Public Speaking Tips Blog 3 - Afterwards

Five ways to improve public speaking through post-event analysis

1. Did you video your talk? That’s by far the best way of critically looking at how you performed. Here at Open Dawes Training, we video our clients at different stages during our training sessions. One huge benefit of this is that they can see instantly how much they have improved. The results are right in front of their eyes
2. Ask for feedback. If possible and appropriate, you should ask your audience to complete a feedback form before they leave which can ask questions about your performance as well as the content and benefits of your presentation
3. If you can, ask someone whose opinion you trust to attend your talk or presentation, who you know will give you some honest feedback
4. Go over in your mind what you planned to say and what you actually said. Do they, largely, match? Although, the sooner it is accepted that there will always be three variations of your presentation (the one you intend to give; the one you gave; and the one you wish you had given – we make sure there isn’t the fourth version of the one you wish you hadn’t given…), the sooner you will relax about it and just take the feedback as input for the next version you intend to give rather than criticism.
5. What about timing? Did you finish too soon? If so, maybe you didn’t have enough material, or you spoke too fast. Did you overrun? Perhaps you were trying to cram too much in. Finishing ahead of time is, however, better than over running, because leaving people wanting more is good (and pleasantly surprised that it has concluded earlier than expected) is better than people losing concentration/interest and clock watching.

Thinking about how you performed and asking yourself honest questions by not trying to forget all about it as soon as you breathe that final sigh of relief that it’s all over, you will be able to accurately assess your performance. So next time – and there will be a next time, even if it’s only speaking up at a meeting – you will perform so much better and enjoy it even more.

Put together all of our tips -the preparation, the during, and the after – and you should be ready to deliver really good presentations.

We can help you through our training: we offer one-to-one or group training, for individuals or for teams.

For help, advice and training in public speaking and presenting, subscribe to receive future tips/advice articles/videos, or to discuss in more detail how we may be able to help you or your organisation, get in touch with the team here at Open Dawes Training.