Have you ever been halfway through your presentation, your mind goes blank and all you can hear is your heart like a cursed techno beat in your brain?
This is a pretty common scenario, and it never gets easier. Public speaking is the most common fear, and 86% of disabled students experience presentation anxiety.
So what can we do about it?
Alongside creating a killer presentation with excellent content, your delivery is just as important. Rehearsing is a key part of this process, and helps massively with presentation nerves, especially for university students with disabilities or learning differences like dyslexia.
Instead of focussing on memorising your content (which isn’t a great method once you forget something) focus on practicing it. Here are three presentation rehearsal techniques to help you up your game.
The gospel of 10
Dr. Jill Bolte-Taylor is a scientist who gave one of the most viewed TED talks in history, and when asked how many times she rehearsed her presentation beforehand, the answer may shock you.
It wasn’t five, it wasn’t ten…it was 200.
Which is a little intense, and by no means necessary for a uni presentation! But it proves that practicing your presentation is a crucial part of the public speaking process.
Many experts claim that the magic number is 10. Rehearsing ten times is a great technique for success.
The 20-20-20 rule
Experts suggest going over your presentations for 20 minutes, then repeating the information twice or more.
Repeating the content within 30 mins of the task means it’s more likely to stay in your long term memory, and thinking about the 20-20-20 split is an easy way of segmenting and prioritising your rehearsal time.
Practice with a little pressure
Find ways to rehearse that help to mimic the real life presentation environment, whether that’s going to familiarize yourself with the room you’ll be doing your presentation in and practicing there, or using family or friends as audience guinea pigs.
You can also practice in front of a mirror or record or time yourself in video or audio to identify areas that need improvement in your speech or body language.
You can rehearse with Present Pal for greater accessibility, listen back to records and set target times to help perfect your presentation.
Get more pro presentation advice and find out more about Present Pal here.