Four great acting tips to help every PR presentation

Many PR firms are using actors to boost their employees’ presentation skills online and in person.

This is not about turning anyone into an actor, but learning new ways to calm nerves and make the most of our voice and body language when speaking in front of an audience which is critiquing their every move and word. 

We present at work to reinforce positive views or change negative perceptions about our company or industry. We may be trying to raise awareness of a product or service or change the behaviour of one or more of our stakeholder groups. 

One major advantage most PR professionals have is they are usually good storytellers.

So how does this type of training work?

Breathing techniques

Proper breath control helps the voice to work more efficiently, it keeps the heart rate even and brings a sense of calm and connection to our bodies. 

People who present regularly should work on taking breaths from the diaphragm rather from the lungs. When people get nervous and panicky they tend to become short of breath, which affects their voice and throat as they struggle to speak effectively and clearly.

To find the diaphragm put your thumb on your last rib and place your hands on the bottom of your stomach. If you are breathing correctly your shoulders will not move up and down. Watch how a newborn baby’s stomach rises rather than their shoulders as they lie on their back asleep. 

Voice control

Before people do any sport they usually warm up their body, yet many people do not warm up their mouth and jaw before they make a presentation. 

Actors use techniques such as yawning to open the throat, pretend to chew a toffee to relax the jaw and even recite tongue twisters to release tension in the tongue and lips. 

By warming up the mouth before delivering a presentation, someone will project more effectively and articulate their words more clearly.

Actors also know they must add light and shade to their words. In a business context, they will stress particular words such as ‘innovation’, ‘growth’ or ‘change’. 

Actors also love pauses… and presenters should use them too. 

Think of them like throwing a ball into the air and waiting for it to come down again before you catch it and continue. 

Pauses help your audience to take in important points you make. For example, if someone mentions that their company has doubled its sales in the past year or has just announced a new product… they should stop talking. There can be an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds, but that is all it is – as the audience is made to think about what has just been said. 

Energy is a vital ingredient to engage an audience, however large or small. When presenting online it is easy for energy to be lost.

You don’t want to sound tired and bored, even if that’s the way you are feeling. 

Body language

Your body language can let you down when presenting.

This extends to how someone enters a room. Like a theatre audience watching a character enter from the wings who has yet to speak, they make a judgement. Do they like the character? What are they wearing? What might they do next? 

In a business presentation environment people will make similar judgements. Does the person look nervous, shy or over confident? They will also critique how someone leaves the room or how they act once they have finished presenting and sit down.  

Walk into a room or to the podium in a neutral way. Be confident and professional. Centre yourself with your feet shoulder-width apart and stand tall. Imagine a piece of string at the back and top of your head gently pulling you up and roots in your feet keeping you steady on the ground. This will help your posture and ensure you look more confident.

Make eye contact with everyone but do not linger for too long on one audience member as this will make them feel uncomfortable.

Handling difficult questions

Finally there is the potentially disastrous question and answer section when someone’s presentation can go horribly wrong. They may have rehearsed their speech many times but once control is handed to the audience anything can happen.

There are techniques that are used in media training which many readers will be aware of. 

One is called bridging, which is a simple A, B, C, D E technique. You Acknowledge the question, build a verbal Bridge so you can Communicate a positive message and then Develop your point with an Example.

Actors know how nerve-racking talking in front of others can be when the attention is entirely on them, which is why innovative but technical training solutions taken from the performing arts industry can work so well in a business context.

Lucy Morgans is creative director at Hendrix Training, which delivers innovative presentation skills workshops.