4. Softly, softly – no one likes being glared at. So win you audience by making soft, gentle eye contact with them all. Think scan the room, not stare them down. You’ll make new friends that way.

5. You’re never alone- presenting is a two way communication. You don’t need to feel alone up there. Ask the audience a question to kick off, make it conversational, allow them to contribute and be happy not to know every answer.

By using a few of these tips your presentations will be on a surer footing, and you will be on the path to developing excellent presentation skills.

For those who don’t like prep sessions, dry runs, murder boards, and mock interviews, here’s a bit of advice from the professionals who play on the biggest stages.

I recently had a conversation with Franc D’Ambrosio, the actor/singer who was awarded the title of the “Worlds Longest Running Phantom” (Phantom of the Opera). Franc says that a great performance before the live, ticket-paying audience is in direct relationship to the rigor and effort put into practice and rehearsal. He’s even sounded this out with his peers in the sports world – gold medal winning Olympic athletes. Elite performers say that their practices have to be so rigorous and true-to-life that by the time they get into true competition, game or match, their performance is almost automatic. If you practice well, slight changes in a game or show won’t throw you off. To the contrary, if you haven’t rehearsed enough, little things can have a big negative impact on performance.

D’Ambrosio’s comments track one of the central points in Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers. Gladwell cites research that it takes 10,000 hours of practice of constant repetition and coaching to get good at sports, playing musical instruments and countless other endeavors.

I’m not sure why, but an increasing number of executives have been trying to avoid the serious rehearsals. We have heard reasons such as: “I’ve been through training before.” or “I’ll read through the material tonight before tomorrow’s pitch, (speech or interview).” or “Make sure that the newer presenters get rehearsed.” I’m not a psychologist, so I won’t analyze what’s behind all the reasons why business people don’t want to rehearse. Here are a few of the ways to avoid rehearsing” I’m too busy. There are other things more important to do today. I’ve done this a million times before. I don’t like to show any weakness to my staff that is in the rehearsal room. We haven’t finished the speech or the deck, so how can I practice if the content isn’t done. I’m already pretty good. I can just go with the answers in the FAQ document.

The short answer to all of these reasons (excuses) is that to avoid the communicators disease of “woulda, coulda, shoulda” it’s imperative to invest the time in training, practice and rehearsal.

Here are a few suggestions to maximize your rehearsal:
• Place rehearsal time on the calendar. Once it’s on your schedule, it’s harder to take off.
• If you don’t like a big crowd, rehearse in front of a smaller group.
• Practice the toughest questions.
• Work on both style and content.
• Use video, even if it’s a “flip” type camera so you can watch yourself and make adjustments.
• If you don’t like the performance or an answer, keep working at it until you get it right.

Cliches are around for a reason. This one makes sense: Perfect practice makes perfect performance.

When you negotiate, do you see what’s missing in the negotiation? Are you attuned to how words are pronounced per any hidden meanings they might possess? Too many times, too many negotiators miss vital clues when negotiating. Those missed clues could be missed opportunities that might lead to a better outcome.

The absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. That statement has been used to heighten the perspective that, just because we don’t know something exists doesn’t mean it doesn’t. In a negotiation, we must heighten our perspective for who may not be at the negotiation table that’s calling the shots. We must also be mindful of the person that represents herself as the decision maker and in reality, she’s a stand-in.

… and the dog didn’t bark. There are multiple questions that this situation could pose. Where was the dog? Should the dog have barked? Did someone do something to stop the dog from barking?

There are many reasons why you may not observe a piece of vital information that may be right in front of you when negotiating. To become more aware:

1. Increase your situational awareness. That means you should mentally prepare yourself to be more attuned to what will occur during the negotiation. You will already have developed your negotiation plans highlighting the strategies and tactics you expect to employ before the negotiation, but you’ll also layer those plans with the obscene. The obscene can entail something that is so outlandish that you’d think it would never occur; good negotiators flourish in the outlandish in an attempt to get the other negotiator to flounder. So, don’t take this ploy lightly. Also, by employing this strategy, you’ll uncover hidden thoughts that might come up during the negotiation and/or thoughts that will lead you to higher thoughts.
2. Have people on your team designated to observe certain aspects that occur during the negotiation. As an example, you can have someone listening to the words used to express spoken thoughts of the person with whom you’re negotiating. That person would also seek to determine how such words were positioned, along with inflections, to assess any hidden meanings contained in the words. That designee could also be tasked with assessing what was not said; what’s not said can have as much, if not more of an impact, on someone’s hidden meaning. That same individual might also observe the body language gestures displayed to determine how synchronized someone’s words and body language gestures are aligned, along with when synchronization did not occur (note: when words are not synchronized with body gestures, the words have a higher probability of being misleading.)
3. In preparation for vital negotiations, make sure you’re well rested and hydrated. In any situation that may be infused with angst or anxiety, your physiology will play a key role in how you interact in the situation. Thus, being well rested and hydrated will allow you to think better and more clearly. To add to your magnification of focus, be sure not to eat foods that will make you lethargic.
4. Slow down or speed up the pace at which you normally present and consume information. Doing so will alter the way you see and think. It will also alter the perspective of the other negotiator because he’ll be responding at rates you control.

There are a lot of moving pieces in a negotiation. Some are seen, inferred, and others are unseen and/or inferred. To gain a better grasp of the unseen, consider employing the steps above. You’ll see more of what’s missing in the negotiation, which will allow you to shine a light into the crevices in which the unseen hides. That will lead to more negotiation wins for you… and everything will be right with the world.

Remember, you’re always negotiating!