The fear of silence
For many of us who are not accustomed to public speaking, stage fright can get the better of us when we are tasked with making a presentation. And in our fear of presenting, we tend to ramble on and on without pausing. This happens because we are anxious. And this in turn causes us to speak faster and faster. Another reason why we speak so fast is because we are uncomfortable with even a second of silence. Silence has often been associated with ignorance and incompetence, and we do not wish to appear so. But do pause for a minute (second). By doing so, you allow your audience time to digest the information a bit at a time. Well-digested information stays in their system!
The school lecturer
Do you recall the lecturer in school that went on and on? I bet you can. The experience is somewhat like going to the fire hydrant for a sip of water. You are fact-blasted in the face. So it is the same with your audience. When you pause even for just 2 seconds, it gives the audience time to digest your points. You will also find that they develop a confidence in you when they can see that you are bold enough to hold their attention for those few moments. Each time you pause, you are also giving yourself time to think through your next point. Your audience will feel and appreciate that you are able to manage their attention and understand their needs. For your pauses to be even more effective, you should look your audience in the eye as if to say, “Are you with me so far?” By doing so, your presentation becomes a two-way traffic instead of one-man talking to himself.
Applying it to PowerPoint Presentation
So how do we apply this useful technique to your PowerPoint presentation? The same way. When you advance from one slide to the next, it is very important that you pause in between. The greater the amount of information on the new slide, the longer your pause should be. I have often tried this technique and it always works for me. Conversely, whenever I dive into a new slide without pausing, I find the audience is not with me. Why is this so? This happens because they are still grappling with the new information that is displayed on the screen. And if you, like many others out there, love to display your entire four pointers at one go, then you find yourself doing somersaults to draw back their attention. Remember, your must never display all your points at one go. It will be like that sip from a fire hydrant. Wet, overwhelming and unpleasant. Always use the “On-click” feature in PowerPoint’s animation section to hand hold your audience point by point. When you do this, they will walk away with a better understanding of your presentation. So there you go. Remember to make those pauses and give your audience a time to reflect.
Kelvin is a dynamic and eloquent communicator and an experienced trainer of Power Presentations workshops. He is a certified Microsoft PowerPoint specialists and also specialises in giving corporate slides makeovers. To receive free tips and techniques on PowerPoint Presentations, visit http://www.figtree.com.sg/ezine-tips
Author: W. H. Kelvin Lee
Article Source: EzineArticles.com
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