Another presentation done and dusted, and what a difference. I’ve been deliberately pushing myself with public speaking because I’ve learnt that confidence doesn’t suddenly arrive before you do something. For me, it has been developing by repeatedly putting myself in situations where I have to stand up, speak and trust myself.
One of the things I wanted to work on this time was pausing. When nerves take over, there’s a temptation to fill every second with words, speak faster and almost race towards the finish. This time I consciously slowed things down and gave people time to take in what I was saying. More importantly, I gave myself time to think about what I wanted to say next. I had notes with me, but they stayed safely tucked away in my pocket throughout the entire presentation. Knowing they were there was enough.
Something else has started happening as my nerves have reduced: my humour is coming through. I love getting people to laugh, and I’m beginning to realise just how much my nerves used to suppress that side of me. When I was nervous, so much of my attention was devoted to remembering what I wanted to say and worrying about how I was coming across that there wasn’t much room left for spontaneity. Now I’m relaxed enough to react to the room, make observations and let my personality become part of the presentation.
For my previous presentation, I demonstrated how I photograph people. This time I decided to take everyone into another part of my work: food photography. Rather than simply showing a collection of finished photographs, I wanted people to see how those photographs are actually created.
I photographed a chocolate cake live, talking through my thought process, lighting choices and camera angles as I worked. My camera was tethered to my laptop, which was connected to the large screen in the room, so everyone could watch the photographs appearing as I took them. They could see what happened when I changed something and, more importantly, understand why I was changing it.
That’s one of the things I enjoy most about demonstrating photography. The finished image doesn’t simply happen because you own an expensive camera. It comes from a series of decisions about light, angle, composition, exposure and what you want the viewer to notice. Being able to make those decisions while explaining them to a room full of people was also a great test of my own knowledge. When you’ve been doing something for years, explaining why you do it makes you think about your own process differently.
I also received some valuable feedback from my team afterwards, which I’ll take into my next presentation. Becoming a better speaker isn’t about finishing a presentation and deciding I’ve cracked it. There will always be something I can improve, and every time I stand up in front of a room I learn something new.
Perhaps the biggest change is that public speaking is gradually becoming less about controlling my nerves and more about communicating with the people in front of me. I’m pausing more, thinking more clearly, making people laugh and, perhaps most importantly, I’m actually starting to enjoy myself. The nerves haven’t completely disappeared, but they’re taking up far less space, which is allowing more of my personality to come through.
A huge thank you to Red Rose Cake Company for supplying the mouthwatering chocolate cake for the demonstration. You can find them at www.redrosecakeco.com. And thank you to everyone who watched, laughed and gave me feedback afterwards.
Another presentation completed, another lesson learnt, and another step forward in my public speaking journey. Here’s to the next one.
Ray
