PromptSmart

Thank You for Shopping Small Business!

It's hard to believe that we launched our first iOS app in 2014, nearly 8 years ago. At that time we were an unknown indie software development group armed with nothing but our dreams and an innovative idea to advance the text of a teleprompter using speech recognition technology. We've been incredibly humbled by the positive reception of PromptSmart for so many different kinds of people. The U.S. patent office granted our patent application, the market responded to our invention, and the rest is history!

We would like to thank our loyal customers who have been with us throughout the years. We couldn't do what we do without the continued support of our customers and for this we are very grateful. We believe one of the keys to our success has been our commitment to invest in and improve our products based on customer feedback. We strive to provide everyone with an excellent experience and we are always listening to customers that have suggestions for new features or feature improvements.

PromptSmart+ - The Latest and Greatest

In the Spring of 2022 we launched our PromptSmart+ subscription, which was the most substantial software development project we've ever attempted. We expanded VoiceTrack scrolling into 5 languages (English, Spanish, French, German, and Russian) and provided one license to unlock apps for iOS, Android, Linux, Windows, and MacOS.

Tying all of these apps together are web tools on my.promptsmart.com where you can edit content from your computer, add customizations, and also see and control PromptSmart+ app sessions from our new, end-to-end encrypted Remote Control Rooms.

What's Coming Up Next?

We've definitely got more in store for PromptSmart+ subscribers. We have some exciting stuff in our development pipeline, including:

(1) Support for VoiceTrack scrolling in more languages

(2) Add and remove sub-users; a permissions tree to manage who can see or edit different buckets; and link-sharing of your scripts and folders

(3) An in-browser teleprompter plug-in on my.promptsmart.com

(4) Support for more external devices to supplement VoiceTrack scrolling

Nos preocupamos com sua experiência com o PromptSmart. Sua satisfação é muito importante para nós. Reveja as seguintes diretrizes para obter o máximo do PromptSmart.

(1) Maximize a clareza do áudio

•Microfone integrado - Distâncias de mais de 1,5 metros comprometem a qualidade do áudio; o microfone integrado é projetado para uso portátil.

•Use um microfone, se possível.

•Ao usar um equipamento de teleprompter e uma câmera digital, conecte a câmera ao seu dispositivo de teleprompter usando um cabo adaptador.

•Enuncie claramente. Isso funciona melhor do que falar mais alto.

(2) Esteja ciente de seu ambiente de fala

•Desligue qualquer música e encontre uma sala silenciosa

•Quando em ambientes barulhentos, use um microfone com padrão polar unidirecional para que o sinal seja reforçado pela pessoa que fala

•Ecos / reverberação causam interferência e podem reduzir significativamente a precisão da rolagem porque o VoiceTrack pensará que há dois alto-falantes.

(3) Configurações de dispositivo e aplicativo

•Força o encerramento de aplicativos em execução em segundo plano. Esses aplicativos de fundo drenam recursos e podem prejudicar o VoiceTrack.

•Exclua scripts antigos que você não está mais usando.

•Ajuste vários tamanhos de fonte e orientações de dispositivo até encontrar a melhor combinação

•Coloque o dispositivo no modo “não perturbe” para silenciar notificações

(4) Refine seus scripts

•Soletre todas as palavras como você as falaria. Correto: “Um milhão de dólares”. Problemático: “$ 1.000.000,00 ″. Números, figuras e símbolos criam pontos cegos em seu script.

•Verifique cuidadosamente se há erros de digitação - palavras com erros ortográficos farão com que o VoiceTrack espere algo diferente do que é dito.

•Remover emojis / emoticons

•Remova o conteúdo dos cabeçalhos e rodapés, incluindo números de página, antes de importar para o aplicativo.

•Evite usar páginas para criar conteúdo de script. O formato de arquivo do Pages não é compatível com PromptSmart.

Abbiamo a cuore la tua esperienza con PromptSmart. La tua soddisfazione è molto importante per noi. Si prega di rivedere le seguenti linee guida per ottenere il massimo da PromptSmart.

