Your Perfect Presentation, Speak in Front of Any Audience Anytime Anywhere and Never Be Nervous Again, by Bill Hoogterp, McGraw Hill 2014

    The only way up the mountain is to climb – to step and stumble, and to be   breathless at times. There are no escalators on the mountain of life.  When you are out of your comfort zone, that is when you are growing.  We provide steps to make it easier and handrails to hold on to when you need them, but only you can put one foot in front of the other.  Bill Hoogterp

Do you get migraines or forget what you just said, or have you been accused of rushing through slides?  My old boss told me that even after 30 years of  APICS talks, he still experienced monster headaches the night before a big presentation.  And who knows how to handle hecklers?  It’s all part of a very different skill set, what Bill Hoogterp calls “the perfect presentation.”  Fortunately Hoogterp offers a simple and memorable method to reboot, learn, or just tune up your speaking skills – he calls it Own the Room, and his book illustrates in memorable detail, just how to do it. 

First, recognize that although the author’s method seems simple, it requires practice, practice, practice.  And feedback – in fact, feedback is so important to learning the process that the author recommends that readers – unlike bad leaders who block feedback – demand it.  Taking your presentation skills to the next level requires even more preparation, including story-telling, voice modulation and body language, plus anticipating and pre-answering audience questions.  To start, Hoogterp asks you to use whatever recording device is at hand – your laptop or Smartphone -  click on camera, and record this warm-up exercise:

                Read this quote out loud and hit record:

See how nature – trees, flowers, grass – grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence.  We need silence to be able to touch souls.  Mother Teresa

                Then do it again – there are more quotes to choose from at:  http://www.owntheroom.com/training/quotes.

                From this practice work you’ll learn to focus on your words, tone of voice (volume, speed, pitch, pause and inflection), and your body language.    These non-verbals, says the author, are more important than we think.  In fact, only 7% of what an audience learns can be attributed to our words.  The tone of the voice – volume, speed and emphasis – accounts for 38%, and body language – observable nonverbal gestures – accounts for 55% of our total communication.  Wow!  Who knew simply standing at the podium could say so much! 

Mill Girl Verdict:  Chapter 21, "Become a Motivational and Keynote Speaker," could be where the money is.  But for ordinary business presentations and meetings, Hoogterp’s systematic Own The Room method and memorable illustrations are enough to get started and lose the terror.