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[RiccochetJ]

Back in College, the thought of giving a half hour presentation terrified me. The idea of coming up with that much content and flowing from point to point felt like an impossible task.

Today, I'm coming back from talking for 2 hours straight and my throat feels like sandpaper. During my presentation, I went through 3 bottles of water and at the end even inhaling would at times make me cough.

This is the fifth such presentation I've given this year, and every time I get a little better. I can move from point to point smoother and I can recover from interruptions and back on track easier. I'm actually enjoying it instead of the abject terror I used to have.

So GAF, what's your longest presentation/speech? What are your tips for those who are terrified of speaking in public?

Here's mine:

• Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Know your topic and your presentation inside and out. I know there are people out there who can wing it and do an amazing job, but for the rest of us, practicing until you're sick of the subject matter will pay huge dividends
  
• Bring lots of water. Glorious water
  
• Don't worry, it get's easier the more you do it

Anyways, I did a search and couldn't find this particular topic. I thought it could create an interesting discussion and possibly help people out.

 

[Zips]

Technically around 6 hours for me, I believe. Do a little under 6 hours regularly, not including breaks. But then it's not just me talking that whole time so I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.

Being prepared is key, and it generally gets easier with experience.

 

[Zertez]

I think my longest presentation was a little over an hour, but I wasnt keeping track. Eating a Halls for about 30 minutes before giving the presentation can help a lot with a sore throat after the speech. Take small drinks of water during the presentation to help with your throat, pacing and regaining your composure. Just dont drink too much when you are nervous, because you will need to hit the head in the middle of the speech. Over prepare, double and maybe triple the material you think it will take to fit in the time slot. You will be amazed how quickly you can talk. It is also much easier to take out parts during a speech, than add stuff on the fly or bs your way through the last 10 minutes. That is about all I have atm.

 

[Draft]

Neutral stance, feet shoulder width apart, hands hanging freely at your sides. The hands must not enter pockets, clasp together, or be folded.

No audible clutter. No umms, uhs, or likes. Speak as slowly as necessary. It sounds much slower in your head than it does to the audience.

Always make eye contact with an audience member when speaking. If it's necessary to look away (changing a slide, gesturing to a screen) stop speaking for the duration.

These are the three big tips I've received for effective public speaking.

 

[Piecake]

Technically around 6 hours for me, I believe. Do a little under 6 hours regularly, not including breaks. But then it's not just me talking that whole time so I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.

Being prepared is key, and it generally gets easier with experience.

why the hell are you giving 6 hour presentations, and is anyone awake at the end of those 6 hours?

 

[RiccochetJ]

Technically around 6 hours for me, I believe. Do a little under 6 hours regularly, not including breaks. But then it's not just me talking that whole time so I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for.

Being prepared is key, and it generally gets easier with experience.

I think being in front of people for 6 hours counts While my part was 2 hours, you're paying attention, making sure to be able to jump in at a moment's notice when the presenter gets flustered or they're getting asked a question you can answer immediately.

why the hell are you giving 6 hour presentations, and is anyone awake at the end of those 6 hours?

Usually not!

 

[H.Protagonist]

Everything you guys have listed so far, plus I confess I downed a shot of scotch right before I went into class for my big 30 min grad class presentation.

The scotch wasn't to feel at ease, though, mind you. It was more that the pain of it distracted me from my terror in such a lovely burn-y way.

 

[Zoramon089]

I think being in front of people for 6 hours counts While my part was 2 hours, you're paying attention, making sure to be able to jump in at a moment's notice when the presenter gets flustered or they're getting asked a question you can answer immediately.

I don't think that's really the same thing...

 

[RPGamer92]

That sounds scary. I have to give a 5-6 minute presentation on Thursday and now, that seems like nothing compared to this

 

[Zips]

why the hell are you giving 6 hour presentations, and is anyone awake at the end of those 6 hours?

They're classes. I work as a teacher at a college. There are short breaks and a lunch break. But like I said, it's not just me talking for that time. There's alot of group work, activities, video, readings, etc.. I still think of them as presentations though.

