Who needs presentation skills?

I am confident about having to stand in front of a group and deliver a speech. I love talking and I love audiences so for me, presenting is something I actually look forward to. Up until two days ago, I was convinced I knew all there is to know about presenting. Des Patel, a renowned presentation specialist, gave a seminar on Thursday that widened my view about the art of presenting. According to her, presenting is a learned skill that requires a lot of practice and planning. She shared with us a technique that she has been using in her practice and has worked well for her. Her technique is a structured step- by- step formular on what to do covering content as well as the presenter's actions. Although her technique appeared too rigid, I liked it for one thing; it highlighted important aspects that are esential for successful presentations such as eye contact, voice projection, content synthesis and body language.

The more I listened to Des, the more I realised that the only problem I was having with the technique was its very structured nature. I believe in flexibility, fun and creativity in presentation skills because I get bored easily. That is why I liked Roy Blumenthal; the fact that he believes in working around structures and set rules. I must emphasise that it is not that I do not like rules and structure; I do, but as guidelines and starting points for creativity. In future when I do my presentations, I intend to create my own techniques based on what I learned in the WOW and my own creativity.