(1) Massimizza la nitidezza dell'audio

•Microfono integrato: distanze superiori a 1,5 metri compromettono la qualità audio; il microfono integrato è progettato per l'uso a mano.

•Se possibile, usa un microfono.

•Quando si utilizza un teleprompter e una fotocamera digitale, collegare la fotocamera al dispositivo teleprompter utilizzando un cavo adattatore.

•Enuncia chiaramente. Funziona meglio che parlare ad alta voce.

(2) Sii consapevole del tuo ambiente di conversazione

•Spegni la musica e trova una stanza tranquilla

•In ambienti rumorosi, utilizzare un microfono con diagramma polare unidirezionale in modo che il segnale venga amplificato dalla persona che parla

•Gli echi / riverbero causano interferenze e possono ridurre significativamente la precisione di scorrimento perché VoiceTrack penserà che ci siano due altoparlanti.

(3) Impostazioni dispositivo e app

•Forza l'uscita dalle app in esecuzione in background. Queste app in background consumano risorse e possono ostacolare VoiceTrack.

•Elimina i vecchi script che non utilizzi più.

•Regola le varie dimensioni dei caratteri e l'orientamento del dispositivo fino a trovare la combinazione migliore

•Metti il ​​dispositivo in modalità "non disturbare" per disattivare l'audio delle notifiche

(4) Perfeziona i tuoi script

•Scrivi tutte le parole come le pronunceresti. Corretto: "Un milione di dollari". Problematico: "$ 1.000.000,00". Numeri, figure e simboli creano punti ciechi nel tuo copione.

•Controlla attentamente gli errori di battitura: le parole con errori di ortografia fanno sì che VoiceTrack si aspetti qualcosa di diverso da ciò che viene detto.

•Rimuovi emoji / emoticon

•Rimuovi i contenuti da intestazioni e piè di pagina, inclusi i numeri di pagina, prima di importarli nell'app.

•Evita di usare Pages per creare contenuti di script. Il formato file di Pages non è compatibile con PromptSmart.

我們關心您使用PromptSmart的經驗。您的滿意對我們很重要。請查看以下準則，以充分利用PromptSmart。

（1）最大化音頻清晰度

•板載麥克風-超過約5英尺的距離會損害音頻質量；板載麥克風專為手持使用而設計。

•如果可能，請使用麥克風。

•當使用提詞提示器裝備和數碼相機時，請使用適配器電纜將相機連接到提詞提示器設備。

•清楚地說出。這比大聲說話效果更好。

（2）注意您的說話環境

•關閉任何音樂並找到一個安靜的房間

•在嘈雜的環境中，請使用具有單向極性模式的麥克風，以使講話者的信號增強

•迴聲/混響會產生干擾，並會大大降低滾動精度，因為VoiceTrack會認為有兩個揚聲器。

（3）設備和應用程序設置

•強制退出在後台運行的應用程序。這些後台應用程序會消耗資源，並可能會妨礙VoiceTrack。

•刪除不再使用的舊腳本。

•調整各種字體大小和設備方向，直到找到最佳組合

•將設備置於“請勿打擾”模式以使通知靜音

（4）優化腳本

•拼出所有單詞，就像您說出來一樣。正確：“一百萬美元”。有問題的：“ $ 1,000,000.00”。數字，數字和符號會在腳本中造成盲點。

•仔細檢查拼寫錯誤–拼寫錯誤的單詞會使VoiceTrack期望聽到的不是所說的內容。

•刪除表情符號/表情

•在導入到應用程序之前，請刪除頁眉和頁腳中的內容（包括頁碼）。

•避免使用Pages創建腳本內容。 Pages的文件格式與PromptSmart不兼容。

Мы заботимся о вашем опыте работы с PromptSmart. Ваша удовлетворенность очень важна для нас. Ознакомьтесь со следующими рекомендациями, чтобы максимально эффективно использовать PromptSmart.

1) Максимальная четкость звука

•Встроенный микрофон - расстояние более ~ 1,5 метра ухудшает качество звука; встроенный микрофон предназначен для использования в руках.