 

[LogicStep]

I haven't had to give long presentations, at most 20-30 minutes. I don't rehearse a set script, I just make sure my power point has the bullet points that I need to cover and that I know enough to say something about each point. I don't memorize anything because that just blocks me up if I mess up. I just make sure I know the material and when giving the presentation I go with the flow and let the power point guide me to what I need to talk about next.

 

[Mikeside]

I misread the title as "Your longest penetration and tips for the terrified"

I leave disappointed

Sorry OP, I have no advice for you - good luck!

 

[giri]

Easy, stop worrying about it. Act confident, and know your work.

If you're prepared there's really nothing to worry about, and once you do one or two of these confidently, you'll be set for life.

There's really nothing daunting at all about giving presentations. It's all just mind tricks.

 

[IceCold]

I think my longest presentation was around 20-30 mins. I hate them. I'm a person with very few fears but if there's one thing that I despise and would do anything to avoid, it's public speaking.

 

[PJV3]

I'm finally in uni at the ripe old age of 40, i have to do a presentation at the hospital i will be based at in a few weeks and i am shitting myself. The lecture theatre is fucking enormous, i should've stuck to being a postman.

 

[Totakeke]

Don't make the presentation about you, make the presentation to please your audience and know that it's shitty to sit through a boring and terrible presentation.

 

[freenudemacusers]

Speak as slowly as necessary. It sounds much slower in your head than it does to the audience.

this is a big thing I had to get over. I tend to talk quickly as is, moreso when nervous or excited. Practice talking slowly will help you not stumble and lets you think ahead of time a bit.

I've done a solid 30 minute run, which isn't that impressive really. It was also a small group of people I kind of new which helps. I would probably die if I went in front of 1000 people.

 

[RiccochetJ]

I don't think that's really the same thing...

Eh, I asked for longest presentation and I didn't filter it down to only being 'you were the only one who gave it'

 

[RyougaSaotome]

Longest was probably an hour for my thesis presentation. That shit was terrifying.

But, it helped that I had everything super planned out. I allotted a certain number of minutes for each section and tried to keep track of the time I spent on the topics.

Rehearsal and planning. Extremely important.

 

[zsidane]

Practicing and knowing your topic. Also, you have to keep in mind that you know better than those to whom you're presenting - even if it's your boss or a professor on the topic-
My longest presentation is is more than 3 hours. I some times do presentations during all the day with breaks and activities to keep the crowed focused and awake

 

[Mikeside]

Actually, I take back the part about leaving disappointed.
I've decided to replace every instance of the word "presentation" in this thread with the word "penetration"


Pure gold so far.


Maybe you could use that in your presentation?

 

[Gary Whitta]

For pitching a movie or TV show - which is basically a live verbal presentation, anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending - I've tried a bunch of different solutions, from completely winging it from memory (don't do this) to rehearsing/learning it so well that I can recite the presentation perfectly, like an actor reading lines from a play. I don't like doing this either, as it can come off sounding scripted and it's easy to get flummoxed if you start drifting off-script or forget your lines.

Eventually I came up with a kind of halfway-house solution that I think works really well. I kind of outline the whole thing with simple bullet points, just little thought-reminders and specific thoughts and points I want to get across. It creates enough of a spine that I never get lost but it's loose enough that I can improvise a little bit based on how things are going and it feels more natural. I write out all the bullet points in big-ass ARIAL BLACK type and put it all on a PDF on my iPad, which is on my knee when I'm presenting. The type is really big and bold so it's easy for me to glance down at (you want to be looking at the person you're presenting to more than at your notes) and it's easy to move through pages with just a tap of the thumb. I still rehearse quite a bit - I'll sit in an armchair and pitch the whole thing to a lampshade or whatever - until I feel good about it.

 

[Deified Data]

Longest presentation was about 30 minutes. The most vital tip is to simply not give a shit, cause your audience sure doesn't. Once you're both on the same page, it becomes easier to relate.

