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What It Takes to Give a Great Presentation

• Carmine Gallo

Five tips to set yourself apart.

Never underestimate the power of great communication. It can help you land the job of your dreams, attract investors to back your idea, or elevate your stature within your organization. But while there are plenty of good speakers in the world, you can set yourself apart out by being the person who can deliver something great over and over. Here are a few tips for business professionals who want to move from being good speakers to great ones: be concise (the fewer words, the better); never use bullet points (photos and images paired together are more memorable); don’t underestimate the power of your voice (raise and lower it for emphasis); give your audience something extra (unexpected moments will grab their attention); rehearse (the best speakers are the best because they practice — a lot).

I was sitting across the table from a Silicon Valley CEO who had pioneered a technology that touches many of our lives — the flash memory that stores data on smartphones, digital cameras, and computers. He was a frequent guest on CNBC and had been delivering business presentations for at least 20 years before we met. And yet, the CEO wanted to sharpen his public speaking skills.

• Carmine Gallo is a Harvard University instructor, keynote speaker, and author of 10 books translated into 40 languages. Gallo is the author of The Bezos Blueprint: Communication Secrets of the World’s Greatest Salesman  (St. Martin’s Press).

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10 Tips to Try Now to Master Stage Presence

Having a good stage presence is the key to any great performance. From live music to keynote speeches, the most memorable performers command the stage with charisma, energy, and confidence. As someone who has been giving speeches and presentations for multiple decades, I have learned a thing or two about having a good stage presence in my journey.

Your success as a presenter relies on your ability to capture and command the attention of your audience. You need to be able to direct and control that attention through your words, confidence, appearance, body language, eye contact, visual cues, and general mannerisms.

Depending on who you are and what your message is, your stage presence can be achieved in several ways. A politician must be eloquent, a comedian must be humorous, and a public speaker must be authentic. It’s important to understand where you stand and the best stage presence to have to get the most effective outcomes.

Whether it’s good or bad, everyone has a stage presence. You may be serious and articulate, hoping to convey impactful messages when on stage. Or, you may be curious and excitable, hoping to energize your audience when you get on stage. Either way, here on my tips on how to enhance your current stage presence in order to capture and engage your audience.

What is Stage Presence?

Stage presence cannot be defined by one word. Stage presence is a combination of things – your charisma, appeal, confidence, and energy when performing on stage. This also includes your level of comfort on stage, your ability to connect with your audience and hold their attention, and how memorable the experience was once it’s over. Your stage presence is the biggest variable that determines whether your audience will be spreading the word about your presentation after it’s over.

Having a good stage presence is very important when delivering a speech or presentation. The best speakers have a very captivating stage presence – they are able to capture the audience’s full attention and keep them interested throughout the entirety of their speech.   Improving your public speaking skills allows you to build confidence and develop a strong stage presence anytime you give a speech; from a presentation to your team at work, all the way to a company-wide keynote.  

How to Tell if You Have Good Stage Presence

Stage presence can be gauged by a few metrics. If you’re wondering how well you perform on stage, here are a few ways to figure it out.

• Your audience’s reaction. Does your audience appear interested and engaged throughout your presentation? Are they laughing or reacting at all the right parts? Is their full attention on you? Did they give you positive feedback once your speech was over?
• Your audience’s remembrance of your presentation. Was your audience talking about your presentation after it was over? Will they tell their friends, family, colleagues about what you presented? Were there memorable quotes or anecdotes in your speech that your audience can recall later on? Is your presentation being referenced long after you gave it?
• Your own confidence in your presentation. How well do you think you performed? Did you feel like you executed the speech just as you hoped? Did you feel comfortable and confident throughout the presentation? Is there anything you could have improved?

These are all very important questions to ask yourself when determining your stage presence. The answers to these questions will help you understand what’s working, what can be improved, and what could be gotten rid of.

If some of the answers weren’t as great as you hoped they would be, I’ve included some of my best tips below to help boost your confidence, engage with your audience, and improve your overall stage presence .  

10 Tips to Improve Stage Presence

Everything from communicating with colleagues to presenting your big ideas to the company, having a good stage presence is an important factor in getting your message across. Being under a spotlight of any kind gives you command of the room – after that, you decide how you want the rest to go.

Throughout my 40-year career as a public speaker, I’ve learned and incorporated many best public speaking practices in my speeches. Here are a few that I believe are the most important in developing your unique stage presence and your own style of presenting.

1. Practice, practice, practice

Here’s a cliché we have all heard at least a dozen times: practice makes perfect.

Why is it a cliché, you ask? Because it’s been proven time and time again. If you, like 40% of Americans, have a fear of public speaking , practicing allows you to minimize the panic and mitigate stress during your presentation.

Whenever you are preparing to give a big presentation, nothing can take the place of practice. Practicing allows you to really nail down your main points, prepare for any situation that may arise during your speech, and help you gain confidence in your speaking skills.

If you’re newer to the world of public speaking, practicing will be incredibly helpful in overcoming your fears and developing a great stage presence.

2. Use Engaging Visuals

Enhancing stage presence can be done in many ways. A great tool I’ve utilized in many of my presentations is using engaging visuals. Though you should be the main focus of your presentation, visual aids can act as a useful addition to enhance your performance.

Using engaging visuals can help you tell your story and deliver meaningful points. Considering that over 65% of the population are visual learners, visual content also helps reinforce your message. Through the use of charts, infographics, images, videos, and even the occasional meme, visual aids can evoke emotion in your audience and strengthen your key points.

3. Bring your audience into the presentation

Whether it’s an anecdote, a question, a joke, or asking for a volunteer, bringing your audience into your performance is one of the best ways to make them feel valued and stay engaged.

People love to make their voices heard and feel like they are contributing to the conversation. You will notice how their body language changes when they feel like they have the opportunity to shine.

Engaging with your audience will allow you to establish and deeper connection with them and be seen as relatable.

You can create comradery and rapport to further capture your audience’s attention by bringing them into your presentation when appropriate. Developing a stage persona that feels relatable and accepting will make for a memorable performance.

4. Always seek to improve every performance

As a speaker that has been in this industry for a long time, I know that there is always room for improvement. Seeking opportunities for improvement will always keep you hungry to become the best performer you can be.

Reference past performances and look at areas you could have done better in. Record your speeches and take notes on them after the fact. Watch yourself and track how the audience reacts throughout your speech.

What did they like or dislike? When did they start losing interest? Was everyone fully engaged or were they talking amongst themselves?