•По возможности используйте микрофон.

•При использовании телесуфлера и цифровой камеры подключите камеру к устройству телесуфлера с помощью переходного кабеля.

•Излагайте четко. Это работает лучше, чем говорить громче.

(2) Помните о своей говорящей среде

•Выключите музыку и найдите тихую комнату

•В шумной обстановке используйте микрофон с однонаправленной диаграммой направленности, чтобы усилить сигнал от говорящего.

•Эхо / реверберация вызывают помехи и могут значительно снизить точность прокрутки, потому что VoiceTrack будет думать, что есть два динамика.

(3) Настройки устройства и приложения

•Принудительно закрыть приложения, работающие в фоновом режиме. Эти фоновые приложения истощают ресурсы и могут затруднить работу VoiceTrack.

•Удалите старые скрипты, которые вы больше не используете.

•Настраивайте различные размеры шрифтов и ориентацию устройства, пока не найдете наилучшее сочетание

•Переведите устройство в режим «Не беспокоить», чтобы отключить уведомления.

(4) Уточните свои сценарии

•Произносите все слова так, как если бы вы их произносили. Правильно: «Один миллион долларов». Проблемно: «1 000 000,00 долларов США». Числа, цифры и символы создают слепые зоны в вашем сценарии.

•Внимательно проверяйте наличие опечаток - слова с ошибками заставят VoiceTrack ожидать чего-то другого, кроме сказанного.

•Удалить смайлы / смайлы

•Удалите содержимое из верхних и нижних колонтитулов, включая номера страниц, перед импортом в приложение.

•Избегайте использования Pages для создания содержимого сценария. Формат файла Pages несовместим с PromptSmart.

Nos preocupamos por su experiencia con PromptSmart. Su satisfacción es muy importante para nosotros. Revise las siguientes pautas para aprovechar PromptSmart al máximo.

(1) Maximizar la claridad del audio

•Micrófono integrado: distancias de más de ~1.5m comprometen la calidad del audio; El micrófono integrado está diseñado para uso manual.

•Utilice un micrófono si es posible.

•Cuando utilice una plataforma de teleprompter y una cámara digital, conecte la cámara a su dispositivo de teleprompter con un cable adaptador.

•Enuncia claramente. Esto funciona mejor que hablar más alto.

(2) Sea consciente de su entorno de habla

•Apaga la música y busca una habitación tranquila

•Cuando esté en entornos ruidosos, use un micrófono con patrón polar unidireccional para que la señal se eleve desde la persona que habla

•Los ecos / reverberación provocan interferencias y pueden reducir significativamente la precisión del desplazamiento porque VoiceTrack pensará que hay dos altavoces.

(3) Configuración del dispositivo y la aplicación

•Forzar el cierre de las aplicaciones que se ejecutan en segundo plano. Estas aplicaciones en segundo plano agotan los recursos y pueden afectar a VoiceTrack.

•Elimina las secuencias de comandos antiguas que ya no utilizas.

•Ajuste varios tamaños de fuente y orientaciones del dispositivo hasta que encuentre la mejor combinación

•Ponga el dispositivo en modo "no molestar" para silenciar las notificaciones

(4) Refina tus guiones

•Deletree todas las palabras como las pronunciaría. Correcto: “Un millón de dólares”. Problemática: "$1,000,000.00". Los números, cifras y símbolos crean puntos ciegos en su guión.

•Compruebe con cuidado si hay errores tipográficos: las palabras mal escritas harán que VoiceTrack espere algo diferente a lo que se dice.

•Eliminar emojis / emoticonos

•Elimine el contenido de los encabezados y pies de página, incluidos los números de página, antes de importarlo a la aplicación.

•Evite el uso de Pages para crear contenido de secuencias de comandos. El formato de archivo de Pages no es compatible con PromptSmart.

We care about your experience with PromptSmart. Your satisfaction is very important to us. Please review the following guidelines to get the most from PromptSmart.

