Recently I heard a great tip on how to kick-start a presentation.

Of course, this tip will be bolstered if you do the following:

• Have deeply understood your audience.
• Craft a simple key message(s) that you wanted the audience to retain and/or act upon.
• Craft a hook to listen and craft a structure for the presentation.
• Project energy and certainty through your facial expression, body language, gesture, voice and speaking cadence
• For Q&A, nod engagingly as the question is being asked, take time to form a response and never losing your cool.

Here’s the tip.

A few moments before you start speaking, say to yourself:

Do it with joy

Early feedback from my clients on this technique – which I heard from US broadcaster Jim Nantz share in a Tim Ferriss podcast – is that it has improved their presentations.

Own the Conversation

Trial the ‘Do it with joy’ technique at your next presentation. Reflect on the results of doing so.

p.s. I recently created an Instagram account – my handle is @kellyspeech