Tom Antion Presentations - Practice Alone

I have a personal rule that I tell a story anywhere from 30 to 50 times before I tell it in a presentation. Really that applies to each part of my presentation whether it is humorous or not. I do the same depth of practice for each bit I use. When you practice parts of your talk that many times, a magical thing happens. All the ums and ahs that may be scattered about seem to disappear. Your volume and confidence increase. Your talk takes on a more conversational nature, which is exactly what you want. The more extemporaneous a talk appears to be, the better it will go over. When you practice this much, you can also get rid of most of those stifling notes that tie you to the lectern.

Another really neat thing may happen when you rehearse a whole lot. You might start to see your notes in your mind. You must become so familiar with the material that you can present it in what appears to be a spontaneous unrehearsed fashion. The only way to get to that point is to rehearse like crazy. I recently did a customized talk for an association. I finished writing it one month in advance so the rest of that month could be spent rehearsing (this doesn't mean I didn't leave room for addition of up-to-the-minute material).

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