(1)   Maximize Audio Clarity

Onboard mic - Distances of more than ~5 feet compromise audio quality; the onboard mic is designed for hand-held use.

Use a microphone if possible.

When using a teleprompter rig and digital camera, connect the camera to your teleprompter device using an adapter cable.

Enunciate clearly. This works better than speaking louder.

(2)   Be Aware of Your Speaking Environment

Turn off any music and find a quiet room

When in noisy environments, use a microphone with unidirectional polar pattern so that the signal is boosted from the person speaking  

Echoes/reverberation causes interference and can significantly reduce scrolling accuracy because VoiceTrack will think there are two speakers.

(3)   Device and App Settings

Force quit apps running in the background. These background apps drain resources and may handicap VoiceTrack.

Delete old scripts you’re no longer using.

Adjust various font sizes and device orientations until you find the best combination

Put the device into “do not disturb” mode to silence notifications

(4)   Refine Your Scripts

Spell out all words as you would speak them. Correct: “One million dollars”. Problematic: “$1,000,000.00″. Numbers, figures, and symbols create blind spots in your script.

Check carefully for typos – misspelled words will cause VoiceTrack to expect something other than what is said.

Remove emojis/emoticons

Remove content from headers and footers, including page numbers, prior to importing to the app.

Avoid using Pages to create script content. The file format of Pages is not compatible with PromptSmart.

Your script is ready. The stage for your video is set. Your audience is waiting. You’ve rehearsed and rehearsed until you can recite the script backwards. That familiar moment has arrived: you’re ready to begin filming. And so you take a deep breath, hit record, and look into the camera. So begins your first take, right? 

Wrong. Slow down for a minute and rewind. What was missing from the scene? You forgot to ask yourself three fundamental questions:

Nothing is worse than stuff that doesn’t work. We all know that frustration. Save your sanity (and your money) by following this buyer’s guide to help you wade through the sea of options and bewildering tech specs. 

In this installment we cover external microphones. 

We care about your experience with PromptSmart. Your satisfaction is very important to us, and so we encourage you to review these guidelines carefully and/or bookmark this page for future reference.

VoiceTrack is one of a kind -- it’s flexible and it’s accurate -- but it’s complicated technology and much can go wrong. We’ve learned a thing or two over the years and have crystallized some best practices to pass on to our users:

(1)   Maximize Audio Signal Clarity 

Onboard mic - Distances of more than ~5 feet compromise audio quality; the onboard mic is designed for hand-held use. 

Wired mics – Our happiest customers use the correct gear. Be careful to select a mic that is designed for mobile devices – many of them are not. 

Wireless mics – Avoid them if you can because they introduce latency/lag and may require an adapter cable to talk to your device. 

Camera Output -- When using a teleprompter rig, it is very helpful to pipe in the audio-out from the camera to the prompter using an adapter cable.

(2)   Be aware of Your Speaking Environment 

Turn off any music 

Restrict ambient noise if possible; when unavoidable, use a cardioid/unidirectional mic so that the speaker is picked up and ambient noise is attenuated 

Echoes/reverberation causes interference and can significantly reduce scrolling accuracy because VoiceTrack will think there are two speakers.

(3)   Speaker-Specific Tips

If it seems like VoiceTrack isn’t following you closely enough, enunciate clearly. This works better than speaking louder.

Shorten the duration of your pauses to less than 1s if you’re reading from a list of single words or short phrases; otherwise the app may not connect what you’re saying around the pauses.

(4)   Mobile Device & App-Specific Tips

Set the app to the lowest font size for comfortable reading. More words on the display = less chance for error.

Avoid toggling both Audio Recording and Video Recording simultaneously.

Force quit apps running in the background. These background apps drain resources and may handicap VoiceTrack.

Delete old scripts you’re no longer using.

Grant PromptSmart permission to access the microphone and/or remove any privacy restrictions in Settings preventing microphone access.