The answers to these questions can help you pinpoint what works best for you during your performances.

Track your characteristics and patterns and think of ways to enhance the good ones and remove the bad ones. Maybe after rewatching your speech, you realize you have a different anecdote that you think could elevate your presentation the next time. Notes like this will help you continuously improve and enhance your public speaking skills and stage presence.

5. Use the entire stage

Whether in person or on zoom, utilize all the room you have – work the whole stage. Especially if you’re presenting to a large audience – make an effort to walk around the stage so you can engage with each portion of the audience. You will get a better view of your audience members, and they will see more of you. Hold meaningful eye contact with your audience members in order to build connections. Use your body language to convey openness and confidence.  

Staying in one place and reading from a prompter while presenting may feel dull and unenthusiastic. You want each audience member to follow your movements and stay engaged in your performance.

Plus, moving around and taking up space on the stage can help elevate your energy level and alleviate any tense nerves you may have, and make you look more confident whilst presenting. You will notice what kind of movements and body language your audience responds the most to. This is your opportunity to try new things and add them to the repertoire if they work well.  

6. Embrace the power of pause

One of the most important skills you can have as a speaker is listening. Being an active listener allows you to absorb new information and make people feel heard and understood. Rather than jumping to respond right after finishes speaking, a great listener always pauses . This pause allows you to gather your thoughts and respond with consideration to the message the person has spoken to you.

All great listeners are masters of the pause . They are comfortable with silence and can even use it to build momentum and anticipation for what they have to say next. They appear more confident and self-assured when they have the patience to pause. This skill is especially important when building your stage presence, as it will help you keep your audience at the edge of their seats.  

7. Dress to Impress

Though your audience will surely be attending your presentation to hear what you have to say, it’s very important to dress the part. Make sure you are wearing something that you feel comfortable and yourself in, but that also aligns with the meaning of your presentation.

For example, if your presentation is about how to find balance in life, wearing a full-pressed suit may not be the best choice. Why do you ask? Because the topic of the conversation is more casual and inclusive. You want to look and sound like you have found balance in your own life. A better outfit option for that speech could be a nice pair of slacks and a button-down.

If you are presenting something more formal and the event is corporate, a suit may be the way to go. Feeling good in the way you look while performing will help you speak with confidence and boost your stage presence.  

8. Stay Confident in Yourself, Even When Slipups Happen

You will always hear me say how important it is to be confident when performing. Your confidence, energy, and comfortability on stage allow your audience to focus on the message you are delivering, rather than how nervous you may be.

It is, however, not always as simple as that. You may miss a key point during your presentation or stumble on a few words. The microphone may stop working halfway through or the lights may suddenly go out. Your first instinct may be to panic that your presentation is ruined. But alas, it is not. Take a breath and pause if needed.

Having a good stage presence means you know how to handle bad situations. This means practicing how to deal with these kinds of situations before they occur. When you know what your next steps will be in case anything goes wrong, you won’t be nervous about anything to come. You’ll remain cool, calm, and collected through anything.

One of my favorite quotes is a Hasidic Proverb and it goes like this, “The man who has confidence in himself gains the confidence of others.”

If you remain confident in yourself, you will deliver an incredible presentation and leave your audience with some great leadership quotes of your own .  

9. Ensure All Equipment is Working

Though it’s important to stay confident if a bad situation arises during your presentation, it’s equally as important to mitigate risk wherever possible. Whether you’re presenting on a physical stage or virtually, make sure everything you need is working properly beforehand, like microphones, screens, cameras, and prompters.

Your stage presence can still be felt virtually. That’s why it’s so important to get familiar with and understand the technology you are using. You don’t want to distract from your presentation with silly errors, like not knowing how to un-mute yourself. Becoming familiar with the features you will need to use during your presentation will create an efficient and problem-free presentation. Learn how to share your screen, read audience members’ comments, break participants into discussion groups, run polls, and so to ensure that your presentation runs smoothly.

You also want to make sure your Wi-Fi is strong and your background is clean and clear, to mitigate unnecessary distractions and hold-ups. Your virtual stage presence relies heavily on your platform working well.  

10. Respect the Audience’s Time

We all know how annoying it is to be left waiting. That is why it’s so important to respect our audience’s time. Even if it’s just your presentation they have come to see, make sure that you start on time and end on time. By making sure your equipment is working properly, you can ensure that everything runs smoothly during your presentation. Even if something goes wrong, be conscious of the extra time and see where you can minimize going too far over time.

Your audience will only be willing to wait for so long before they start getting antsy, at both the beginning and the end of your presentation. You don’t want an impatient or agitated audience, as they won’t be as focused on the message you are delivering. When the audience feels like their time and energy is being considered and respected, they will give you their full attention.

These tips and tricks will help you not only give incredible presentations and speeches but help you have a better stage presence.

Take these tools and expand on them in your own way – this will help you incorporate your personality in your presentation and make your performance authentic.  Performing on stage may be scary at first, but with enough practice and effort, you will become the best performer you can possibly be.

If you want to kickstart your public speaking career and continue to develop stage presence, I highly recommend checking out my “Speak Like A Leader” course. This course will help you create the structure and plans you need in order to maximize your stage presence and master your public speaking skills. If you’re finally ready to become an incredible public speaker and change your life, this is the course for you. Don’t wait and miss out, check it out today!

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About Brian Tracy — Brian is recognized as the top sales training and personal success authority in the world today. He has authored more than 60 books and has produced more than 500 audio and video learning programs on sales, management, business success and personal development, including worldwide bestseller The Psychology of Achievement. Brian's goal is to help you achieve your personal and business goals faster and easier than you ever imagined. You can follow him on Twitter , Facebook , Pinterest , Linkedin and Youtube .

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10 Tips for Presenting at Work

So you have to do a presentation at work? Presenting in meetings or to your boss is always a bit nerve-wracking and yet it’s a critical part of project communications . Here are 10 tips for giving a fantastic work presentation.

1. Know your audience

First, know your audience. Who are you presenting to? And where are they in the organizational hierarchy?

The presentation you give to a team of technical system developers is going to be very different to the presentation you give to the CEO, even if you are talking about the same project.

You should plan to tailor your presentation and shape it for the audience, and for that you have to know a bit about them.

The good news is that you probably know your work colleagues quite well, even if they are clients. Think about what they want to know and how much knowledge they already have about your work.

