How to Stop Repeating Yourself When Presenting

by Gilda Bonanno LLC www.gildabonanno.com

Someone attending one of my recent presentation skills training programs asked me, “I’ve noticed that I tend to repeat myself when I’m giving a presentation.  How do I stop doing that?”

It’s a common problem.  While it’s helpful to repeat your message so the audience understands it, you want to ensure that any repetition is deliberate.  What you want to avoid is “accidental repetition" because it can bore your audience, cause you to exceed your time limit and make you look like you’re unprepared. 

Here are 3 tips for ensuring that you won’t keep repeating yourself:

Prepare
Have a clear message and know what your sub-points are. 
 
Get organized
Determine ahead of time how you will arrange, categorize and present your information.  Will you include 3 reasons, 2 points, 5 steps?

Practice
Practice saying your presentation out loud.  Focus especially on your transitions, which is where presenters tend to get stuck and repeat themselves.  How will you get from your first point to your second?

If you’d like to repeat a point for emphasis, that’s fine – just be sure it’s deliberate repetition.


Gilda Bonanno's blog www.gildabonanno.blogspot.com