Ever wonder how some speakers are so outstanding? Here are some tips straight from the pros.

1. Presentation Tips from
the Pros
Jeanne
Trojan
@jmtcz

2. Some speakers at
were outstanding.

3. I asked them to share some of
their presentation advice
with my blog readers.
I’m sharing the best of it here.*
* You can read the full posts here

4. What makes a
presentation great?

5. A presentation is a
dialogue between the
presenter and the
audience.
Lutz Schmitt

6. There should be at least
one key idea that sticks in
people’s brains after the
presentation is over.
Eric Reiss
There should be at least one key idea that sticks in
people’s brains after the presentation is over.
Eric Reiss

7. A great talk needs a
strong, confident
presenter with
enthusiasm and energy
for their topic.
Jan Rezac

8. Presentations should
first and foremost be
inspiring.
Eirik Hafver Ronjum

9. Passion. It’s transferable and
contagious and it’s hard to fake.
Riki Fridrich

10. How do you prepare
your presentations?

11. First, I find out why I was
asked to present. What does
the organizer think I know
that makes me interesting in
his or her eyes?
Eric Reiss

12. I'll do research on the
audience of the
upcoming event and find out
how I must create my
presentation to reach them.
Lutz Schmitt

13. I define the core idea of my talk – some
kind of mindset change I want my
audience to have.
Jan Rezac

14. First, I think about
what the main point
of the presentation is.
What do I want people
to remember from it?
Riki Fridrich

15. I go for a walk; thinking about
the approach and outline.
Eirik Hafver Ronjum

16. How do you practice?
How do you remember
what to say?

17. I write down every
word I’m going to
say before preparing
slides. It makes me
remember.
Eirik Hafver Ronjum

18. The slides I end up with are the
memory landmarks for the
whole story I want to tell.
Lutz Schmitt

19. I HATE speaker’s notes. I would rather use
images or short sentences on slides to remind
me of what I need to say.
Eric Reiss

20. I say it to myself aloud
without skipping
anything. Stuff sounds
different in your head
than it does from
your mouth.
Riki Fridrich

21. I give the whole talk aloud to my cats. Cats are a
great audience - you really need to do
something inspiring to engage them.
Jan Rezac

22. How do you overcome
feeling nervous?

23. As one of my friends said, ‘you are on your own only
two times in your life – when you die and just before
giving a talk’. Practice. A lot.
Jan Rezac

24. I always start by saying my name, the URL of
my website and my contact. And while I'm
saying this for a minute, the stage fright goes
away, I connect with the crowd and my mind
goes to autopilot.
Riki Fridrich

25. I look for smiling people in the audience.
Then I smile back and this first connection
allows me to lose the nervousness.
Lutz Schmitt

26. After giving presentations for many years,
I’m still nervous before I enter the stage. I
believe it makes me a better speaker.
Eirik Hafver Ronjum

27. Remember, the audience is really
hoping you will be brilliant. None
of them want to be bored, so you
are already at an advantage.
Eric Reiss

28. Any other advice?

29. Study stand-up comedians. They all have their own
unique style, but you can learn a lot about the
general craft of public speaking by watching them.
Riki Fridrich

30. Don’t think this is easy. And don’t think that you’re
hot stuff just because someone may offer you money
to speak. This is damned hard work.
Eric Reiss

31. A great presentation
takes a dedicated
speaker, humor and
storytelling.
Eirik Hafver Ronjum

32. Fumbling can actually help
you connect to the audience
and it shows that you're not
better than them. You just
have more guts to make a
presentation!
Lutz Schmitt

33. Giving a presentation is a SKILL
and anyone can learn it. I wasn't
born a confident presenter and I
do not know anyone who was.
Jan Rezac

34. Many thanks to the
following presentation
pros who contributed!

35. Jan Řezáč
@janrezac

36. Eirik Hafver Ronjum
@EirikHafver

37. Lutz Schmitt
@luxux

38. Richard Fridrich
@fczbkk

39. Eric Reiss
@elreiss

40. Jeanne Trojan
jmtcz.cz
@jmtcz

41. Photo Credits (all Flickr)
1. Daskerst
2. Gothick Matt
3. Alternate Kev
4. kk+
5. Photo Pamp
6. KariHak
7. Marie CE
8. Marc Thiele
9. Organic Olga
10. Xinit Org
11. Pensiero
12. Athena
13. Noah Sussman
14. JCasabona
15. Sergis blog
16. Xti
17. Max Wolfe
18. Coletivo Mambembe
19. Dan Sumption
20. Darwin Bell
20. Nobara
21. Markhillary
22. Republika 2011
23. TEDx Vancouver
24. Toni Blay
25. Zanthia