large part of our business is networking and sales, but what better way to advance your career and promote your company than by accepting an invitation to do a presentation at a conference or tradeshow?

While public speaking spurs terror in some, it's an excellent opportunity to showcase your company and yourself. Crafting and delivering presentations that are attractive, motivating and informative often leads to return engagements and serves as a key to your career success.

To make the most of your presentations, you must first master the mechanics of public speaking: how to speak, how to move and how to get the most out of your visual aids. Once you have those down, focus on your topic and how you will elaborate on it.

How to Speak

When it comes to pubic speaking, how well you speak is just as important as what you say. It doesn't matter how valid your points are if your audience either can't hear you or isn't interested in listening. Therefore, it's important to speak loudly, clearly and not too quickly.

It's also important to vary your manner of speaking:

• Occasionally change your speed or cadence
• Pause
• Modify your inflection
• Emphasize words

All of these techniques will help attract and hold a listener's attention. It might help to think of yourself as an actor in a theater; you want the audience to be interested and maybe even a little entertained by what you have to say.

How to Move

Another important part of public speaking involves what you say with your body language.

We communicate so much by what we say in non-verbal ways, and when we're in front of a group this non-verbal communication is often magnified.

For example, it might be comfortable for you to hide behind a podium or stay close to the projection screen, but your comfort may come at the cost of some audience members' attention.

If you are hesitant to move away from the safety of a podium, that fear is conveyed to the audience and makes them uneasy. Your audience may not feel welcome to contribute by asking questions or even listening.

Don't be afraid to move around. It may be a little scary at first, but your audience will appreciate you changing things around a bit.

How to Make the Most of Visual Aids

When you prepare your presentation or design handouts, keep it simple. A good rule of thumb when creating presentation materials is "less is more."

If your information is valid, you don't need all the bells and whistles

Just because your software allows you to create elaborate presentations with a variety of fonts and colors doesn't mean you need to use all of them. If you have good content, you don't need to dress it up with lots of animation, sound or movie clips.

However, this doesn't mean you should banish the latest technology. It's ok to dress up your presentation, just make sure the features add something, rather than distract from it.

In other words, have a reason, other than, "it's cool" to include it. Also, if you provide print outs of the presentation, make sure they are legible, as animation can layer text and make it illegible.

Remember, people view your presentation from across a dimly lit room

Many times presentations are projected on a large screen, a bare wall, in a dimly lit conference room or banquet hall. Needless to say, that's not the most ideal situation for reading. When you design your presentation, be mindful of text near or directly on top of blocks of color or images because the text might be difficult to read. Avoid using red for text and make the font large enough so audience members seated in the last row can still read it easily.

All you need are a few bullet points

It's not necessary to fill each slide with complete sentences or include everything you plan to say in the slides or handouts. Simply include your main points. Keeping it simple will keep the audience engaged as you expand on those points.

It also eliminates the risk of reading slides out loud and lulling an audience into a presentation-induced stupor. Also, using fewer words means you can increase your font size to ensure that everyone can read the bullet points on the screen.

How to Present Your Data

Now that you have the mechanics down, set the tone for the event. Do you want it to be formal, similar to a business meeting, or more casual, like a brain storming session?

Do you want to present data without interruption or would you rather it be a more interactive discussion? You are the manager of this event. Your audience will look to you to set the tone of the presentation.

Begin by telling the audience the agenda and objectives for the presentation up front. List the topics you will cover and let the audience know what you will and will not explain. Knowing the goals up front helps everyone manage their expectations and get the most out of the presentation.

Do you want a formal presentation?

If you want your presentation to have a formal tone, you will need to maintain control throughout the event. Don't let questions or comments dictate the direction of your presentation, unless a discussion is your goal.

If you have specific topics you want to include, encourage questions at the end so that you have enough time to make all your points.

Do you prefer a round table discussion atmosphere?

If you prefer your presentation to be interactive, invite your audience members to ask questions whenever they desire. This will spur discussion among your audience.

Also encourage audience members to share experiences that relate to the topic, or even to disagree with you. But remember, this might lead to getting off your topic, so if you have specific issues you wish to cover, be sure to allow ample time to include them.

Learning how to present yourself and your data will help you create presentations that are appealing, inspiring and educational. Delivering such presentations will make you a sought after expert in your field, which will only propel you even further in your career.

Relax, have fun and don't be afraid to enjoy yourself. After all, everyone wants to be around people who are enjoying themselves.