Surviving Presentations and Q&A - Hidden Curriculum? Does it Work for That?
Public speaking can be nerve-wracking. This article provides some ways to improve and make the process less stressful.
By Xavier Royer — April 5, 2023
Public speaking is one of those cliche common fears and phobias. It's right up there with heights, spiders, and monsters under the bed. Unlike those fears, public speaking is a skill that can be immensely beneficial. Competent public speaking skills are a necessity in many positions and roles. New opportunities will open up left and right for those who can develop good and excellent public speaking skills. This article will provide a concise guide to public speaking. Following this advice will hopefully help students own any room they happen to be in front of.
First, watch good public speaking. This can be ted talks, commencement speeches, or movie scenes. What do they do well? What kind of word choice is used? What speeches do you find entertaining or impactful, and why? In my experience, many people who struggle with public speaking are great logical thinkers. They can handle complex equations or rattle off the name of every bone in the human body, but presenting is mortifying. Looking at public speaking as a thing that can be learned and practiced instead of a broad demonstration of charisma is helpful. Just like a list of vocab words, there are principles that speakers can learn and stick to succeed. With enough preparation, the actual speech giving can become nominal.
There are some speech-giving fundamentals. One common one is where to look. You should try to look at different places, but if you generally keep your eyes about ? into the room, the impression from the audience is most natural. You may have note cards or have printed out the speech to give. This advice may be controversial, but I stand by it: if you're going to read your speech, focus on reading it.
Arbitrarily darting your eyes to the audience to make an impression of eye contact looks way nervier than calmly reading the speech and focusing on articulation. If using notecards, look at your note card, read what you need to, then speak. The impression is much more in control than trying to read and look at the audience simultaneously. Your hands should be at your side unless you are intentionally gesturing to the audience. You are allowed to move! If you are prone to fidgeting, when you practice, work in some intentional movements that are similar.
For example, if you shuffle your feet, work at some points where you can actively change position and walk on stage. That will give that energy somewhere to go, but you will look much more in control. The common thread with this advice is giving confidence and preparation — even if you are doing the "wrong" thing (which is usually a fine thing). But if everything you do with intentionality, it gives that projection of confidence and competence.
A quick rant about PowerPoint — you are almost certainly using them wrong. No more than five words on a slide, with the exception of labels on a chart. If you use PowerPoint, you likely have a graphic you are trying to present. If your PowerPoint simply has all the same points you verbalize, you are just being redundant and taking attention away from your presentation.
What about Q&A? Most of the time, people asking questions from the audience will have the presence of mind to ask questions they think you will have the answer to. Sometimes, though not usually malicious, someone will throw you a curveball. The answer to that question is:
That is a great and interesting question, and I appreciate your asking it. Unfortunately, that topic was not brought up within this project's scope, but if I revisit this topic in the future, I will be sure to keep that in mind.
THAT is a get-out-of-jail-free card. It is especially useful for poster presentations when you can use it on multiple people without them realizing it's a recycled line. Hopefully, a moderator or professor will bail you out if you need to use it more than once after a presentation. Otherwise, you can start curtailing it and emphasizing what you know to route the remaining questions to your expertise.
Public speaking can be nerve-wracking. This article provides some ways to improve and make the process less stressful. The last piece of advice I will give is to practice. The more time someone spends in front of a group, the easier it becomes. As this happens, the nerves will replace themselves with familiarity, and it may become, dare I say, an enjoyable experience.
Xavier Royer
I am currently a full time instructor at a William Penn University, a small private university in Iowa. I am the lone political science faculty member there. In my time teaching, I have already connected with an incredible cohort of students in ways I could never have expected. Partnering with SAGE will allow me the opportunity to help even more students across the globe navigate those tricky questions.
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