Plan
your talk carefully around a few specific ideas. Choosing your
specific ideas carefully will focus your talk.
Practice
your talk. Practice it often, both alone and in front of critical
friends. Friends outside your area of expertise will be especially
good at catching undefined or unclear jargon.
If
possible, tape record your talk and listen for "uhs"
and other repetitious and superfluous words
Avoid
distracting mannerisms, such as waving the pointer, pacing, or
jiggling keys in your pocket.
Talk
to your audience, don't read to them. Know your talk well enough
to give it, without notes, in easy-to-follow conversational sentences.
Remember, your slides or overheads will serve as a visual outline
to help you through the talk.
Use
a loud, clear, enthusiastic voice. If you don't seem to care about
your topic, why should your audience?
