Oral Presentation Tips: Avoid "Ums" and "You Knows"

For dental insurance brokers, it’s not enough to know your dental plans inside and out. It’s just as important to know your clients, and be armed with an array of people skills, too.

Then there are those times that come along when a client requests that you make a presentation to assembled employees about the dental benefit plans at hand. Uh-oh. You didn’t sign up to be a public speaker!

It turns out that whether you are shy or just have a case of nerves in front of an audience, you can learn to master effective oral presentations.

Here are oral presentation tips to help you avoid the "ums" and "you knows" while sharing your expertise with the audience. Really, it’s all about becoming comfortable speaking in front of others and being confident in your knowledge of the topic. 

Plan to talk, not read.

You know your dental plans thoroughly, so you don’t need to prepare and read dense paragraphs of details to your audience. Instead, think of the speech as a conversation that highlights your top selling points. Ask yourself, if I were in the audience, what would I most want to learn today?

You should also:

• Jot down ahead of time just those few phrases that cover your key points. That will help you sound conversational.
• Remember that you don’t have to cover every detail—just hit the highlights. Details can be handled better in the question-and-answer period and perhaps follow-up individual meetings at later dates.
• Assure the audience both at the start and end of your talk that you’ll be available at any time to answer their questions.

Mental preparation helps, too.

Think of the audience as a group of friends whom you are there to help.

• Consider looking at the situation as one of making new friends, rather than making new sales. That often reduces your stress about delivering the speech.
• Remember that dental plans may be confusing to employees who are being asked to make a choice that will affect their and their family's health and pocketbooks. You have the expertise they need to clarify and support them in this process, and you are helping them by sharing what you know.

Use mirrors, videos and family members for practicing.

• Especially if public speaking is new to you, consider practice talks in front of a full-length mirror, or ask a family member or friend to videotape your practice. (Most smart phones have a video function.)
• Your practice sessions have two goals: 1) getting across a few key selling points briefly in a clear, understandable way, and 2) being friendly and approachable yet professional.
• When you feel ready, ask your family to act as your audience and offer feedback on how clear you were and how friendly you seemed to be—and note the number of “ums” and “you knows!”

Find a Toastmasters club near you.

Toastmasters is a worldwide organization that helps people like you improve their oral presentation, general communication and leadership skills. Toastmasters clubs are quite popular. Locate the one nearest you by clicking here.

A final note: if you seem to be enjoying yourself at the podium, the audience will feel that and start to enjoy themselves as well. One or two “ums” won’t change that. Aim for mutual enjoyment rather than perfection, and you will discover that connecting with the audience can actually be fun.