When you are thinking about how to give a presentation at work, consider:

• What are the objectives of the presentation?
• How can you illustrate your points with data or facts?
• What will people be most interested in hearing (instead of what you are most interested in telling them)?
• What do you want them to do after the presentation (make a decision etc)?

You have to know your material, so that you can be prepared for questions. But more than that, you have to know how to shape it to tell the story you want them to take away.

Do they need to know the numbers? Focus on sharing the figures that have the most impact and explain your points most accurately. Share graphs, charts or other visual information to help get the point across, and be prepared to dive into the detail if requested.

Do they want to see progress? Share a Gantt chart or status update as a one-pager. Use a roadmap or timeline to illustrate the bigger picture.

Get your data together

Next, get the data together that you will need for your presentation. Plan the flow of your presentation so that you hit the key points and make the takeaways clear.

Once you have your key objectives in mind, you can start putting any slides or other materials together, bringing together your data, your objectives and the format you are going to use for presenting, whether that is Google Slides, Prezi, PowerPoint, a live demo of software or something else.

It’s also worth physically preparing by speaking your presentation out loud – a rehearsal (or several). You can rehearse your presentation with a mentor if you are worried. This can help you deal with anxiety about presenting.

3. Keep it short

You’re presenting in a meeting, or other work setting. This isn’t an evening seminar where you’ve got to deliver an hour-long speech, or an after-dinner-style humorous lecture. Keep it short.

People appreciate short. Go for 20 minutes, that’s often long enough. If you have a lot of material you will have to decide what to leave in, but remember you can always have extra data to hand to show if there are questions on something you didn’t cover in detail in your presentation.

Or you can print it out and hand it around if you are meeting in person, or follow up the presentation with an email with further information if people are interested.

Keep your slides short too. Not too many words on a slide. Remember the rule of 16:

• No more than 16 words on a slide
• No less than 16 point font on a slide.

And frankly, I’d go for much bigger font. However, most of the guidance on font size for presentations is aimed at people giving presentations in conference rooms, not meeting-sized rooms with a dozen people who have the presentation on their tablets or their PA printed it out for them. Go as big as you can, while still getting your message across.

4. Avoid jargon

This is a rule for all workplace communication. Avoid jargon and acronyms in your presentation, even if you are presenting to colleagues who know what they mean. Make it easy to understand at a glance. Give context. Help people understand by not making it difficult for them.

You’ll know what language is appropriate for your colleagues and customers. If you don’t, put some material together and ask someone who does not know about your project whether they can understand what you are on about.

If they don’t quickly and easily get the message, go back to basics and remove some of the terminology until you have a version that hits the right level.

Tip: Typically, the higher up the organization you go, the less project-specific jargon is relevant (or appreciated). But you know your colleagues, so factor in their prior level of knowledge as you choose your words.

5. Present successes as well as challenges

When you are presenting your work to your boss, remember to talk about the things you have managed to do well.

I know when I get ‘boss time’ I want to get her advice on the difficult situations, talk about the challenges I need her to unblock for me and work together to sort out the sticky things. But you should also make time for talking about what went well.

When you present your work to your manager, try to get a balance between getting decisions and support and also sharing some of your successes (either personally, or on behalf of your team).

6. Make eye contact

Whether you are meeting one or two people, or presenting to a room full of work colleagues at an internal Town Hall style event, make eye contact.

Focus on a few people around the room and share your gaze broadly. It helps make people feel like the talk is aimed at them and that you are interested in their responses. It also helps you spot who isn’t interested in what you are saying!

If you feel weird looking people in the eye, look at the middle of their forehead. They won’t be able to tell you aren’t making ‘true’ eye contact and will still feel included in the discussion.

7. Use body language effectively

If you don’t know what effective body language is, it will be hard to emanate it. Watch the powerful people at work, or your manager when she gives a presentation, and see how they move when presenting to groups.

In a meeting, you will be giving a presentation sitting down most likely, to your peers or colleagues.

In a larger setting, you might be behind a podium or in front of a meeting room full of people, some of whom will find it difficult to see you if they are at the back.

Think about your body language consciously. There are some easy things to do to make your body language more powerful.

• Do not read from a script
• Stand up if you think people can’t see you
• Ask questions – perhaps that’s not truly body language, but it’s another way to engage the audience.

The video below is quite old, but it shows Body Talk expert Richard Newman talking about the palms up/palms down gesture – so subtle, but so powerful, and so easy to incorporate into your work presentation.

8. Get creative: work presentation ideas

PowerPoint slides, anyone?

Slides are the classic way to put information into a presentation but you don’t need to be limited to that. See if you can include more creative ways to show your project or status updates . How about:

• A short video from a colleague or customer, telling a story
• A product demo, or something that can be passed around
• A set of wireframes or clickable demo
• A mock up graphic on a slide instead of a flat screenshot.

Even using full-screen images with an overlay for your text will help you make your slides more interesting.

This next tip will also help your meeting be more interactive and interesting…

9. Present with a colleague

If you are nervous about presenting at work, see if you can present with a colleague. This could even be your boss.

Here’s how to present with a colleague:

• Work out the content of your presentation
• Decide who is going to present each part
• Practice the handoffs so you can transition smoothly between each speaker. It’s less disruptive if you change speaker once or twice, not after every slide
• Agree who is going to field questions. Someone should invite and make the initial response to a question, even if that is simply handing it off to the other person to answer.

Presenting with a colleague is more work. You have to work together on the talk to make it look effortless, and that means planning in prep time. However, it’s worth it for lots of reasons, not least because it can help with anxiety to have someone with you on the day, and you can back each other up.

Switching between presenters means the audience isn’t constantly listening to just one voice, which makes the session more interactive and interesting.

Your colleague can also give you feedback about your presentation style (if you want it). You could both give each other feedback on how you come across during your rehearsals. It can be really valuable to have friendly, constructive feedback.

How do you start a presentation with your boss?

Follow the steps above to prepare the content. Personally, I would expect my boss take the lead in the presentation, unless she specifically asked me to. Therefore, I’d expect her to start the presentation, stating our names and who we were, and perhaps handing over to me so I could give a brief introduction off myself.

Then the content of the presentation starts, and we’d switch between presenters as planned.

I would let her field the questions, and provide expert input to the answers as required.

10. Prepare for questions

Sometimes there won’t be time for questions. Other times you need to expect to be grilled.

If you are presenting to management or to your boss, you should expect and welcome questions. It means they were (probably) listening!

