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Do you have to present at meetings at work?

Or perhaps you are building your personal brand and platform as a professional speaker?

Maybe you have a desire to get in front of the media on TV or radio?

One of the great ways that I’ve developed my skills in presenting and in speaking to the media is not through attending courses but by two other approaches:

• watching other presenters
• speaking and presenting often – not always to groups of 200 or more people, but often to small groups of less than 40 people.

Yes I have attended programmes in presentation skills and media skills and they have been invaluable, but in relation to continued professional development as a speaker and presenter, then I can not recommend too highly watching others and speaking and presenting yourself.

And even though I speak at events 3-4 times a month for live in person events, and speak at virtual events, training programmes and recording podcasts no less than 20 times a month, I still practice my presentation skills.

Social media is a great tool to help you practice your effectiveness as an engaging presenter. Here are five ways you can put social media to work to enhance your presentation skills:

1. Be a guest on a podcast - by being an invited guest or even hosting your own podcast such as with platforms like Utterz, where you can create a podcast with just your phone, and then being disciplined in listening to yourself, you will find out all the words and phrases that you use too frequently. You can also hear how effective you are in answering the questions you are asked in an engaging and succinct way
2. Deliver a webinar – webinar services are very inexpensive in fact there are some platforms such as Powownow that allow you to screen share your presentation, deliver the presentation by phone. You could then record and distribute the presentation through some of the video and presentation sharing sites such as YouTube or Slideshare. By preparing to deliver a webinar, you’ll be able to hone your ability in creating presentation materials that are simple but connect your verbal presentation to your slides
3. Host a webcast – social media platforms such as Oovoo allow you to present using your webcam to up to 5 other attendees and you can record the presentation. By presenting in front of camera you can watch out for any speacifc mannerisms that you are using that get in the way of your message
4. Listen to podcasts – I’ve found that listening to podcasts hosted by experts and leaders in their field have been a great way for me not only to become more informed and are a great source of research
5. Watch online video’s – with the accessibility of online video’s they are a great source of content and research – again you can watch others present and get ideas for your presentations – and from time to time you’ll also get ideas of what does not work!

Remember that social media platforms are inexpensive, usually free to access and often free to deploy – with the most intensive resource being your time. And they have the two further added benefits:

1. You can reach people outside of your local vicinity and expand your reach nationally and even globally
2. By hosting the presentations on a site which allow others to comment (be that on your own business blog or one of the sites I’ve mentioned), you’ve the opportunity to access  the invaluable feedback from others. I’ve found the feedback I’ve received after my presentations invaluable in both implacting what I say and how I present.

Social media offers us an opportunity to develop our communication skills that we use every day – speaking, writing, watching and listening. It’s not an end in itself – social media is a platform or tool we can use to enhance our effectiveness in communications.

And if you are looking for some expert guidance on presentation skills, then I’d encourage you to watch the following video which provides a great opportunity to see the master of presentations in action – Garr Reynolds, author of Presentation Zen. Get ready to take notes on how you can enhance your presentation skills.