(iOS only) - If you use copy/paste to create new PromptSmart scripts, please be advised that the default “copy” action includes formatting. For text-only copying, follow these steps: Tap-and-hold > Select text > Share > Copy (from the “share” context menu)

(5)   Refine Your Scripts

Keep your scripts plain text by scrubbing them of formatting. Formatting creeps in unexpectedly. Use plain-text copy-and paste. In iOS the default copy contains formatting. Click here to watch a short demo on how to plain text copy in iOS.

Consider using Google Documents (docs.google.com) to use the handy Clear Formatting feature. Watch this demo to see how easy it is. Then import the GDOC directly into PromptSmart.

Remove ellipses...from your scripts or add spaces . . . like so.

Spell out each and every word in your script as you would speak them. Correct: “One million dollars”. Problematic: “$1,000,000.00″. This creates a “dead zone” in your script.

Check carefully for typos – misspelled words will cause VoiceTrack to expect something other than what is said.

Remove emojis/emoticons and also remove hidden characters, such as hard spaces. Emojis in the text can cause stability problems. Clearing formatting in GDOC (above) will take care of any hard spaces.

Prevent skipping forward -- substitute acronyms or short-hand (“FBI” vs. “Federal Bureau of Investigation”) for wordy or repetitive phrases that may appear frequently in your content. If the same string of text is repeated on the display, it might cause the app to jump ahead of you.

Avoid using Pages to create script content. The file format can cause problems when importing the text from the Pages file into the PromptSmart app.

For best performance, we recommend single spaced paragraphs separated by one blank line. 

PromptSmart has revolutionized video production by putting in consumers’ hands our cutting-edge speech recognition technology: VoiceTrack. In the past, teleprompters were prohibitively expensive and required support personnel to operate. 

No longer. Now all you need is a mobile device and our PromptSmart Pro software. Teleprompters are useful tools because they simultaneously focus the speaker’s gaze on the camera and on the script. Looking in the camera will make your audience feel as if you’re speaking directly to them, which is crucial for your message to resonate. 

VoiceTrack further offers unparalleled control over the scrolling of your content because it will follow your voice as you speak. This will help you to sound natural on camera – another critical piece to make your audience feel like they normally would during a conversation. Don’t lecture at your audience, converse with them! 

PromptSmart Pro stands apart because it’s the only app available for iOS and Android that contains **patented** VoiceTrack technology. Pro doubles as a teleprompter and as a video recorder. 

For best results, drop your tablet or phone into a teleprompter rig. Toggle the mirror text setting to reflect your content in the beam-splitting glass and record yourself on a separate camera mounted behind the glass. 

Et voilà! You now have the most technologically advanced teleprompter on the planet. Be the envy of your friends. Look like a genius because you built something for less than $200 USD what broadcast and TV professionals spend thousands on – but yours is still better because you have VoiceTrack and can easily work alone without the help of someone scrolling the script for you. Show it off with pride. With the right gear you can become your own media mogul. 

You can also record videos from within the PromptSmart app using the Video Recording feature. The Pro app currently supports HD recording from the front camera and the rear camera from both portrait and landscape orientations. Our video recording feature is currently getting a face-lift and our Pro app will very soon support more HD resolutions and advanced camera controls.

We never rest to provide the single most complete and technologically advanced teleprompter app on the market. While our competitors lag behind or splinter features into different teleprompter apps that each miss the mark, our aim is to make one product that is a cut above the rest. And the response from our customers has been to make PromptSmart Pro the most rated and the highest rated teleprompter app in the iOS App Store.

Our popular teleprompter app, PromptSmart Pro, is now available in the Google Play store! After months of diligent testing and preparation, we’re proud to announce this new product release. All of the features you love about our prompter software for your video productions are now available in the Android platform, including:

-VoiceTrack

-Video Recording

-Mirroring text for use in teleprompter rigs

-Notecards

-Extended subscription, including a Remote Control and File Sync (in-app purchase required)

New and returning users often ask about the Extended subscription--they wonder what it is and whether it’s required.

Is An Extended Subscription Mandatory or Optional?

