5 Ways To Improve Your Presentation Skills and Become An Engaging Speaker

Posted on March 15, 2018 by Tan Teck Kim

how to improve presentation skills training

Welcome To HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR PRESENTATION SKILLS (SINGAPORE) by TK Tan, Public Speaking Coach – Self Help Presentation Skills Training Guide

As a public speaking and presentation skills coach, the most common questions I get asked by leaders, professionals and managers are :

1. How to become more engaging in my presentations?
2. How can I become more interesting as a speaker?
3. How do I lose my nervous energy and gain confidence as a presenter?
(in short, how to overcome my fear of public speaking?)
4. How to improve my presentation skills?
(or how to improve my public speaking skills)
5. How to inspire my audience so that they remember my message and take action?

I have prepared the answers to the above questions through the 5 power tips below.

Presentation Skills Training Tip 1 : Focus On Your Audience, Not Yourself

Remember that your audience is there to NOT to hear you sell your ideas. They are looking for a solution through the information you present. They are vested in your success and excited about what you have to say IF you what you share is related to their problems and needs. By focusing on them, and what you plan to share, your focus becomes the audience’s needs and not how perfect your diction is or how you sound.

To prepare and improve on your presentation skills – start researching on your audience. Find out what their deeper needs are. This approach your take answers the questions : How To Connect with the Audience and How Do I Become More Engaging?

Presentation Skills Training Tip 2 : How To Be An Interesting Speaker – Live Life!

For those who want to improve their public speaking skills and become a more interesting speaker, ask yourself – are you an interesting person? Check out this video below on How To Be An Interesting Speaker :

Here comes a VERY IMPORTANT Presentation Skills Tip which many of my leaders, who are coached by me, find useful :

To be an interesting person – be bold, be daring, be adventurous. Are you living life fully? Here’s a very useful tip for you : Make it a point to try a different experience every month – be it helping out at old folks’ homes, or going skydiving. These experiences give you depth and they can be stories you use in your presentations! That’s how you improve as a presenter and public speaker!

Presentation Skills Training Tip 3 : Master Your Rehearsal Techniques

Most presenters when asked, say they spend 90% of time on preparing slides, and remaining 10% on rehearsal and logistics. This is fundamentally flawed, and it clearly shows why people lack confidence.

To answer the question : How To Overcome Fear of Public Speaking? – there are many factors to consider, but the very obvious one is the ‘under-attention’ to rehearsals and practice.

Famous sprinters, swimmers and athletes will tell you that to improve their timing by 1 or 2 seconds means many extra hours and months of practice. Yes, that’s right. There’s no short cut.

When I coach many leaders and presenters on their next public speaking assignment, one of the things I asked them to change is to increase the rehearsal time. Change the ratio from preparation time/rehearsal time to 1 : 9 instead of 9 : 1. You get that?

That’s how you can drammatically improve your presentation skills. Check out the video below on How To Overcome Your Fear of Public Speaking and How To Improve Your Presentation Skills

Presentation Skills Training Tip 4 : How To Improve My Presentation Skills?

Many people who attend my publicly run courses “Dynamic Public Speaking Course in Singapore” and “Effective Presentation Skills in Singapore” – when asked, do not really know what their strengths and weaknesses are.

Whether it is how to overcome your fear of public speaking, how to be interesting as a presenter, how to improve your vocal identity and projection, how to be engaging, how to use pauses, how to improve your executive presence… many are unclear.

You need an unbiased professional diagnosis of your situation so that you need to know exactly what to improve upon in presenting.

Get a public speaking coach to be coached personally, or attend public speaking courses such as those by British Council Singapore, Toastmaster course Singapore, HighSpark Pte Ltd – Presentation Skills Training and Consulting, or Effective Presentation Skills Training Course (2 days) by 36 HR Training and Consultancy. Alternatively, if budget is a concern, get yourself recorded on video and watch yourself. Investing in yourself is the most important investment you make – so you won’t regret!

►►Recommended reading : How To Speak Like Steve Jobs

Presentation Skills Training Tip 5 : How To Inspire Your Audience – Start Telling This!

Do you know that most leaders and great speakers, like President Obama, Steve Jobs – use something that many managers might not, in their speeches to inspire?

A very senior manager I have recently coached mentioned that he prefers to sticks to the facts, as they are clear-cut, and nobody can challenge him. And he won’t go wrong. As a result, his speeches are dry, and matter of fact, with little room to connect him to the audience emotionally. Like him, many speakers might unknowingly deprive themselves on the chance to inspire their audiences.

To inspire your audience, and improve your presentation skills, start telling stories.

That’s right – tell stories. Stories connect you with audiences.

Do you know when you share facts and date, only 2 parts of the human brain are activated and engaged, BUT if you tell stories, 7 parts of the human brain are activated?

In all my Effective Presentation Skills Training workshops and Impactful Presentation Courses, I stress on telling stories. In my personal coaching sessions for leaders and professionals, I stress on telling stories. Get your stories right and you start inspiring your audience.

