Although Franklin D Roosevelt was referring to the great depression when he stated ‘we have nothing to fear but fear itself’ he could very well have been talking about the one thing that that always comes at the top of most people’s fears – the fear of public speaking. 

A recent survey of 50 local business leaders found that around 87% of them regularly had to make some sort of presentation in public – whether it was extolling the virtues of their product or service or passing on news to staff or colleagues – and over 80% of them said it was one of their biggest nightmares. In fact, it has been said that the fear of public speaking outranks death and divorce as the number one stomach churner. 

So why is it, that putting yourself in front of a group of people (or even just one in the case of interview presentations) brings people out in a cold sweat, unable to string a coherent sentence together or worse, simply drying up in mid-sentence?

In some cases, it’s the fact that we underestimate the needs of the audience. It can also be that we are unrealistic about our own presentation skills. We (mistakenly) think that, as we are an expert in the subject, we can deliver a presentation ‘on the hoof’ just by responding to questions ‘from the floor’ or worse still, reading the PowerPoint bullet points out loud.  

This presentation aims to take the fear out of making a speech or presentation using a structured format – POPTA - along with easy to adopt techniques that will enable you to make your next presentation completely naked. 

So what do we mean by ‘the naked presenter’?  

How many times have you been subjected to ‘death by PowerPoint’ or ‘death by bullet point’ and even worse, had the slides read to you – word by word. Stop right there. 

Think back to the times you actually enjoyed a presentation and came away feeling you had benefited from the time spent. Now think of the reason. Was it that you were loaded up with facts and figures and information that filled the PowerPoint slides or was it the enthusiasm of the presenter that encouraged you to want to find out more.  

Most presentations are boring. Except for the person giving the presentation. While you are sat there thinking ‘there for the grace of God go I’ the presenter is either battling with nerves and the fear of forgetting what they have to say next (hence the bullet points) or worse still thinks they are auditioning for ‘Britain’s got talent’. Leave the comedy to the professionals – it’s just plain embarrassing. 

So do you present completely naked? I recently attended a seminar where the (eminent) speaker boldly stated that presenters should stand in front of the audience without any support props such as cue cards or crib notes. In other words, completely naked.  

So do you stand in front of a crowd (or even one person) completely naked or do you equip yourself with a comfort rag – such as cue cards etc?

This keynote presentation introduces you to the 10 key steps for making a knockout presentation. You will discover the importance of planning (as Mark Twain said ‘it usually takes me 3 weeks to deliver a good impromptu speech’), how to prepare and use visual aids (including PowerPoint) and the value of understanding how your body language can make or break a presentation. 

A presenter who holds his audiences’ attention is Damian Hughes (go to www.liquidthinker.com where you can see him in action) Why?  Because he tells a story. The key element to a successful presentation. He takes his audience on a journey. His journey but a journey he wants you to join him on. His objective being to encourage his audience to change the way they do things now. And that’s the second rule – your presentation should be all about change. Ask yourself the question, ‘what change do I want them to make?’   

If you are making a sales presentation, then obviously you want them to change suppliers, however if you are addressing a more diverse group, it may be life or work changing. Always start with ‘what changes do I want’ 

Damian uses subtle humour to get his message across. He doesn’t try to be something he is not (a comedian) but he warms the audience with stories and examples that engage the audience. He also integrates his PowerPoint slides (less than 20) and short video extracts seamlessly into his presentation. After all, he is the presentation not Microsoft.  

Visual aids can add (some would say up to 50%) to the message so why do so many presenters get it so wrong?

Too much information (1 point per slide), endless bullet points (none would be better), the use of clip art (you still wearing flares?), red and green as the colour scheme (the 2 most common colours for colour blindness) using the wrong font and size (not times new roman and no less than 16 point) and not understanding how your equipment works (even simple stuff like pressing the b key for blacking the screen or w for white screen - go on try it)

So that’s no more bullet points, no more clip art and no more leaving an irrelevant slide on show. 

During this ‘how to’ presentation, you will discover how to prepare for a presentation, whether to use cue cards and other prompts, what to include on a slide and what to leave out, when to give out handouts, how and when to involve the audience, how to deal with awkward questions, when to use humour (if at all) and how to present yourself. 

Think back to the earlier question about what you remember about the last presentation you attended.

9 out of 10 times, it’s to do with the presenter. Dynamic, exciting, really interesting, motivational etc.


In this short presentation, we will talk about how to start and end your presentation and what to do in between, you will discover the importance of body language (only 7% of what we project is via words) including how to stand, where to put your hands, what to wear and how to remember what to say next. 

Book this keynote presentation for your next event or meeting. You may also be interested in our more formal desk based workshops from half day bite size to 2 day academy. Click here for more details.