Member Article

Informal Presenting

With Dr Simon Raybould, Curved Vision TheatreI’ve had the same question from a couple of people recently (one of whom had been on our Telling People course) - about how to present when you’re sitting down; I found it a really useful question, not least because it brings up the whole issue of when you’re making a presentation (instead of just gossiping!).Essentially, you’re making a presentation whenever you’re passing on information in anything more than just an answering-a-simple-question way!And the big trick to doing that when you’re sitting down (I’m going to assume you’re at a table in a meeting room here) is to move to the very front of your chair and sit with a straight back.

Tuck your legs under the chair if you need to (backwards, not forwards or sideways) so that there aren’t any bends in your spine. Now for the hard bit… make absolutely sure that you keep your body-weight slightly forward and your head tipped so it’s in line with your spine. Avoid the temptation to raise your head: if you need to, raise your eyes instead!In other words, sit as though you were standing up as much as you can, but with the chair’s (front) legs replacing yours.Hope that helps - it’s easier to do than to describe, honest! As always, questions and comments to me at sme@curved-vision.co.uk.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .