Ultimate Presentations by Surti Jay;

Author:Surti, Jay;
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
Publisher: Kogan Page, Limited
Published: 2021-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Personal presentation and appearance

Authenticity includes your personal style and appearance as well as your personality. It’s human nature to form quick judgments about people, even before they have said anything – much of it is at an unconscious level, a ‘feeling’ or ‘gut instinct’. So what is it that influences others into forming that instant opinion of us? It ranges from what we are wearing to the visual cues our body language provides.

Becoming aware of non verbal cues

What non verbal signals are you sending? Are you standing tall and giving the impression of confidence or are you finding it difficult to make eye contact which could be interpreted as nervousness or lack of confidence? People make assumptions about our capabilities, levels of confidence and interpersonal skills just from observing us for a few seconds. What we do with our gestures is mostly outside of our conscious awareness. For example, you might cross your arms because that feels comfortable for you, however someone who doesn’t know you that well might think that you may be feeling defensive because you’ve adopted a closed posture. Or, your facial expression could be interpreted as if you are anxious but in reality you are just concentrating and thinking of what to say next. Excitement and nervous energy can also have an impact – affecting our movements in a way that makes us move less naturally than normal. If you want to give the impression of confidence and competency, then make sure your body language is consistent with that. Skip to Chapter 13 on body language for more on this.

How you communicate through your posture, facial expressions and gestures is something you can control to a certain extent. Becoming aware of how you speak and move in presentation or interview situations is a good place to start. Seek out opportunities for rehearsing in front of others and getting feedback from them as well as video taping yourself so that you can see how you speak and move. That way you can bring conscious awareness to how you want to come across in front of your audience. In practical terms that could mean pausing for moment to mentally check-in with yourself and assess what is going on at that particular time so that you can adapt if necessary, for example:

a friendly smile to go with the handshake when you walk into a meeting

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