FOR YOUR BENEFIT
PRO TIP:
Rehearsing a presentation line for
line can ultimately leave you coming
off stale on gameday. Instead, write
out your thoughts in bullet points
and refer to them only as an outline
as you speak.
Conquer your Greatest Fear
Preparation, Enthusiasm Cited as Keys to Effective Public Speaking
www.martinmarietta.com | January/February 2 2020 The Conveyor 15
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“It’s the number one fear,” says
Communications Specialist Alyssa
Townsend. “Not snakes. Not death.
It’s public speaking. To move past that fear,
it helps to recognize and accept that you’re
nervous. Anyone standing in your shoes
would feel the same way.”
Townsend designed the new PowerPoint
templates that will soon be available on
mPortal and says such tools can greatly
strengthen a presentation when used
correctly. To truly captivate an audience,
however, she points to a number of time-
tested techniques that will benefit any
speaker, regardless of their experience.
Prepare, Prepare, Prepare
Whether you’re speaking in front of 20
people or 2,000, Townsend’s first tip
is the same: Become a subject matter
expert. A speaker who really knows
the topic at hand doesn’t have to think
about delivering the key points, she
says, adding that such presenters will
PowerPoint is a Complement,
not a Crutch
There are a host of programs out there,
but at Martin Marietta, PowerPoint is the
most commonly used presentation aid.
Townsend stresses that a PowerPoint presentation
should feature minimal, bulleted
text and appropriate images in support
of your content. Ultimately, she says, it
should be part of your presentation, not
your entire presentation.
“People will be listening to you, but they’ll
also be trying to read your slides and
digest the information you’re sharing,” she
says. “If there’s too much text and people
are only reading, then they’re not listening.
You have to make sure your slides and
your speech complement each other. They
have to work together.”
Keep the Audience in Mind
You know your stuff, your voice is warmed
up and your slides are on point, but
looking around, it doesn’t seem like
you’re connecting. Sometimes, that’s
just the way it goes. Townsend says
the next step may be to politely call on
someone at random, a move that should
increase everyone’s engagement.
“This shouldn’t be a ‘gotcha’ moment,”
she says. “Instead, I’ll call on someone who
looks like they may have a question, repeat
my last point and then ask what he/she
thinks. Now, the rest of the audience knows
that they have to stay on their toes because
I may look to them next.” ▼
hit upon important ideas naturally.
“I like to remind myself that it’s just a
conversation – like speaking about something
I’m passionate about over coffee,
only on a larger scale,” she says. “When
you’re able to speak what you know, people
are more easily engaged.”
Be Enthusiastic
“If you’re not excited about your topic,
how can you expect anyone else to be?”
Townsend asks. “Open yourself up and be
engaging. Move around with intention and
use your hands to drive home different
points while being careful not to distract.”
Another tool people often overlook
should be among their most effective.
“You have to modulate your voice because
it’s the variation in your tone that will
keep people’s attention,” she says. “Speak
softly at times. Then, if you want to stress
a key point, let your voice rise. That peak
in tone is a cue that helps people understand
that what you’re saying is important.”
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