 

[Zips]

If we're only counting speeches as a presentation, then I suppose it would be more like 30 minutes - an hour for me, from back when I was in school. Going for that short a time is pretty easy though.

 

[parrotbeak]

I've heard that drinking some guaifenesin (expectorant cough syrup) can help with the vocal cords by keeping them lubricated.

 

[BGBW]

My longest was for my final year dissertation and that only lasted around half an hour. It went very well since it ended up more like a conversation with question coming at me after every slide and so it was almost over before I knew it. Since I see presentations as a performance I can cope with them despite my shy personality due to having done a bit of drama in my youth. I usually rely on images rather than text if I have slides and try to keep my notes to bullet points. I find it much easier to remember what I want to cover with only a few prompts rather than having a whole script in front of me. Of course I practise what I want to say so I don't have to rely on a script.

 

[ronito]

I've given presentations that have been 2 or 3 workdays long.

a few tips

- Break your presentation into sections and sub-sections. No section should be longer than 45 minutes no subsection longer than 30 seconds.
- NEVER just read what's on the slide. It's an outline, not a script.
- Have "comic relief" every 45 minutes or so.
- Structure your presentations so that you have one point per section and in a way so the audience will come to the same point you're making around 1 slide before you get there.
- If you can give people at least a 5 minute break every hour.
- Never use anything less than 20 pt font and never allot more than 15 minuet per slide

 

[LazyLoki]

Neutral stance, feet shoulder width apart, hands hanging freely at your sides. The hands must not enter pockets, clasp together, or be folded.

No audible clutter. No umms, uhs, or likes. Speak as slowly as necessary. It sounds much slower in your head than it does to the audience.

Always make eye contact with an audience member when speaking. If it's necessary to look away (changing a slide, gesturing to a screen) stop speaking for the duration.

These are the three big tips I've received for effective public speaking.

Pretty good advice, except for the bolded, which sounds a bit too general.
Some people need to move while talking, if they don't, they'll resort to a 'displacement activity' (some girl in class almost strangled herself with her scarf...).
A possible solution (depending on the person) might be to gesticulate a lot, as do I. If it's possible, I walk around a little bit, although this works only in some environments.

My longest presentation was something around two hours including a short break.
Audience/topic wise it was pretty much everything, from school/university to informational stuff for a non profit organization or sales presentations before a bank's board of directors.
I usually prepare and research exceedingly thorough, but I never rehearse.

 

[LogicStep]

For pitching a movie or TV show - which is basically a live verbal presentation, anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending - I've tried a bunch of different solutions, from completely winging it from memory (don't do this) to rehearsing/learning it so well that I can recite the presentation perfectly, like an actor reading lines from a play. I don't like doing this either, as it can come off sounding scripted and it's easy to get flummoxed if you start drifting off-script or forget your lines.

Eventually I came up with a kind of halfway-house solution that I think works really well. I kind of outline the whole thing with simple bullet points, just little thought-reminders and specific thoughts and points I want to get across. It creates enough of a spine that I never get lost but it's loose enough that I can improvise a little bit based on how things are going and it feels more natural. I write out all the bullet points in big-ass ARIAL BLACK type and put it all on a PDF on my iPad, which is on my knee when I'm presenting. The type is really big and bold so it's easy for me to glance down at (you want to be looking at the person you're presenting to more than at your notes) and it's easy to move through pages with just a tap of the thumb. I still rehearse quite a bit - I'll sit in an armchair and pitch the whole thing to a lampshade or whatever - until I feel good about it.

Winging it is a way of life bro! Works well once you master it!

 

[gimz]

just be confidence on your project! and well prepare!

 

[RiccochetJ]

For pitching a movie or TV show - which is basically a live verbal presentation, anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending - I've tried a bunch of different solutions, from completely winging it from memory (don't do this) to rehearsing/learning it so well that I can recite the presentation perfectly, like an actor reading lines from a play. I don't like doing this either, as it can come off sounding scripted and it's easy to get flummoxed if you start drifting off-script or forget your lines.