We’d like to clarify that our PromptSmart Pro product is fully functional without an Extended subscription and the features unlocked for subscribers are optional. Unlike other apps that require personal information or “keys” in order to function, it is an entirely voluntary system for PromptSmart users to both create Extended accounts with us or to register your email to receive our news and promotions. This remains true for both our Pro (paid) and Lite (free) products.

We have structured our products in this way intentionally as a way of showing respect for our customers personal information and privacy. Also, we believe in the strength of our technology and that the value of our products are self-evident such that we don’t need to rely on gimmicky email marketing scraper campaigns in order to remain a viable business. We’re continually humbled and overwhelmed by the ongoing support of our customers. Every download is a vote of confidence, and that confidence is firmly placed--we absolutely plan to keep on improving our features and adding new, exciting features to make iOS’s #1 teleprompter app better and better.

In fact, we want to hear from you. Reach out to us at [email protected] to share with us ideas on how we can improve our product.

What Is Included In the Subscription?

We updated Pro on December 7, 2017 to include a free 1-month trial of Extended, which unlocks access to the following features:

Remote Control. Pair your prompter device with another iOS device running our PromptSmart Remote Control app. The remote will allow anyone to see the content of the prompter (using our newly minted “mirrored” mode). When in mirrored mode the remote user can scroll the text of the prompter using finger gestures as well. The remote further allows users to scroll using arrow buttons on the remote (either one line at a time or tapping-and-holding for continuous, smoother scrolling).

File Sync. For those of you that work on multiple devices using PromptSmart, this feature will ensure that all of your devices that are logged into your account are sharing the same, most recently updated script files. File Sync hosts your scripts on a third-party server and will automatically push your scripts to your device (within the PromptSmart app) when you sign in to your account. This feature will help you to stay organized and save you time and energy. Unfortunately, we cannot yet support the seamless integration of your content from within PromptSmart back up to your cloud services like Google Drive or Dropbox. This is due to the current restraints imposed by those third-party services.

Bulk Import. This feature enables you to import multiple documents from the cloud simultaneously.

Many of you have asked us how to get VoiceTrack to reliably work when there is either a lot of noise or some distance between you and the device.  The answer to this, of course, is to use an external microphone.  Seemingly easy, though actually more complicated than it should be with today's technology.  

We wrote this post to ensure that you are using the right equipment in the right way so you can be confident using PromptSmart in more circumstances.  

To start, let's discuss when a microphone would be advantageous to use:

Noisy environments:  The iPad/ iPhone internal microphones are "omnidirectional" which means that they pick up sound from everywhere - not just your voice but also the music in the background, the din of a crowd talking, a whoosh of wind, etc.  We've all been on phone calls where we can tell that the person on the other end is in a crowded room or noisy place.  With that sound coming through, VoiceTrack will need to process all of it, so will be slower, and potentially make false scrolls when it hears other chatter.

Device with PromptSmart is placed more than 2-3 feet from you: If you are shooting a video, the device using PromptSmart will like be placed a few yards away.  The onboard microphones are not designed to accurately pick up sound from that distance, so VoiceTrack will not function optimally.

An external microphone is a great tool for both circumstances.  Good quality mics will pick up less ambient noise, and corded or cordless mics can free you from needing to be close to the device. Here are some important things to keep in mind as you look for a mic:

For the mic to work it must either....

...be compatible with iOS devices. Even though the jack appears to fit, it will not work if it doesn't specify iPhone/iPad or smartphone compatibility

...or you must use an adapter: A mic that is not explicitly designed for iOS/smartphone devices can be used with an adapter that separates the headphone/ microphone signals.  This is a common issue for most professional lavalier-type microphones.  See below for a sample adapter and mics.

Important note: iOS devices are programmed to use the on-board microphone until the device recognizes that a new mic has been attached.  If you attach a non-compatible mic, the device will not recognize the new mic, which means the device will still be using the on-board one.  This can cause confusion since PromptSmart can appear to work with the external mic, however, it is just using the on-board mic.  

If you've had either a good or bad experience with particular equipment, please tell us about it!  We'd like to know which mic you used, the circumstances, and what happened.  Send your story to [email protected] so we can post it here and share with the rest of the PromptSmart community.

