Ok, now you are in front of the group. Good start. I recommend the following:

1. Introduce yourself - in summary form. Even if someone has just introduced you, give people a brief idea of why you were asked to do that presentation to that group of people. That will reinforce your name and credentials, and give you an easy way to get started. If the group is not too big, have them introduce themselves too. It might be helpful for you to know one thing they hope to get out of your program.

2. No carbonated beverages before you speak. If you burp in my face you will lose my attention and my respect.

3. Use a microphone if available (except if you have been drinking carbonated beverages). Even if your voice is loud to start with, most people are not good at maintaining volume. If your voice fades, it sounds like you are not really confident about your material, or your ability to explain it.
And if you are holding the microphone remember to keep it in front of your mouth. If you turn your head away from it, it sorta defeats the purpose of using it.

4. Don’t turn around to see what your slides look like behind you because then you either have your back to your audience or you are contorting your upper body. Neither is a good look for your audience. Know your material. Look at your slides on the notebook computer screen in front of you or print out your slides in advance. Talk to your audience. Eye contact is important.

5. Decide in advance whether you will take questions during your presentation and let the audience know.

6. Please repeat the questions from the audience if the group is large. If someone is asking it, someone else is thinking about asking it. If you, the one with the microphone, choose not to repeat the question then that information and time is lost to almost everyone in your audience.

7. If someone asks you to repeat something, it is either because they did not hear you or because they did not understand you. So if you say exactly the same thing at exactly the same volume, that probably won’t help. Best to repeat it, louder, or reword it, or both. Or better yet, ask them to clarify.

8. Sometimes the audience appears to be daydreaming. It’s not you - we all struggle with focus sometimes. But there are a few things you can do to wake them up. The best way is to get them involved: ask questions, wait for someone to answer, or even point to people. Plan for part of your presentation to be interactive. Ask them what questions they have. Or suddenly start talking louder. And walking around the group to get closer to them will also get their attention.

9. Don’t be afraid to give the group some rules such as no cell phones and pagers. The rest of the attendees will appreciate it.

10. If you brought handouts other than copies of your slides, hand them out and hold them up when you talk about them so everyone knows which handout you are refering to.
As a side note, I went to one seminar where the speaker told everyone to write down every point he was going to make. At the end of the session he gave us all the information and explained that we would pay better attention and get more out of it if we had to write it down. That made a lot of sense to me and is also an option.

11. If you are not handling the slides, just say ‘next slide’ when you are ready to move on. No need to hem and haw and fill the time until they catch up. This is especially helpful in a webcast because it lets the audience know that you have limited control over the pace of the program.

12. Saving the most important for last: you may not say ‘um’ or ‘uh’. You do not have to memorize your presentation, although that would be better than uming through it, and you do not have to talk during every moment that you are in front of the group, but this is not a casual meeting or a chat with coworkers. This is a presentation where you are expected to know what you are going to say. If you forget what comes next, it is acceptable to stop and look at your materials, but please do not fill in the time with ummmm.

I know these may seem like picky details to most people, and they are, but people are investing time and possibly money in getting information from you, so make it as easy as possible to communicate your message. And you are investing your time in educating us, so it makes sense to ensure that we get something out of it, and we remember you!

Hope you find something helpful here. Thanks for visiting.