If you know your topic, and you can get access to any extra information, then you’ll be fine. Don’t be put under pressure to answer on the spot if you don’t know the numbers or the details. Your work meeting is not Dragon’s Den or Shark Tank: just say you don’t have those details to hand and you’ll get back to them later that day.

Think about when you are going to invite questions. At a work based presentation given in a meeting setting, you should be prepared to answer questions at any point. Be ready to be interrupted. You aren’t giving a conference paper, so expect there to be someone in the room who wants to know more about everything . Be ready!

Pin for later reading:

Project manager, author, mentor

Elizabeth Harrin is a Fellow of the Association for Project Management in the UK. She holds degrees from the University of York and Roehampton University, and several project management certifications including APM PMQ. She first took her PRINCE2 Practitioner exam in 2004 and has worked extensively in project delivery for over 20 years. Elizabeth is also the founder of the Project Management Rebels community, a mentoring group for professionals. She's written several books for project managers including Managing Multiple Projects .

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How to present better: Presentation stage management

I also ran a theatre company for a long time and spent seven years touring with professional dancers as the technical director of the company. (I can’t dance, but I was damned good at putting lights on dancers.)

What became clear to me over that time is that they weren’t thinking about their performance as they performed. They weren’t “in the room” or “in the moment” or any of those other cliches you hear presentation skills trainers spouting.

I’ll let that shock sit in for a moment or two before adding the obvious-in-retrospect proviso that they weren’t thinking about their performance because they didn’t need to. They knew what they were doing so very well that it simply wasn’t necessary.

In fact when I talked to them, many of them observed that trying to think about what they were doing would have been a Very Bad Thing – their bodies (in the form of their subconscious brains) knew what to do and their conscious brains wouldn’t be able to keep up.

What do professional presenters think about?

Yes, scrambled English but I’m sure you got the idea! 🙂

In short, professionals rehearse their presentation to the point where thinking about it as they delivered the presentation is actually a disadvantage!

What should/do non-professional presenters do?

But in a different world I guess that’s not likely to be possible for business presenters, so I’ve been working with experts to see what it is we do in the ‘real world’ of presentations, and I’ve come up with my realistic best practice.   It’s not presentation best practice, ‘cos that’s asking too much and isn’t worth the extra work involved for non-professionals – just realistic presentation best practice … and in a nutshell it’s this:

Know your presentation material well enough to mean you’re thinking not about the material, but only about the delivery.

If you’re thinking about the material and the delivery at the same time there’s too much to think about and your presentation is more likely to go wrong. Obviously reducing the mental effort (cognitive load) for presenters is therefore a good thing. But unlike professionals, it’s just too much work to be worthwhile for you to rehearse your presentation to the point of being able to think about what you’re going to have for tea as you deliver the presentation – hence the compromise.

Stage Mangers are the wonderful people who actually run a performance – the make sure the actors are called to the stage at the right time, that the music, video and lighting cues all happen at the right time, that the props and set are moved when and where they should be etc.   By the way, I say they’re ‘wonderful’ people because I know some. And they frighten me.

Doing your own presentation management works in two ways.

Presentation management part one

This is the obvious stuff such as sorting out your tech. I’ve written here about how we make sure that nothing can go wrong when you’re presenting (well, things can always go wrong in a presentation but…). Checklists and structured common sense are your friends.

Presentation management part two

This is the ‘fun’ one. Think of it as like having someone at the side of the stage who’s not making the presentation but whose job it is to watch you and the audience make the presentation. Now imagine they’ve got a radio communication set to talk into your ear as you present. Once you know you’re material well enough you can spend a fairly bit part of your brain listening to that Presentation Management voice as they say things like:

• you should be on right hand side of the stage for the next slide so don’t forget to move over in the black slide
• the person in the third row, right hand side doesn’t look like he understood that last point, think about checking
• the back row is laughing at all the jokes – be careful not to be sucked into thinking everyone is loving it as much as them.

See what I mean?

You differentiate in your head between the presenter (you) and the presentation’s manager (also you, sadly). It’s the optimum balance between knowing your material absolutely perfectly which is great but takes a looooot of time, and not knowing it enough to present your material well.

How do I learn to “Presentation Manage” my own presentation?

Step one is easy. It’s just the tech. Spend some time to practice your tech and logistics as well as your content. It’s not rocket-science lists are your friends. We have three. A pre-presentation checklist; a about-to-start-the-presentation checklist; and the after-the presentation checklist.

Step two is a little harder, I admit.

It might be worthwhile going back to look at this very short blog about how to rehearse efficiently , so that you can get the most out of your rehearsal time.

But not about you. I’ve written about why getting (amateur) feedback is worse than useless when it comes to improving your presentation . Nope, what I mean is that your recruit should be given the instruction to watch the audience. You might also arm them with the list you’ve just created. Get them, if they can, to jot down what they see with the time, too, to make it easier to figure out what you were doing when things happened.

Then debrief with them after the event, while it’s fresh in your mind. A good debrief is a skill of it’s own, but I’m on a word limit here, so I’m stopping soon! 🙂

What does “Presentation Management” look like?

Well I can’t tell you what it looks like for you and your presentations – but I can tell you a bit about what it looks like from mine.

As I look at my audience and deliver the content of my presentation there’s part of my brain looking at things like:

• does that slide look as good projected as it did on the computer I used to design the presentation?
• is there anyone in my audience who’s just not into into?
• what’s my timing like – am I as far through the presentation as I should be by this slide?

It’s not rocket science!

Let me know – how do you work as your own Presentation Manager.

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ReleuctantStoryTeller

Are your presentations "okay on the day" but don't have an impact ? Adding stories to your presentations will make the biggest difference, helping you really engage with your audience. But not sure how to get started?

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.css-1qrtm5m{display:block;margin-bottom:8px;text-transform:uppercase;font-size:14px;line-height:1.5714285714285714;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.35px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.35px;letter-spacing:-0.35px;font-weight:300;color:#606F7B;}@media (min-width:600px){.css-1qrtm5m{font-size:16px;line-height:1.625;-webkit-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-moz-letter-spacing:-0.5px;-ms-letter-spacing:-0.5px;letter-spacing:-0.5px;}} Best Practices 5 essential preparation steps for a successful presentation

by Tom Rielly • June 15, 2020

Keeping your presentation visuals minimalistic, simple, and clear is just one important step to remember when designing a hit presentation. Leaving nothing to chance, great presenters prove quite methodical as they prepare. Here’s a checklist for everything you need to keep in mind before your next presentation:

1. Choose the right software for your needs

The easiest way to select the right presentation software for you is to simply find the one that is native to your device. For example, if you have a Mac, use Apple Keynote, if you work on Windows, use PowerPoint. Google Slides is recommended if you’re working with someone, as it makes collaboration very easy. Another software option is Prezi: a specialty tool called Prezi that creates a presentation using motion, zoom, and panning across one giant visual space.

