Talking to the public is not easy, and for your message to resonate, you must be yourself and tell good stories. Learn how to make a boring presentation interesting.

Speaking on a stage in front of an audience is a pretty scary privilege. You have the attention of a group of people and the opportunity to have a direct impact on their lives (and potentially their futures). Follow these tips to make excellent presentations: 

1. Tell Good Stories

If you do not read more of this article, focus on this point. Think about the stories you can tell that are interesting but also include a lesson. We all have stories to tell, but will they resonate with your audience? Will they be able to relate to them? If you have visual supports (such as a PowerPoint presentation) turn them into accompaniments of your stories.

2. Do not read in your presentation

Whether it's your laptop or written notes. I know that public speaking is something that produces nerves; But remember that you agreed to do so. So give people the respect they deserve. Practice your presentation and know in depth what you are talking about. If you suddenly get lost, it is okay to take a look at your presentation occasionally, but the worst thing you can do is sound like a robot on stage.

3. Shrink to increase your comfort on the stage

Shrink to give a speech and then evaluate how you did it. The more you do, the better you will be at it. In my case, before I did a daily video show to get involved with the audience and feel more comfortable. You also try. Invite a few friends and colleagues to see how you practice life and ask for their feedback.

4. Do not abuse statistics or appointments

I've seen this many times: Someone goes up on stage to talk about an interesting topic, and instead of providing their perspective, their presentation is full of statistics from other websites and other phrases people. Yes, you can support your speech with statistics and quotes if necessary, but it is better to offer new information and your perceptions. Without knowing it, people will find great quotes from your talks that you did not know were worth remembering.

5. Use Guy Kawasaki's "PowerPoint Rule 10 20 30."

I think even the best speakers can have people in their audience who are distracted by laptops or cell phones. That's why I like to use bold images and texts in my presentations. Guy Kawasaki was my inspiration with his idea of ??10 slides, 20 minutes and 30 source points. Although I do not follow one hundred percent, it is the basis of my presentation. Bullets are more advisable when writing large text. Typically my presentations are 20 slides, but mainly because I accompany my stories with interesting photos.

6. Energize! 

I recently saw James White, from Signalnoise.com, give a talk. He joked that he had 750 slides in his presentation, and although there were not so many, there were many. He used his slides to create energy and attract the audience. Some of them were fun; others were his job, others were smart. His slides were great, but it was his energy that made the audience thrill. Even if you are not a very energetic person try to move around the stage, have confidence in speaking and engaging the audience.

7. You do not have to tell jokes

Many aspiring speakers make the mistake of trying to be someone they are not when they are on stage. Most of the time it's about being a comedian. But you do not need to tell jokes to make the audience laugh. If you're not used to telling jokes, your speech is not a right place to start.     

8. Audience Fears Questions and Answers

If you want to leave room for questions and answers, be prepared that no one raises your hand. Think, when was the last time you asked anything after a presentation? Personally, I like to do question-and-answer sessions because people often ask me good questions.

When I know that I will make a question and answer session at the end of my presentation, from the beginning I ask the audience to write their questions throughout the talk. If you do not, at the end of your presentation you can indicate that there will be time for questions and answers and that if no one raises your hand, you will begin to ask questions at random like Chock the 9. I love cheese. And I'm sorry, I'm not single. You may not feel comfortable doing something like that, but it works. The audience sometimes just needs a little push.

9. If you do not like questions and answers during the presentation, ask to do so at the end.

The first few times I spoke to an audience I did not want a question and answered session. Nobody will force you to do it, so announce that in the end, they will be able to approach you. It is an easy way to not interact with the questions of a whole audience and to know them personally. I have created some of the best business relationships this way. People will probably feel less uncomfortable asking you face-to-face questions.

10. Be Yourself

I know this sounds obvious, but it is critical that you remember it. The more you try to act like someone you are not, the more people can see through you. The more you act like yourself, the more confidence you have and the easier it is for the audience to relate to you. 

Here is an infographic published on entrepreneur.com 
Check out Business Backer’s infographic below to learn how you can give the presentation of your dreams.