Thanks!

A week ago, we launched PromptSmart -- the new voice recognition-enabled teleprompter app for iPhone and iPad. What began as merely a concept has finally come to fruition with our presence in the App Store. Over the past week, we’ve been humbled by the reviews we’ve received from individual users and app review sites. Mac Sources wrote, “I can highly recommend PromptSmart for anyone who has to do any form of public speaking” and 148Apps exclaimed, “For once, an app that uses voice recognition just as well as it promises to.”

We’ve also appreciated all of the great feedback regarding what individual users love about PromptSmart as well as some improvements that would make it even better. In light of that, we’re excited to announce that we’ll be launching a free update to PromptSmart in the next couple of weeks, which will enhance the app in two ways. First, PromptSmart will having a mirroring feature added, which will allow you to use your device along with a teleprompter mirror, so as to use PromptSmart as an actual teleprompter. The second update will be the inclusion of larger font sizes, which will support both those using the mirror option from a greater distance as well as other users who may prefer a larger font.

These two updates are our way of letting you know that we’re working to make PromptSmart the best teleprompter app for meeting your needs. No matter where your public speaking engagements and/or presentations take you, just know: You speak, we follow.

These updates are just the beginning, there’s a lot more to come from the team at PromptSmart!

As a former Communications TA at Wharton Business School, I’ve had the benefit of both learning and teaching how to give the most impactful speeches.  In this post, I’ve compiled some of the key insights I gained from these sessions.  Keep these tips top of mind when you practice and you can make them habits when you give your speeches.  These are tried and tested ways to help you connect with your audience and become a more confident and influential speaker.

#1 Breathe: Before you begin your presentation, take a few deep breaths. Focusing on breathing is the best way to relieve the nervous tension that comes with public speaking. As you begin your presentation, take a moment to absorb your surroundings and take a few deep breaths. Breathing will help you relax, calm your nerves and regulate your speaking pace.

  #2 Connect with the audience by making eye contact. Rather than talking at the audience, communicate with them by establishing eye contact at the beginning of your presentation and maintaining eye contact throughout. A good approach is to pick a person in each quadrant of the room and make eye contact with each one in turn. The distance between you and your selected audience member is far enough that everyone seated around him/her will feel included in the eye contact.

  #3 Practice: It used to be “practice makes perfect,” now it is “practice makes progress,” but either way the more you rehearse the more comfortable you will become speaking in public. We recommend recording yourself giving a speech and play it back to see how you did. Did you speak too quickly? Get tripped up in a particular section? Stammer or say “um” too frequently? Try rehearsing your speech in front of a mirror to see if you sway or appear stiff. Even better, invite a few friends or colleagues to watch you “rehearse” live. Solicit constructive feedback that you can work on.

  #4 Energy: Have you ever listened to a speech and realized 10 minutes in that you had no idea what the speaker had said? Chances are the speaker had low energy. It is typically the presenter’s energy that captivates an audience. Not everyone is necessarily a high-energy person, but moving around on stage, having confidence when you speak and engaging with the audience can make a huge impact. If you present with energy the audience will give it back.

  #5 Use your full vocal range. Use your voice as a tool to engage the audience and highlight key points. Your voice should be a bit louder to emphasize the important points you’re making and a bit softer to de-emphasize those that are less important. But don’t forget to project enough so those in the last row feel that they are a part of the audience. A casual quip made to the front row alienates the rest of the audience.

  #6 Prime your audience for the Q&A: The audience is scared of Q&A. Most speakers are scared of Q&A, but some of the most valuable insights come from audience members. Just be prepared to have the audience not raise a single hand. Think about it, when was the last time you raised your hand in a crowded audience? If you want to include a Q&A at the end of your talk, alert the audience at the beginning, saying something like “I will leave 10-15 minutes at the end to do Q&A, please write down a question or two while I’m talking so I look good at the end when everyone raises their hands.” By mentioning the Q&A upfront, you prime the audience to be ready to ask questions at the end.  People just need that kick-start to get them going.