2. Organize your files

As you develop your script and visuals, you will need to start assembling all the assets for your slides. Create a unique folder on your computer to hold these items. Keep the folder organized by media type (presentation drafts, photos, videos, scripts) and back them up frequently to the Cloud or external disk. Label each file with a specific descriptive name, e.g. “Susan Johnson singing magpie 2020”, as opposed to “IMG_4043.jpg”, which can make it confusing to find your assets. The more organized you are up front, the easier preparing for your presentation will be.

3. Prepare your presentation materials

Make sure your presentation materials (script, graphics, actual slides) are saved in at least two safe spots (for example, your computer and an external USB drive) and are backed-up frequently. If you are using an online presentation software, such as Google Slides, be sure to also download a copy of your presentation in case the internet connection is unreliable. Having all the individual assets on hand in addition to your presentation slides can be helpful if you experience tech issues before presenting, or if you need to make any last minute changes. Make sure to label your final presentation with the title and your name so it’s easy to find.

4. Practice, practice, practice!

Remember, practice makes perfect. People often run out of time making their presentations and have no time to practice. Most TED speakers practice at least ten times. Neuroscientist Jill-Bolte Taylor gave one of the most successful Talks in TED history with nearly 27 million views. How did she do it? She practiced her Talk over 40 times! By rehearsing multiple times you will naturally memorize your Talk, which means you won’t need note cards when you give your final presentation.

5. Do a final test run

Before presenting, make sure the equipment you need is working properly. It’s generally good practice to rehearse standing on the exact stage with the exact lighting using the exact computer that you will be using in your final presentation.

Here’s a quick checklist of what to look for when testing your equipment:

• If you're not using your own computer, the one provided might be slower and have trouble playing media. If you have videos or other media, make sure they play correctly
• Test the projector to make sure it’s HD
• Make sure images are clear
• Test the sound of any clips you use, as this is what goes wrong most frequently
• If you’re using a mic, test the volume

Don’t let technical issues or other blunders overshadow your presentation. By following these guidelines, and with a little preparation, you can engineer out the problems BEFORE they happen.

Ready to learn more about how to make your presentation even better? Get TED Masterclass and develop your ideas into TED-style talks

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How to get your timings right when presenting

November 11, 2019, share this post.

Do you often run overtime when presenting? Maybe it’s time you adjust your overall time management skills and rethink your presentation strategy.  

Start by improving the way you manage your overall timings and making sure you start and finish your speech on time. This will earn the respect of your audience members and of the event organisers.

Another thing to consider is the 10-minute attention span rule – a concept developed by biologist John Medina from the University of Washington School of Medicine. According to Medina, people’s attention plummets after 9 minutes and 59 seconds. Therefore, you’ll need to add some variety to your content. 

Consider changing the tone in your voice, moving to a different spot, asking your audience a question or even using a polling system. Each of these activities serves the same purpose: to give your audience a mental break. We have a great podcast explaining more about this rule – listen to it here . If you follow this rule, your audience will follow you!

Get the timing right

Once you know the length of your presentation and how much time you have to present it, carefully plan out how long you’ll allow for talking and answering questions. Then, you can do a detailed outline of your presentation and decide on the structure and timings for each section. 

For example, if you’re delivering a one-hour presentation, you could divide your time as follows: 40 minutes talking time, 15 minutes for questions, and 5 minutes for any last-minute delays or interruptions. Then slot in four different interactive activities after every 10 minutes of speech to ensure your audience is still engaged. Don’t forget to also include timings for any interactive polls, videos and audio files. 

Your audience’s time is precious and you shouldn’t take it for granted! 

Whether you use Prezi or PowerPoint, you can use the Presenter view feature to see the timer and clock while you present. Another great timekeeping tool is your wireless controller. If you use the Logitech Spotlight wireless clicker, for example, you’ll notice that there’s a countdown timer that buzzes at 5 minutes and 2 minutes before the end of your presentation. 

However, bear in mind that live presentations often take longer than scheduled. It’s easy to get carried away and talk for longer when you’re on stage, so be flexible. Decide beforehand which section(s) you’ll drop if you run out of time and make a note of the slide number that is right after the section that you’re taking out, so you can skip straight to it. 

In the video below, Certified Prezi Expert Russell Anderson-Williams explains how to keep the momentum of your presentation without losing the crowd’s interest.

Practice, practice, practice

It’s important to practice your presentation out loud and time yourself. If possible, try to also record yourself and watch or listen to it, however painful this might be. You’ll pick up on any ‘Ummms…’ and ‘Aaaaas…’ and improve the pace and impact of your presentation. Great speakers always rehearse beforehand – more than once!  

Your presentation may be amazing and your presenting skills top-notch, but that doesn’t mean that you should keep talking for ages. Your audience will soon start to switch off. 

Once your speech runs over the allocated timeframe, you’ll soon notice your audience getting fidgety and losing interest. All those great ideas you’ve presented could end up with less of an impact. Your audience’s time is precious and you shouldn’t take it for granted.

For more presenting tips, sign up to our Newsletter and subscribe to our YouTube channel. 

If you’d like to discuss your presentation needs, email us at [email protected] to arrange a free consultation. 

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• Presentation Science

The Complete Guide to Practicing Before a Presentation

• By: Scott Schwertly

Forget all of the bologna you’ve heard about adults being unable to learn new skills because the brain “hardens” at 25; science has proven otherwise . No matter how old you are, you can learn to become a masterful presenter through deliberate practice. It’s how the best speakers in history have risen to power, made fortunes, and stayed relevant long after their time. Consider this quote from Mark Twain on the work involved for an “impromptu” speech:

“ The best and most telling speech is not the actual impromptu one, but the counterfeit of it … that speech is most worth listening to which has been carefully prepared in private and tried on a plaster cast, or an empty chair, or any other appreciative object that will keep quiet, until the speaker has got his matter and his delivery limbered up so that they will seem impromptu to an audience .” – Mark Twain’s speech in New York City, 31 March 1885

Do you want to be rich and famous like Mark Twain? The secret is practice.