Eventually I came up with a kind of halfway-house solution that I think works really well. I kind of outline the whole thing with simple bullet points, just little thought-reminders and specific thoughts and points I want to get across. It creates enough of a spine that I never get lost but it's loose enough that I can improvise a little bit based on how things are going and it feels more natural. I write out all the bullet points in big-ass ARIAL BLACK type and put it all on a PDF on my iPad, which is on my knee when I'm presenting. The type is really big and bold so it's easy for me to glance down at (you want to be looking at the person you're presenting to more than at your notes) and it's easy to move through pages with just a tap of the thumb. I still rehearse quite a bit - I'll sit in an armchair and pitch the whole thing to a lampshade or whatever - until I feel good about it.

But don't you think it's good to have a general script going? If your presentation is done without any interruptions, you have the 'best case scenario' script? I'm definitely not saying word for word, but you know your talking points to flow to.

As an example, I was about 20 mins in today and I was interrupted with a question where I actually answered it 5 slides later. I immediately answered the question and then got back on 'script'. Once that slide came up, I just made mention that I had answered it previously but I thought it was worth going over again. Which is why I also recommended knowing your topic and presentation inside and out. You can flow to answer the question and then get back. Personally I don't like people who answer, 'Yes and we'll cover that in later slides'. I like to answer and then gloss over the topic when it comes up again in my presentation. I'm still clunky at it though.

 

[thesoapster]

25 minutes I think? Once I got past the 5 minute mark or so it all felt the same. I imagine there is some other hurdle past 25 minutes that I have yet to encounter (like the absolute need for water, pacing issues, etc).

 

[GoutPatrol]

I think the longest I've had to talk during teaching straight was around 45-50 minutes. Never again. Lecturing to students just kills them.

 

[RiccochetJ]

Actually here's another tip:

Don't be afraid to say 'I don't know'. Sometimes you present to people who have a lot more knowledge than you (especially in tech) and there will be somebody who gets off on showing how much they know. It happens. I've presented to people where on that particular day, they were feeling quite ornery and they had 20+ years experience in the field. When that happens, just say, "I don't know, but I will get that answer for you."

Never try to bullshit people who know your topic better than you. It's like throwing chum into the water and your audience are a bunch of sharks. It's horrible. Trust me. I was lucky enough to learn that lesson in college personally, but I've seen it happen to someone else in a professional setting. It's ugly.

 

[Mario]

Have done a lot of talks, speeches, and presentations, some canned some off the cuff, anywhere from a couple of minutes and about 90 minutes and from a handful of people to hundreds.

Despite that experience, I'm not a great speaker though I get the job done and get positive feedback. Some things that have helped me include

- it is okay to pause between sentences and think about things. The audience doesn't really notice or think anything of it.

- even though you might be able to hear the nervous quiver in your voice, the audience can't really tell.

- if you are reading from notes, try to use keywords or short phrases rather than full sentences. You'll pick up what you wanted to say just as well and faster.

- if you have a Powerpoint presentation, don't just read through what it says on each slide. Make any bullet points punchy and use your speech to elaborate on the messages.

 

[Azuran]

Longest was 20 minutes, and holy crap, that was probably the most terrifying and uncomfortable moment in my life. I always plan out some kickass presentations but I completely fall apart when it comes to actually presenting them.

 

[ant_]

Easy, stop worrying about it. Act confident, and know your work.

If you're prepared there's really nothing to worry about, and once you do one or two of these confidently, you'll be set for life.

There's really nothing daunting at all about giving presentations. It's all just mind tricks.

This is what I do and it's always worked for me. Don't memorize anything, just memorize the general "flow" I want to take. Know my stuff really well.

