Get your voice heard: prepare, WIIFM, structure, body language, voice

By Alastair Greener, presenter of Present Yourself in a Minute · Updated 5 November 2026

Being heard is a craft, and a craft can be learned. Alastair Greener's keynote "How To Get Your Voice Heard" covers it in about fifteen minutes and in five parts: prepare, work out what is in it for the audience, structure the talk, use your body, and use your voice. This page walks through each part so you can use it on a real talk. It all starts with confidence, and confidence comes mostly from the first part.

Start with confidence

Nobody listens to a boring presentation, and the speakers people remember are remembered for the right reasons. The good news is that engaging an audience is a skill. It improves with practice, so treat every opportunity as practice. Practice makes progress, not perfection.

Two things build confidence quickly. The first is calming yourself before you start. A simple breathing exercise helps: stand with your feet shoulder-width apart, put a hand on your belly, breathe in for a count of three, hold for four and breathe out for five. See calm your nerves in three minutes for the full routine. The second is preparation.

1. Prepare more than you think you need

Preparation is the most important part, and even very experienced speakers do it. Think of a talk as an iceberg. The audience sees the small part above the water. The reading, writing, trimming, rehearsing and timing are underneath, and they hold the whole thing up. The preparation iceberg page goes deeper.

A working preparation list:

• Write the talk in full first, then cut it down to bullets.
• Learn your opening and closing lines word for word.
• Practise out loud, in real time, with your slides and any movement you plan.
• Time it, so you know your own speaking pace.
• Ask someone for feedback and tell them what to look for.

2. Ask what is in it for the audience

Every listener is thinking "what's in it for me?" This is WIIFM. You have to show them that you understand what they want, that you have a solution to their problem, and that you will deliver something of use. Do it early, within the first minute or two, and say it in language they use themselves.

To find out what they want, ask the organiser who is in the room, why they came and what the previous speakers covered. WIIFM: why should anyone watch? has more on this.

3. Structure: hook, message, recap, call to action

Plan the structure before you write sentences. A simple frame is hook, message, recap and call to action.

Begin with a hook. A hook can be a powerful statement, a question, a story, a startling figure or a tease of the solution to come. It tells the audience this will be worth their time.

Deliver one strong message. Use words your audience understands. The most powerful way to carry a message is a story, because stories engage people in a way a list of facts does not. Even with a technical audience where data matters, tell the story first and use the data to support it, not the other way round. Keep every part pointing at the same message, which is the idea behind the stick of rock test.

Keep slides simple. Slides support your message and are never the message. Cut the text and use strong, clear images. You do not have to use PowerPoint at all, and a blank screen is fine. Being different helps you stand out.

Finish with a call to action. Ask what you want the audience to do, think or feel differently. If you cannot answer, there is no point to the talk. Alastair worked on shopping television, where the presenter has to ask for the sale. You may not be selling anything, but you are still asking for something. Make it clear and specific. Calls to action people act on covers how.

Be the authentic you

People buy from people they trust. Be the same person on stage as off it. The line usually credited to Oscar Wilde fits: be yourself, everyone else is taken. You cannot be anyone else, so aim to be the best version of you.

Authenticity also covers the words. Cut the filler phrases, ban jargon and write the way you speak. If you use AI to draft anything, keep your own stories and your own voice in the final version.

4. Body language

Positive body language matters if you want people to listen. Make it open, and think about how you stand or sit.

• Posture: upright, weight even on both feet, no swaying or pacing.
• Eye contact: look at the audience, and if you are online, look at the camera.
• Hands: use gestures that fit what you are saying. Hands that are in use also energise your voice.
• Face: let your expression match your content. A serious point with a smile reads as odd.
• Movement: on a stage, get away from the lectern and move with purpose, then be still. Do not block the screen.

Your body, your tone and your words need to agree. When they do not, the audience believes the body.

5. Voice

A presentation is no use if people cannot hear you properly. Four things to work on:

• Projection. Project, do not shout. Aim for a little more than normal conversation.
• Pace. We all speak too fast, especially when nervous. If it feels right, you are probably still too fast. The way to slow down is to breathe and pause.
• The pause. It is one of the most powerful tools you have. It gives you time to think, gives the audience time to think, and adds drama. See the power of the pause.
• Tone, clarity and variety. Open your mouth and finish your words. Vary your tone, speed and volume together, like a rollercoaster, because it keeps people engaged.

Warm up your voice before you speak. Tongue twisters loosen the face and tongue. Drink room-temperature water, since ice-cold and fizzy drinks do your voice no favours. If you eat beforehand, choose a small snack rather than chocolate.

If your talk is being filmed

Everything above still applies, with a few extras for camera. Look straight down the lens rather than at the screen. Light yourself from three directions, with a main light in front, a softer fill to one side and a light behind, so there are no hard shadows on your face. And give yourself a little more energy than feels natural, because the camera flattens it.

If you want to practise on camera, a media training day is a practical way to hear and see how you come across.

A one-page checklist

1. Calm your breathing before you start.
2. Prepare: written in full, cut to bullets, timed, rehearsed out loud.
3. Know what your audience wants and say so early.
4. Open with a hook.
5. Build the message on stories and use data to support them.
6. Keep slides simple, or use none.
7. Finish with a clear call to action to do, think or feel something.
8. Stand open, look at people, move with purpose.
9. Slow down, project a little and pause.
10. Record yourself and watch it back.

The order is deliberate. Voice and body language get the attention in most advice, but they work best on top of a talk you have prepared and know your audience wants.

Related guides

• The preparation iceberg: why most of a good talk is unseen
• The stick of rock test: one message all the way through
• Calls to action people act on: what should they do, think or feel?
• All guides and tools

The picture at the top of this page is an illustration, not a photograph of a client or a real job.