Five Things I’ve Seen the Best Presenters Do (That Nobody Talks About Publicly)
Five Things I’ve Seen the Best Presenters Do (That Nobody Talks About Publicly)
Here is an article on the subject of making presentations to a live audience. It will give you some vital insights and knowledge to help you hone your skills. Along with this article, I have written 5 other articles focusing on each of the 5 main points laid out below. At the end of this article is a link to some essential reading which resides online, in my Book Store.
The people who look effortless on stage are anything but accidental.
I’ve spent a fair bit of time in rooms most people don’t see.
Closed-door masterminds. Private strategy days. Speaker green rooms five minutes before a packed theatre opens its doors. Late-night hotel bar debriefs after a standing ovation. Quiet conversations in corners where the real craft gets dissected.
And here’s what I’ve learned.
The people who look effortless on stage are anything but accidental.
Behind the curtain, away from the applause and the Instagram clips, they approach presenting with a level of intention that most never consider. They treat it as a discipline. A psychological exchange. A transfer of energy and authority.
I won’t name names. That’s not the point. But I will share five pieces of advice I’ve consistently seen top performers apply when it really matters.
If you speak to live audiences - whether that’s a boardroom of twelve or a theatre of twelve hundred - these will change the way you show up.
1. They Decide the Emotional Destination Before They Build the Content
Most people build presentations like essays. Introduction. Three points. Conclusion.
Top performers build them like journeys.
In private planning sessions, I’ve heard this question asked more than once:
“How do you want them to feel when they walk out?”
Not what do you want them to know.
Not what slides are you
using.
Not what statistics you’ll quote.
What do you want them to feel?
Confident? Urgent? Slightly unsettled? Deeply inspired? Clear and focused? Challenged?
The emotional destination is chosen first. The content is reverse-engineered from there.
One speaker I observed (in a small, invitation-only strategy session) spent nearly an hour refining a single opening story. Not because it was entertaining. But because it triggered precisely the emotional state he wanted in the first three minutes: self-recognition.
He knew that if the audience saw themselves in that story, the rest would land differently.
The lesson is simple:
Before you write a single slide, define the emotional outcome. Your stories, pacing, humour, tension and call to action should all serve that outcome.
Content informs.
Emotion moves.
The best presenters understand the difference.
< Read my expanded article on the above point >
2. They Control the Room Before They Open Their Mouth
There’s a moment just before someone begins speaking.
You can see it if you watch closely.
The room is settling. There’s chatter. People are checking phones. Someone coughs. Chairs scrape.
Then the speaker walks into position.
And instead of rushing to fill the silence, they wait.
It’s subtle. But it’s deliberate.
In a green room once, I heard a seasoned speaker say, “If you start before they’re with you, you’ll spend the next forty minutes trying to get them back.”
Top performers take command of the room through presence before they ever deliver a word of substance.
They stand still.
They breathe.
They look around -
slowly - making eye contact with a few individuals.
Silence becomes a tool, not a threat.
You can feel the shift when it happens. The audience leans in. The room quietens. Attention gathers.
Most nervous presenters rush to relieve their own discomfort. The best ones tolerate the silence long enough to establish authority.
Here’s the truth: control is communicated non-verbally first.
Before you speak, arrive.
Plant your feet. Let the room settle around you. Make the audience feel you are entirely comfortable being there.
Because if you look comfortable, they’ll feel comfortable listening.
< Read my expanded article on the above point >
3. They Don’t Memorise — They Internalise
I’ve seen presenters who could recite their talk word-for-word. And I’ve seen others who seemed to wander conversationally yet somehow landed every key point with precision.
The latter are almost always more compelling.
Behind closed doors, I’ve watched top speakers rehearse. And what struck me wasn’t repetition of sentences. It was refinement of structure.
They don’t memorise scripts. They memorise the spine.
They know:
The opening anchor story
The turning point
The three core ideas
The emotional low point
The call to action
Everything else is alive.
