Want to make a genuine impact on your audience? Here are some simple ways…and some great examples to emulate…that Jeff Haden provides in an article featured by Inc. magazine. To read the complete article, check out others, and obtain subscription information, please click here.

Jeff offers seventeen presentation secrets. Here are the first five.

Photo Credit: Getty Images

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While captivating an audience is an ability that takes years to develop, there are some simple ways to instantly improve your speaking skills.

The following are simple tips for preparing, practicing, and rapidly improving your presentation skills.

And as a bonus, each tip includes a link to an awesome TED Talk. Not only do you get to see great speakers in action, you can broaden your knowledge too:

1. Always Give the Audience Something to Take Home

Always provide something specific the audience can do almost immediately. No matter how inspiring your message, every audience appreciates learning a tangible way they can actually apply what they’ve learned to their own lives.

Inspiration is great, but application is everything: Never be afraid to say, “Tonight, think of an employee who is really struggling… and then tomorrow, do (this) and (this) to try to rescue them.”

Link to Dan Ariely on how we make decisions

2. Don’t Wait to Answer Questions

If a question pops up in the middle of your presentation, that’s awesome: Someone is listening! So seize the opportunity. If you would have addressed the point in a later slide, skip ahead. (If you’ve practiced skipping around, it won’t throw you.)

The best presentations feel like conversations, even if one-sided…so never ignore the opportunity to foster that sense of interaction. Never do anything to disengage your audience.

Link to Malcolm Gladwell on happiness

3. Ask a Question Even You Can’t Answer

Asking questions to engage the audience often feels forced. Instead ask a question you know the audience can’t answer and then say, “That’s OK. I can’t either.” Explain why you can’t, and then talk about what you do know. Most speakers have all the answers.

The fact that you don’t–and are willing to admit it–not only humanizes you but makes the audience pay greater attention to what you do know.

Link to Nigel Marsh on work-life balance

4. Fuel Up Wisely

Let’s start with some preparation tips. Dopamine and epinephrine help regulate mental alertness. Both come from tyrosine, an amino acid found in proteins. So make sure to include protein in the meal you eat before you need to be at your best.

And don’t wait until the last minute. When you’re really nervous, the last thing you may want to do is eat.

Link to Amy Cuddy on the power of body language

5. Burn Off Some Cortisol

Cortisol is secreted by your adrenal glands when you’re anxious or stressed. High levels of cortisol limit your creativity and your ability to process complex information; when you’re buzzed on cortisol, it’s almost impossible to read and react to the room.

The easiest way to burn off cortisol is to exercise. Work out before you leave for work, take a walk at lunch, or hit the gym before a speaking engagement. (If you’ve ever felt more grounded after slogging through a solid workout, you now know why.)

Link to Nilofer Merchant on walking meetings

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Here is a direct link to the complete article.

Jeff Haden is contributing editor at Inc. Here is his Twitter link.