This article on Self Help on Presentation Skills Training – How To Improve Presentations – is written by corporate trainer, MBTI coach and public speaking coach, Tan Teck Kim (aka TK Tan – he can be reached here)

Presentation Skills Training Resources

Look out for more articles on Effective Presentation Training Tips coming your way, here on 36-hr.com

►►If you would like to be coached personally – check out this page on Executive One-to-One coaching on Presentation Skills and Public Speaking

►►If you would like to attend our Public Speaking Course / workshops, check out this page on Effective Presentation Skills Training Singapore or Impactful Presentations Workshop.

Effective Presentation Skills Training Singapore – FAQ

Posted on March 8, 2018 by Tan Teck Kim

Welcome to our Presentations Skills Training Singapore FAQ Page

We often received many queries on the Effective Presentation Skills Training Courses in Singapore and Malaysia that we offer. Below are responses you will find very helpful!

1. There are so many Presentation Skills courses in Singapore and Malaysia – which one should I choose?
Answer : That depends on your selection criteria. For eg, most courses will train you on presentation structure and some basic body language skills (eg gestures). Most courses focus on helping you present (speak) but we help you to think of yourself of putting up a ‘show’. If you are looking to becoming more confident, more interesting as a speaker demonstrating executive presence, then our Impactful Presentations workshop – Speak So That Others Listen – is the right one for you. Don’t just INFORM but seek to INSPIRE your audience!

2. Is this a Powerpoint Presentation Skills Training Singapore?
Answer : No, but we share with participants a number of useful and practical tips on your visual aids, including powerpoint. We can also customise for you based on your needs, if you are seeking in-house courses.

3. Is this an English Presentation Skills course (Singapore)?
Answer : All our publicly run as well as in house courses are conducted in English. However, the Presentations Skills Training is not a course on English, but a Presentation Course conducted in English. We have separate English coaches for personal coaching.

4. Is this a Business Presentation Course?
Answer: The course covers many areas in Business Presentations as well as Public Speaking.

5. How different is this from the Success With Presentations by British Council or Dale Carnegie Presentations Skills course or the Effective Presentation Skills by NTUC Learning Hub?
Answer : What differentiates us is our experienced trainer who has both practitioner experience in presenting to large and small crowds. Our trainer Tan Teck Kim is also a certified MBTI trainer and many psychological profiling tools. Some presentation techniques incorporate psychology and persuasion so that we train speakers to move from INFORMING to INSPIRING speeches. Tan Teck Kim is a public speaking coach who has provided Public Speaking Courses for Adults, Public Speaking Course for Students, and has coached CEOs, senior managers, professionals and people from all walks of life.

(note : this is not a Toastmasters Singapore course, and 36 HR Training Consultancy is not associated with the Public Speaking Academy)

6. Does The Effective Presentation Course Singapore cover vocal and voice control?
Answer : Our Impactful Presentations workshop covers techniques which help participants to develop a vocal identity, through the use of pauses, pacing, projection and a variety of exercises. It is however not a course on diction. For managers who need to improve on diction/pronunciation, contact us for personal coaching.

7. How large is your audience in your Presentations Training Courses in Singapore?
Answer : for our publicly run Presentations Training courses in Singapore (also known as Impactful Business Presentations) – we have between 6-15 participants – we will cap at max 15 to ensure training effectiveness. For customised in house Presentation Skills training courses – we recommend up to 16 max.

8. Is this Skills Future Public Speaking course – approved ?
Answer : at the moment, many of our participants are from corporations and institutions and hence we are not supported by skills future grant. We offer attractive training discounts to corporates who have more than 10 participants.

9. Why 36 HR Training and Consultancy?
Answer: Clients are spoilt for choices when it comes to training but it makes the decision much harder and slower. Evaluate us based on our experience in real life speaking situations, in training and coaching experience, and what we can customise for you because we recognise that every client is unique. We have :

more than 10 years of training and coaching experience
more than 100 training videos for different training scenarios
more than 50 training exercises including vocal, eye contact and body language techniques
more than 25 Presentation modules – which you can choose from to customise
we are training in certain psychological and behavioural techniques which you can incorporate in influencing your audience (not just informing your audience)
we focus on not just infoming but connecting with your audience.
a toolkit for you to warmup before every presentation, and many more.

10. How do I get in touch with 36 HR Training and Consultancy?
Answer : Check out our Presentations Skills Training Singapore or Contact Tan Teck Kim (known as TK) via whatsapp by clicking on whatsapp icon below – please state your name, and your email :

5 Ways On How To Be An Interesting Public Speaker

Posted on February 9, 2015 by Tan Teck Kim

Welcome To Our Latest Series of Online Public Speaking Course Tips – 5 Ways To Be An Interesting Public Speaker (by Public Speaking Coach Tan Teck Kim)

Public Speaking Class Singapore

Speaking publicly is mankind’s number 1 greatest fear, and many would rather die to speak on stage. Yet, in our careers, we often have to speak publicly or present in front of large audiences. If you have to speak publicly as a job, or as a passion, and are unsure of how you can become an interesting public speaker – the following public speaking techniques and tips, extracted from my Dynamic Public Speaking Course in Singapore (2 days), will help you :

►►Learn From Steve Jobs On How To Improve Public Speaking Skills

►►Tips To Deliver Impactful Presentations

►►How Your MBTI Assessment Can Help You In Your Presentations

Here are additional Tips On How To Be An Interesting Public Speaker

1. Find out what your audience wants – remember WIIIFT – What’s In It For Them.
Why should they care about what you say? What keeps them awake at night? Make it a point to link your message to their needs. The more you are appear interested in their concerns (and provide a solution to your audience needs), the more they are interested in what you say too!

Case Study on Understanding Your Audience - Public Speaking Training Tip

In the book Marketing and Selling Professional Services (by Kogan Page), there was a true story about a sales pitch for which the firm of architects involved prepared slides to show to the committee of a charity for the blind. They prepared their presentation extensively only to find that the audience were all blind, and the slides could not be used, and they did not have a contingency plan. Know your audience before your present!

2. Make your audience the STAR!
Don’t be only focussed on your content – think of your presentation or public speech as making your audience the star. Engage them, connect with them. For eg if you wish to send an email message to your most important client, you do not just click on the ‘SEND’ button. First you must ensure your computer is ‘connected’ to the wifi before you send the message. Likewise, spend time to connect with the audience. One proven way to connect with the audience, as taught in my Dynamic Public Speaking Course (Singapore) is to share stories. Share stories about famous people, or yourself, about a struggle or a problem that was solved. People connect to the emotions of stories, more so than facts.

3. Vary something or your mode of delivery every 10 minutes.
There are too many things that will distract your audience today – whether it’s their unfinished work/email or family issues, or a stock market crash or the next Facebook post about some new virus or bacteria that kills thousands. Your competitors (for your audience’s attention) are extremely tough as they are part of your audience’s habits, whilst you are not. Research suggests that audience attention will fade after 10 minutes. To arrest this ‘problem’, the best way is to vary your mode of delivery every 10 minutes – this eliminates boredom and adds a dose of freshness. Check out these other useful resources :

►►How To Improve Your Public Speaking Skills & Speak Confidently

►►7 Minute Guide To Impactful Presentations and Improve Public Speaking Skills

4. Here are some suggestions on what you can VARY every 10 minutes when speaking publicly:
To improve your public speaking skills, learn to vary your Eye Contact – most beginners and even very seasoned speakers suffer from a eye contact blindspot, thus unintentionally ignoring a certain segment of your audience. Make it a point to give sufficient eye contact to every one.

In my Dynamic Public Speaking Course (Singapore & Malaysia), I also teach you to develop your executive presence to be an interesting public speaker. You can vary your facial expressions, body stance, gestures, movements, where you stand and how your stand.

In my Impactful Presentation Skills Training Workshop, I teach participants also how to vary their tonality – from pace to volume to using pauses (and yes, SILENCE!).

In my one-to-one personal Coaching on Public Speaking Training and Public Speaking Techniques, I also coach on the use of various media aids – from flip charts to sounds (MP3) to videos to powerpoint. Most people underutilise sounds and videos. Let me for eg show you one of my favourite short videos during my Dynamic Public Speaking Workshop is on why Steve Jobs is such a successful public speaker and how you can be coached on public speaking by watching his video here :

5. Live Life Differently at least once a month
Finally, to be an interesting public speaker, you can live through different life experiences so that you have more insights to share. One of the most popular tips in my Presentation Skills Training Workshop is :
Make a point to try something different at least once a month – for eg, try that guitar lesson you always wanted but didn’t have the time, or fly to London for the meeting of like minded people to support your favourite footballer. Or dare to hit the gym or the beach for beach volleyball. Maybe it’s helping the needy at social welfare events. Or maybe invest in the next Dale Carnegie High Impact Presentations, or British Council Singapore or 36 HR Training & Consultancy Presentation Skills Training Singapore Course. Whatever it is, build your experiences, think about them, and your insights will grow and make you a more interesting speaker.

Contact 36 HR Training & Consultancy at affordable rates today for an in-house Presentation Skills Training Workshop, in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, China, Vietnam or Thailand, or for the next public run of the Dynamic Public Speaking Course Singapore.

36 HR Training & Consultancy was founded by Tan Teck Kim, who has trained and coached hundreds of professionals, executives, managers and senior managers. Tan Teck Kim is also certified as a coach and trainer in various psychological instruments such as MBTI, FIRO-B. As a public speaking coach (Singapore and Malaysia), he combines his coaching experiences and psychological instruments to bring out the best in people. He conducts Public Speaking Workshops, Impactful Presentation Skills Training Workshops regularly for the public as well as customised in house training.

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