The Science Behind It

Our brains are like incredibly powerful trains travelling to Success Town; all we need to do is ensure they are well-oiled, fueled properly, and put on the right track. When we accomplish a task, our brains coordinate the actions of our motor functions, verbal skills, and sensory processing. This process is called “ myelination ,” which increases the strength of our nerve impulses in the brain. It’s like a charged up super fuel, making the train speed ever nearer to Success Town.

When we practice, myelination triggers the electrical pattern that causes us to successfully execute the action. It’s the brain’s way of saying, “oh, I’ve seen this before, I can do it a bazillion times faster than last time.” In a study of speed chess players, those who clocked in more game time were more likely to recognize patterns on the board and win.

In order to see positive results, studies have also shown that your brain must engage in “mindful” practice. This means avoiding doing the same thing over and over on autopilot without actively trying different techniques and slowly working through problems. “ Instead of mindless trial and error, it is an active and thoughtful process of hypothesis testing where we relentlessly seek solutions to clearly defined problems .” – Noa Kageyama

All aboard the train to Success Town!

What to Practice

There are three areas to practice in order to become a masterful presenter:

Body Language – This is an essential part of how you appear to your audience on a psychological level . Body language encompasses your hand gestures, movements, posture, and facial expressions; strengthening this can be the difference between appearing like a confident go-getter or a meek no-getter. Check out our post on different ways to improve bad body language.

Vocal Tone – If you make a vocal misstep, the results are immediate. Practicing this means managing speed, volume, and inflection to ensure that you are heard clearly and powerfully. Luckily for all, we also have a more detailed post on what you should aim for when practicing.

Content – When most people think of “practicing,” they incorrectly think of memorization. Familiarizing yourself with your content means that you know it backwards and forwards, but still have the ease of a natural, non-robotic presentation. Engage yourself with the content, don’t just mindlessly drill your main points and read directly off your slides during your presentation.

“ Preparation will carry you through, provided you understand the logic and rehearse the format. When presentation time comes, trust you know your stuff, and that details will be there to pull from as you talk. If done correctly, no two presentations will ever be alike. Be in the moment, delivering it fresh and new, every time .” – Barbara Niven

The best way to assess which areas you are weakest is to record yourself running through the content of your presentation and then reviewing the video for any weak spots. Do your arms flail when your tone is neutral? Do you struggle to remember main points? Take notes as you watch and give yourself a diver’s score when it’s over. Once you’ve thoroughly assessed, you are ready to start the hard work: actual practice.

How to Practice

“ Mr. Lincoln thought his speeches out on his feet walking in the streets: he penned them in small scraps — sentences, & paragraphs, depositing them in his hat for safety. When fully finished, he would recopy, and could always repeat easily by heart — so well thoughted, shotted, and matured were they .” – William H. Herndon lecture, January 24, 1866

Begin by setting the stage for yourself; you want to simulate the conditions of your presentation as closely as possible. Olympic swimmers don’t practice in kiddie pools, and nor should you practice sitting in a recliner with a box of cookies. Practice with the equipment you will use, as well as the presentation you have created. Once you’ve set the stage as best as you can, consider trying:

Standing Tall – Never sit down when you practice, let yourself become familiar with standing (not cowering) as you speak.

Enlist a Friend – If you can possibly enlist a stray friend to watch one of your practices, do so. If not, consider recording each practice or using a mirror to gauge your body language. Need even more of a reason to pester a friend? “ Research has established that fast, simple feedback is almost always more effective at shaping behavior than is a more comprehensive response well after the fact .” ( Source )

Chunk Your Message –  If the length of your presentation is daunting, work on one piece at a time. You may also try elaborating on a single point from existing knowledge. Break your presentation into sections, break your sections into sentences, and then break those sentences into chunks.

Try “Opposite Day” – If you’ve watched a recording of your presentation and notice a few weak spots, locate where those places are and then try out an extreme (even silly) version of “opposite day.” For example, if you are talking too quickly, take time to talk in slow-motion. It will help keep you mindful and more active during your practice.

Background Noise –  In another effort to recreate the presentation setting, you may consider playing music in the background to help enhance your focus.

Get Rid of Your “Um’s” – We’ve done a bit of research on the subject; word filler can be reduced or avoided entirely with the right kind of work. If you’ve noticed a lot of “like’s” “um’s” and “ah’s” plaguing your delivery, we have a great resource for you.

How Often to Practice

“ Some people fear that too much rehearsal undermines spontaneity and authenticity. Actors know the opposite to be true. Having your material internalized actually frees you to live in the moment. ” – Rob Biesenbach

We don’t recommend cramming all of your presentation practice the night before your event. In fact, a study conducted by the University of Sheffield concluded that: “ more practice is better, but if you space it out instead of doing it all at once then you improve. ” Furthermore “ those willing to experiment and learn from their mistakes at the beginning tend to perform better in the long-run. ”

Maybe you are searching for a concrete amount of time to rehearse, but there really is no magic number. According to Forbes : “ How much should you rehearse?  A lot.  Stage actors often get up to 6 weeks, 5 or 6 days per week, 8 – 10 hours per day, to rehearse.  That’s how you end up looking natural, assured, and authoritative.  Not by winging it. ”

You might run through a presentation by relying on memorization and mindless repetition a thousand times and not accomplish the same results as someone who thoughtfully rehearsed 5 times. There is no magic number, unfortunately. If you space out your practice sessions long before the event and avoid cramming the night before, science has proven that your performance will be better.

Put In The Work, We Beg You

Studies have revealed that 91% of audience members admit to daydreaming during a business presentation. If you could snap your audience out of a sleepy stupor, grab their attention, and become the most memorable speaker they’ve ever seen, you would. Surprise! It’s possible through diligent, sometimes frustrating, and time-consuming practice.

Question:  What is your presentation practice game plan?

Scott Schwertly

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Working the Stage and Staying “In the Moment” During a Presentation

• By THE NEWMAN GROUP INC.

Every presentation is also a performance. Like an actor you need to know your lines and stay “in the moment,” always in character and focusing on what you’re doing when you’re doing it.

Actors are trained to stay in the moment and not think about what they’re having for dinner after the show or lose their concentration if a cell phone goes off in the audience.

Staying in the moment – or mindfulness – is a skill that is getting a lot of attention these days as our busy lives and the Internet intrude on our ability to focus, as The New York Times recently reported.