That flexibility allows them to read the room. If the audience laughs longer than expected, they ride it. If the energy dips, they adjust. If a moment lands deeply, they pause.
You cannot do that if you are trying to recall the next sentence verbatim.
One high-level presenter once said, “If I need notes to remember what I believe, I haven’t done the work.”
Internalising your material means you understand it so thoroughly that you can explain it differently each time without losing clarity.
It requires preparation. Deep preparation. But not rigid scripting.
When you internalise, you speak with the audience rather than at them.
And that changes everything.
< Read my expanded article on the above point >
4. They Engineer Specific Moments — Not Just Information
Here’s something rarely discussed publicly.
The best presenters don’t just share information. They design moments.
Moments of laughter.
Moments of discomfort.
Moments of
silence.
Moments where the entire room nods together.
In private planning conversations, I’ve seen speakers ask:
“Where’s the gasp?”
“Where’s the release?”
“Where do they realise something about themselves?”
They think in beats, almost like theatre.
One presenter I observed rehearsed a single pause - just a pause - repeatedly. Not because she forgot her line. Because she knew the weight of the previous statement needed space to land.
She said, “If I rush that, they won’t feel it.”
That level of intentionality is what separates competent from unforgettable.
Ask yourself:
Is there a moment where the audience reflects?
Is there a moment where they laugh collectively?
Is there a moment where the room goes silent?
Is there a moment that challenges them?
If your presentation is a steady stream of information, it may be clear - but it won’t be powerful.
Human beings remember peaks and transitions. They remember shifts in energy.
Engineer those deliberately.
< Read my expanded article on the above point >
5. They Care More About the Audience Than Their Own Performance
This might sound obvious. It isn’t.
Many presenters are internally focused:
“How am I doing?”
“Did I say that right?”
“Do I look nervous?”
“Are they bored?”
Top performers shift the spotlight outward.
In private conversations after events, I’ve rarely heard them critique their own delivery first. Instead, they ask:
“Did that land?”
“Were they with me on that section?”
“Where did they lean forward?”
“Where did I lose them?”
Their attention is on the audience’s experience.
One of the most successful speakers I’ve observed once said quietly before going on stage, “My job is to serve the room.”
That framing removes ego and replaces it with responsibility.
When your goal is to look impressive, you tighten up.
When
your goal is to serve, you open up.
Audiences can feel the difference instantly.
If you genuinely care about helping them think differently, feel differently, or act differently, your delivery becomes more grounded. More human. More generous.
And ironically, that is when your performance improves.
< Read my expanded article on the above point >
What Happens Behind the Curtain
Here’s the reality most people don’t see.
The smooth delivery.
The effortless humour.
The
confident pauses.
They are built on:
Thoughtful emotional design
Structured preparation
Strategic silence
Relentless rehearsal
Audience-centred intent
I’ve watched high-level speakers rewrite openings the morning of an event because the room felt different. I’ve seen them scrap slides entirely and go unscripted because they sensed the audience needed something else. I’ve seen them sit quietly before going on stage, not psyching themselves up, but calming themselves down.
There is a level of seriousness to the craft that isn’t glamorous.
And yet when they step out in front of hundreds, it looks natural.
That’s not talent alone. It’s discipline.
If You Want to Raise Your Level
If you take nothing else from this, take these five shifts:
Decide the emotional destination before you build the talk.
Establish presence before you start speaking.
Internalise the structure instead of memorising lines.
Design specific emotional moments.
Focus relentlessly on serving the audience.
None of these require fame. None require a massive following. They require intention.
You don’t need to be on a global stage to apply this. It works in boardrooms, sales pitches, workshops, team briefings and theatres alike.
What changes isn’t the size of the audience.
It’s the level of thought behind your delivery.
I’ve seen what happens when someone applies these principles consistently.
- Rooms shift.
- Audiences lean in.
- Ideas stick.
- Opportunities multiply.
And the speaker walks off stage, not just having delivered content - but having moved people.
That is what happens behind the curtain.
And now you’ve had a peek.
Edward C Blanchard
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