But then again, I've never given 6 hour presentations 0_0

 

[chazmonkey]

The longest I had to give was a 30 minute presentation on a segment of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales once, and then lead an hour long discussion on it with my classmates. Thought I did terribly because I ended up not doing as much research as I should have, but surprisingly ended up with a good mark. It's nerve wrecking to give a presentation, but you almost always feel much better by the end of it and you more than likely end up doing much better than you thought you did. I'm not sure why, but that's always been the case with me during university...

 

[Windu]

i think my longest was just 30 minutes or so. Anyway, i still get nervous, but after doing it so many times it doesn't bother me. Just practice practice practice.

 

[The Shadow]

So GAF, what's your longest presentation/speech? What are your tips for those who are terrified of speaking in public?

• Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Know your topic and your presentation inside and out. I know there are people out there who can wing it and do an amazing job, but for the rest of us, practicing until you're sick of the subject matter will pay huge dividends

Honestly, you nailed it with that first tip. That's the number one difference you can make, is rehearsing what you're going to say. Even if you have stage fright, or fear of crowds, if you go up there and begin knowing exactly what you're going to say, it's just so much easier than if you wing it.

 

[ronito]

This is what I do and it's always worked for me. Don't memorize anything, just memorize the general "flow" I want to take. Know my stuff really well.

But then again, I've never given 6 hour presentations 0_0

It doesn't matter the length. An audience can tell if you've practiced and rehearsed. It make everything feel fake. Again, outline don't script.

I've seen plenty of presetnations that were very rehearsed and they just felt trite and contrived.

 

[UnluckyKate]

I gave 90 minutes presentations in college. Bring water. Don't talk for 90 minutes. Have visuals, videos, and I had live experiments. My audience went crazy when I dropped some eggs into a jar at some point

 

[ZedIndyLil]

GOOD LUCK! Fear of public speaking is EXTREMELY common. I've gotten more comfortable with it over the years, and I think that once you do, the length of the presentation really doesn't matter.

I can't offer great advice, except to say two things:

1. Preparation is extremely important. You need to know your stuff backwards and forwards.

2. It becomes a LOT harder if you don't truly believe what you're saying. Some people are good at selling crap; I'm not. Conversely, believing in what you're saying gives you a lot of confidence.

 

[Gamer @ Heart]

Rehearse. It can not be said enough.

While talking to myself out loud, i develop transitions and explanations that help me move away from just repeating what is on the page/slide. It also prevents those awkward moments when you have nothing to say, because its easier to remember something you rehearsed than simply read.

 

[giri]

For pitching a movie or TV show - which is basically a live verbal presentation, anywhere from 15-30 minutes, depending - I've tried a bunch of different solutions, from completely winging it from memory (don't do this) to rehearsing/learning it so well that I can recite the presentation perfectly, like an actor reading lines from a play. I don't like doing this either, as it can come off sounding scripted and it's easy to get flummoxed if you start drifting off-script or forget your lines.

Eventually I came up with a kind of halfway-house solution that I think works really well. I kind of outline the whole thing with simple bullet points, just little thought-reminders and specific thoughts and points I want to get across. It creates enough of a spine that I never get lost but it's loose enough that I can improvise a little bit based on how things are going and it feels more natural. I write out all the bullet points in big-ass ARIAL BLACK type and put it all on a PDF on my iPad, which is on my knee when I'm presenting. The type is really big and bold so it's easy for me to glance down at (you want to be looking at the person you're presenting to more than at your notes) and it's easy to move through pages with just a tap of the thumb. I still rehearse quite a bit - I'll sit in an armchair and pitch the whole thing to a lampshade or whatever - until I feel good about it.

Thats what palm cards (or if you're using power point or something) is meant to be about. Of course with power point or other visual data, you can put up more information than you specifically want to talk about, in detail, but thats not a great idea, as it distracts the audience.

You shouldn't be scripted. You shouldn't be winging it. You should know all the major points and talking points, and know what you want to say about them, and the general progression to make it coherent. But not rigid.