If you’re presenting, you can’t be thinking about what’s going on at work or let other distractions throw you off your game.

Staying in Character

Actors know they are always going to experience stage fright and actually welcome it because they know that their body is telling them they’re ready to rock and roll. No two performances are the same. The timing is different and audiences react and laugh in different places. Yet, actors must stay in character and keep going.

A classic example is Mia Farrow, who was in the middle of a scene in a Broadway play when the curtain came crashing down. A member of the audience had taken ill and the call for a doctor in the house delayed the production for 20 minutes.

When the curtain went back up, Farrow resumed doing exactly what she had been doing before the interruption. That’s focus and staying in the moment.

Actors know how to work the stage. They’re not going to step on a laugh line. Sometimes the laughter goes on and on and at other times it doesn’t. Actors don’t say their next lines until the laughter stops.

An actor is essentially playing the same character and reciting the same lines every night.

We never recommend that our clients memorize their lines but we do encourage them to internalize the flow to know what’s coming next. It’s always desirable to personalize your presentation to different audiences. If you’re making a sales presentation, for example, you can change the anecdotes, statistics and examples. However, the key messages and takeaways remain the same.

Learning How to Move on Stage

Since a presentation is also a performance, you need to know how to move on the stage or when standing in a conference room. I’ve worked with the CEO of a major health care association for many years. The first time was for his appearance before a very large audience.

The stage was decorated with huge leafy planters. Our first move was to get rid of them. Next, we dispatched the lectern along with the Presidential Prompters at each side of the lectern.

Instead, we had the production company install three floor monitors at the foot of the stage allowing the CEO to work the stage. This helped him appear to be talking directly to the audience, creating a personal and more intimate connection. It also helped him to stay in the moment because he wasn’t distracted by planters or locked in behind a lectern.

The monitors weren’t visible and you couldn’t see that he was reading his lines. His keynote was a great success.

Getting Even Better

A CEO who is a great communicator can be even better when he learns when to move and when not to move on stage. I had coached another CEO for his presentation and since I could not attend the final on-site rehearsal, I asked the PR director to videotape the last rehearsal on her iPhone and send it to me.

I was horrified to see the CEO galloping back and forth across the stage. I immediately contacted the CEO to ask why he was literally running from one side of the huge stage to the other. He said the production team told him he needed to use the whole stage.

I reminded him that I had blocked out the stage with X’s so that he would know how far and when to move in any direction thus using the stage more appropriately … not to mention avoiding getting out of breath from all the running and the potential for cardiac arrest.

The production team pushed back but I told them I’d stake my reputation on the fact that this would work. And it did because the CEO didn’t have the distraction of sprinting back and forth across the huge stage. He was able to stay in the moment.

Staying in the moment requires concentration and practice. While you’re rehearsing, get rid of a distracting thought as soon as it pops into your head. Use little reminders like winding a string around your wrist and then touching it as needed to bring your focus back to what you’re doing.

How do you stay in the moment? Do you have any techniques that keep you focused?

Related articles

• Combating Stage Fright With Imagination (smallbiztrends.com)
• Wrap Your Negative Feelings in a Tiffany Box and Keep Climbing (presenting-yourself.com)
• On sharing your own personal story to make a difference (presentationzen.com)
• Presenters: Do You Walk on Stage or Take the Stage? (publicwords.typepad.com)

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• business presentation skills , executive presentation skills , Personal Charisma , Presentation Skills Training , Speakers Bureau Training , Staying in the moment , Working the stage

One Comment

Great blog post! The example of the CEO dashing from one side of the stage to the other is not only a distraction for the speaker, but it’s just as distracting to the audience. I can’t tell you how many presentations I’ve seen where the speaker is constantly moving. It’s difficult to follow a presentation or capture those golden nuggets when the delivery is ill-paced.

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The Art of Timing: Timing Your Presentation for Maximum Impact

April 16, 2023 / Blog

When delivering a presentation, timing is more than just keeping track of minutes on a clock.

Timing is an art that can greatly impact the effectiveness of your message and your audience’s engagement. The right timing can captivate your audience, reinforce key points, and leave a lasting impression. However, poor timing can result in disinterested listeners, missed opportunities, and a lackluster presentation.

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The science of timing.

Timing is not just an abstract concept but has real psychological and physiological impacts on the presenter and the audience. Understanding the science behind timing can help presenters make informed decisions on structuring their presentations for maximum impact.

Psychological Impact

Timing plays a significant role in audience engagement and retention.

Studies have shown that attention spans are limited, and listeners tend to lose interest if a presentation drags on or feels rushed. Moreover, your presentation’s timing can affect your audience’s cognitive load—the amount of mental effort required to process information.

Too long or fast-paced presentations can overwhelm the audience and reduce their ability to retain and comprehend the information.

Physiological Impact

Timing can also impact the physiological responses of both the presenter and the audience.

When a presenter is rushed or anxious due to poor timing, it can affect their vocal tone, body language, and overall delivery. On the other hand, a well-timed presentation can create a sense of rhythm and flow, enhancing the speaker’s confidence and stage presence.

Similarly, the audience’s physiological response, such as their heart rate, can be influenced by the timing of the presentation, affecting their level of engagement and emotional connection with the content.

Optimal Presentation Lengths

Research suggests that the ideal presentation length may vary depending on the context and audience.

TED talks, known for their engaging and impactful presentations, are typically limited to 18 minutes or less since shorter presentations align better with the limited attention spans of today’s audiences. However, longer presentations may be appropriate in specific settings, such as academic lectures or training sessions. 

Understanding the optimal presentation length for your audience and context can help you plan your timing accordingly.

Attention Spans

Attention spans vary depending on factors such as age, context, and level of interest. 

On average, studies have shown that the attention span of adults ranges from 10 to 20 minutes, while children’s attention span is even shorter. This highlights the importance of structuring your presentation with engaging content and well-timed transitions to maintain audience attention throughout your presentation.

Techniques for Timing Your Presentation Effectively

Timing your presentation requires more than being aware of the factors that can impact your pacing; it also involves utilizing specific techniques to ensure your delivery is smooth, engaging, and impactful. Here are some techniques to help you time your presentation effectively:

Rehearse, Rehearse, Rehearse

Practice makes perfect when it comes to timing your presentation. Rehearsing your presentation multiple times can help you get familiar with your content, delivery style, and timing.