 

[DarthWoo]

I had to do an appellate argument before three professors (actually I think it was one professor and two lawyers from the city) back in law school. It ended up being a solo argument because the person I was supposed to argue against got sick off of raw oysters the night before. Of course, that didn't actually seem to make it any easier. I think public speaking of any kind is the thing that shuts me down the most.

 

[Flavius]

I taught for a little over four years before moving into administration. Most of the best advice has already been given, but for me (that is, a person cripplingly shy as a child/young adult...forced to come to grips with and eventually overcome that shyness for sake of productivity/earning a living/you-name-it!), the key is always mindset:

It's a bit difficult to describe, but if I can get myself to the point that I'm vaguely aware of another presence in the room, but effectively feel as though I'm alone, speaking, and responding to other voices seemingly coming from the ether, then I know I'm going to have a great presentation (this isn't taking into account all of the previously mentioned hard work, developing for your intended audience, accepting that the projector/audio/whatever isn't going to function properly, etc.) regardless of the size of my audience. I've presented to a single individual, and several hundred folks. If my "head's on straight" as they say, then my confidence is reinforced and I get a positive, natural "buzz" going.

Best of luck to all the public speaking virgins out there. Very empowering, once you've overcome it. Then all you have to worry about is one of those nightmare sessions when nothing goes right (those still pop up every once in a while...nothing like a good holy-shit-this-is-turrible session to keep you honest and hungry!).

EDIT:

I had to do an appellate argument before three professors (actually I think it was one professor and two lawyers from the city) back in law school. It ended up being a solo argument because the person I was supposed to argue against got sick off of raw oysters the night before. Of course, that didn't actually seem to make it any easier. I think public speaking of any kind is the thing that shuts me down the most.

I did that gig as well, but when I took App Ad, we were never in the mock courtroom together. They were all exceedingly kind, but I recall being so racked by classic stage fright, that I provided (word-for-word) the same reply to a question from one of the attorneys presented three different ways. Clearly, my answer was not the one he was seeking to extract.

 

[RiccochetJ]

It doesn't matter the length. An audience can tell if you've practiced and rehearsed. It make everything feel fake. Again, outline don't script.

I've seen plenty of presetnations that were very rehearsed and they just felt trite and contrived.

I'm somewhat confused. What does rehearsed mean to you? For me it means I've gone over every single subject in my presentation and can just talk. I don't have cue cards and I don't have a teleprompter. I know for a fact that I've talked about a single slide and never said the same thing, while at the same time in a different slide I've used the exact same words every single time.

I'm definitely not attacking you by the way. For me rehearsing means that I will use certain words every time, but I won't be literally reciting a script I wrote.

 

[ronito]

I'm somewhat confused. What does rehearsed mean to you? For me it means I've gone over every single subject in my presentation and can just talk. I don't have cue cards and I don't have a teleprompter. I know for a fact that I've talked about a single slide and never said the same thing, while at the same time in a different slide I've used the exact same words every single time.

I'm definitely not attacking you by the way. For me rehearsing means that I will use certain words every time, but I won't be literally reciting a script I wrote.

If you use your presentation slides to launch into subjects that's cool.
What I mean is the people that have a script of what they say between slides. Not talking points, but an actual script.

That's what I mean by "rehearsed" Of course you should know your subject and your presentation. But if you have sentences and paragraphs memorized your audience will know and they'll either check out or pounce.

 

[SabinFigaro]

Longest? Around 3 hours. Most of my presentations end up in the 45 minute range, and the vast majority are research-related.

My advice: NEVER REHEARSE. However, this style certainly won't work for everybody. I have a very comfortable style of talking, and I usually think ahead while I'm actually presenting. If I rehearse, I find myself trying to remember cues and such, which makes it feel more forced. And for God's sake, never read off the damn slides.

Edit: When I refer to rehearsing, it means a few things. For one, I never look at the slides after I've made them and are happy with the outcome. Two, because of this, I certainly never go through them and make notes of things to say. Because I'm familiar with the subject matter, I shouldn't feel the need to have anything outside of a mental template.