Time yourself during rehearsals to ensure you stay within your allotted time, and make adjustments as needed. Practicing also helps you build confidence, which can positively impact your delivery and timing during the actual presentation.

Use a Timer or Stopwatch

Utilize a timer or stopwatch during rehearsals and the actual presentation to track of your time. Set specific time limits for each section or slide of your presentation and stick to them to help you stay on track and avoid running over time.

Pace Yourself

Pay attention to your speaking rate and pace yourself accordingly .

Avoid speaking too quickly or too slowly, as both can affect the timing and comprehension of your presentation. Vary your speaking speed to add emphasis, create pauses, and engage your audience.

Use Visual Cues

Use visual cues, such as notes or slides, to guide your timing during your presentation. 

Highlight key points, transitions, or cues for audience engagement to ensure you stay on track with your timing. However, be mindful not to rely too heavily on visual cues, as they may affect your connection with the audience.

Be Mindful of Time Signals

Keep an eye on any time signals provided by organizers or moderators during your presentation.

Time signals may include visual cues, such as time cards or hand signals, to indicate how much time you have left. Be attentive to these signals and adjust your pacing accordingly.

Practice Flexibility

Be prepared to adjust your timing on the spot if needed.

Unexpected situations may arise during your presentation that can affect your timing, such as technical issues, audience questions, or interruptions. Therefore, practice flexibility by having contingency plans, such as shortening or omitting certain content, to adapt to unexpected situations while maintaining effective timing.

Seek Feedback

Request feedback from a trusted colleague, mentor, or friend who can provide constructive feedback on your timing. They could identify areas where you can improve your pacing and suggest adjustments.

Mastering the art of timing is essential for delivering a presentation that captivates and resonates with your audience. Follow these strategies to ensure your presentation is well-timed for maximum impact, leading to a successful and memorable presentation experience.

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Timing Tips for Successful Presentations

Would you consider a presentation successful if the speaker went beyond the allotted time? It may have been a really good presentation, but because of the delay, you were late for some other important appointment. Remember, for the speaker to go over the allowed time is a big no-no.

In this article, DeckRobot examines the importance of finishing your presentation on time and gives tips for staying within your time constraints.

Know your time

The first thing to do is to determine how long your presentation is going to run . Consider that a 10-minute presentation needs to be prepared differently than a 30-minute one. No surprise that longer presentations require longer preparation. If you don’t prepare properly, then there is a risk of running out of things to say or show.

Know your talking time

If you are familiar with presenting basics then you probably know that your talking time is not the same as your presentation time. For instance, if your presentation is about 30 minutes, it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to speak for 30 minutes sharp. Depending on the nature of your presentation, you may need to allocate 10 minutes for a Q&A session. Thus, check with the presentation organizers and see how many minutes should be allotted for questions.

The number of slides

Determining the right amount of slides is a bit difficult. According to Guy Kawasaki , you should follow the 10/20/30 rule – 10 slides, 20 minutes, 30-point font. And this technique is one of the best, but truly it depends on the nature of your presentation. However, it shouldn’t technically matter how many slides you use as long as you make everything fit within your allotted time.

Time for your slides

The best timing tip for successful presentations is to figure out how many minutes you’re going to spend on each slide. You don’t need to spend a uniform number of minutes on each slide. Some slides may only take you a few seconds, others may take several minutes. As you go through each slide take note of how long each one is going to take. Use your phone’s stopwatch app for this. Tap on the ‘lap’ button once you finish a slide. The idea is to have each lap correspond to one slide, so you can figure out how long each slide takes.

One trick to make sure you’re timing your slides properly is by delivering your presentation as you would on presentation day – by doing it verbally! This means practicing your entire speech and actually saying it out loud. If you just say the words in your head, then you could mistime your presentation. We do read faster in our minds. Don’t forget about pauses. Every pause counts. In addition to helping you rest for a bit, you can also use pauses to emphasize certain points.

Speaking over your allowed time is disrespectful and will annoy at least some people in your audience. It’s a privilege to have their attention, whether it’s for 5 minutes or 5 hours. Your task as a presenter is not to abuse it! Following a strict timing schedule during rehearsal and your actual presentation are necessary steps to being a successful speaker. You’ll not only position yourself as an expert presenter but also as someone who respects people’s time.

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Kelly Clarkson details poignant moment she turned to weight-loss drug: I was at my heaviest and ‘didn’t see it’

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Kelly Clarkson decided to start taking weight loss medication to slim down when she no longer recognized herself on stage.

The singer made the revelation during Monday’s episode of her eponymous talk show while chatting with guest star Whoopi Goldberg about her own transformation.

Clarkson, 42, shared a story about seeing herself perform a show at The Belasco Theatre in New York City and realizing how many pounds she had put on.

“Do you know what’s funny? I didn’t see it,” she told Goldberg of her weight at the time.

“Literally we were watching it. We were in my house in New York like watching it. I was going to release it and then all of a sudden I paused it and I was like, ‘Who the f–k is that?’ I swear to God. It sounds insane.”

The “Because of You” singer admitted that, up until that moment, she never noticed how much weight she had gained. However, she said she was never “insecure” about it.

“People are like, ‘She must not have been happy,’” Clarkson said. “I was like, ’No, I was happy. I just did not see that.’”

Clarkson furthered that she was “riding high” even when she was at her heaviest weight of 203 pounds.

“People assumed, ‘Oh she must’ve been miserable or depressed or whatever,’ and I was like, ’No, I was not,’” she reiterated.

But when Clarkson watched the concert recording of herself back, she realized her health was in danger.

“Any second now, she is going to die,” Clarkson recalled thinking to herself when she first realized how heavy she had gotten.

Goldberg, 68, admitted that she first turned to the Type II diabetes drug Mounjaro after someone thought she was wearing a fat suit in her movie “Till.”

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“I was indignant. I was like, ‘This is not a fat suit. this is me!'” Goldberg said.

“And then I saw,” Goldberg said of her need to trim her waistline.

Meanwhile, Clarkson admitted that her doctor had encouraged her for “two years” to go on a weight loss drug to lose weight.

“I was like, ’No, I’m afraid of it, I already have thyroid problems.’ I was afraid,” the “American Idol” alum confessed.

Ultimately, Clarkson decided to go on the medication because her “blood work got so bad.”

Clarkson has since dropped more than 60 pounds on the unspecified drug, which she confirmed was not Ozempic but something “similar” that “aids in breaking down the sugar.”

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