Presentation Skills: 12 Skills, a 10-Minute Drill for Each, and How to Measure Progress

Disclosure: NOXI publishes this guide and appears in it only as one way to make a practice deck. The 12 skills, the drills and the measures work without any tool. Facts come from university communication centres (Northern Illinois University, Stanford's Oral Communication Program, Hamilton College's Oral Communication Center, UNSW Sydney), named research, one named employer survey and the tool makers' own help pages, all opened on 10 November 2026.

Most lists of presentation skills stop at the name: "be confident", "make eye contact". That says what good looks like, not how to get there. Here each of the 12 skills gets three things: what it is, a 10-minute drill (most from university speaking programmes) and one number to track.

Pick your skills in ten seconds

You do not need all 12 at once. Find your row, start with its three skills, and do the first drill today.

Key numbers

Six numbers from university pages, named research and one employer survey, read on 10 November 2026.

The 12 presentation skills at a glance

Each skill has a full section below, with sources. Every drill fits in ten minutes and needs only a timer and a phone that records. For building the deck itself, step by step, see how to make a presentation.

1. Know your audience

What it is. Working out, before you write anything, who will be listening, what they already know, why they are there and what they should do afterwards. Northern Illinois University's presentation skills tutorial tells speakers to learn the audience's demographics, familiarity with the topic and role in attending, and to get the purpose (to inform, persuade, entertain, speak on a special occasion or educate) from the instructor or organiser [1]. The words, examples and likely questions all follow from it.

10-minute drill: the audience brief.

1. 3 minutes: write four short answers: who is listening, what they know already, why they came, what they should do afterwards.
2. 3 minutes: list five words this audience might not know, each with a plain replacement.
3. 2 minutes: write the one question they are most likely to ask.
4. 2 minutes: rewrite your first sentence for this room.

Measure it. Count the terms you had to replace; it should fall. After a rehearsal, ask three listeners what they will do next and count how many say what you intended.

2. One message, signposted

What it is. Turning your topic into one sentence the audience could repeat, then making the route through the talk audible. Stanford's Oral Communication Program advises finding the central argument by writing it as a one-sentence summary, using signposts such as "first", "next" and "finally", and repeating key points: say what you will say, say it, then sum it up [6]. UNSW Sydney suggests verbal signposts such as "In conclusion" to guide listeners [17].

10-minute drill: the 15-second message.

1. 2 minutes: write your message as one sentence with a verb, under 25 words.
2. 3 minutes: say it aloud with a stopwatch running; cut words until it takes under 15 seconds.
3. 3 minutes: write one signpost line for each main point ("That was the cost. Now the second reason: time.").
4. 2 minutes: say the spine of the talk aloud: the message, the signposts, the close.

Measure it. Seconds to say the message (15 is our editorial target, not a research figure), and whether a friend who hears only the spine can repeat your point.

3. A strong opening

What it is. The first 30 to 60 seconds, which earn attention and lead straight to the message. Northern Illinois University suggests something that grabs attention but stays relevant, such as an important statistic, a quote or a question, warns against jokes with an unfamiliar audience, and advises writing the opening after the body [2]. Hamilton College's Oral Communication Center lists "So, my topic is" as a common mistake; if you have a story, it says, just start telling it [12]. Our guide to how to start a presentation has eight openings with scripts.

10-minute drill: three openings, timed.

1. 4 minutes: write three openings: a question the room can answer, one sourced number, a true story under 30 seconds.
2. 4 minutes: say each one aloud, timed, and record them.
3. 2 minutes: keep the one that reaches your message fastest.

Measure it. Seconds from your first word to your message, and the count of throat-clearing phrases ("So, today I'm going to talk about") before the hook. Both should shrink.

4. Spoken language, from notes

What it is. Speaking in sentences built for the ear and working from keywords instead of a script. Hamilton's center explains that spoken language uses shorter thought units that are easy to follow and repeats key words, while written language uses more complicated sentence structures [13]. Stanford's program warns against reading an essay aloud, and suggests note cards instead of a full script, with the words to stress underlined [6] [7]. UNSW tells students not to read from a script, notes or slides, but to use them as guides in a conversational tone [17].

10-minute drill: the keyword card.

1. 3 minutes: take one paragraph of your script and reduce it to five keyword lines on a card.
2. 5 minutes: speak that section from the card twice, recording on your phone.
3. 2 minutes: play it back and underline the words you should have stressed.

Measure it. Count the words on your card (fewer is better, as long as you do not lose your place) and, from the recording, how often per minute you look down to read a full sentence.

5. Stories and examples

What it is. Giving every hard or abstract point something concrete to hold on to: an example, a comparison or a short true story. Stanford's program recommends concrete examples, metaphors and analogies, and tests each with four questions it calls PQRS: is it purposeful, quick, relevant and simple [6]. UNSW adds that relatable examples and appropriate humour make a talk more memorable [17].

10-minute drill: three examples, scored.

1. 3 minutes: for your hardest point, write one example, one analogy and one 30-second story.
2. 4 minutes: tell each one aloud with a timer.
3. 3 minutes: score each on PQRS, one point per letter, and keep the highest.

Measure it. The PQRS score, from 0 to 4, of the example you keep, and its length in seconds against the time you have for that point.

6. Slides that support you

What it is. Slides that show what you cannot say quickly, while you do the explaining. Penn State's engineering communication research page reports that in a study by Garner, Alley, Wolfe and Sawarynski (International Journal of Engineering Education, 2013), the audience shown assertion-evidence slides, a sentence headline backed by visual evidence, understood and remembered the content better than the audience shown common-practice slides [19]. Hamilton's center advises a slide with only the graph or quote you are discussing, a black or blank screen when no slide is needed, and never reading from the slides, though it favours short bullet fragments over sentences [15]. Both agree the slide must not carry the talk.

10-minute drill: the slide audit.

1. 2 minutes: read only your slide titles; rewrite every label as a sentence.
2. 5 minutes: run Stanford's audit on each slide: is it visual, does it truly aid the talk, is it for your audience; delete any block of text the audience does not need [11].
3. 3 minutes: present two slides aloud, turning back to the audience after each glance at the screen.

Measure it. The share of slides with a sentence headline (for example 8 of 10), and the average number of words per slide before and after the audit.

7. Voice: pace, volume and pauses

What it is. A pace the room can follow, consonants that carry, and pauses that let a point land. The National Center for Voice and Speech puts the average rate of English speech in the United States at about 150 words a minute [18]. UNSW notes that nervous speakers often rush, encourages pausing and slowing down for key points, and suggests allowing roughly 400 words per five minutes [17]. Stanford's program says clarity matters more than volume and comes from articulating consonants [7]; Northern Illinois University adds that to stress a point you can slow down and raise your volume [4].

10-minute drill: 150 words, three speeds.

1. 2 minutes: read a 150-word passage from your talk aloud with a stopwatch, and note the time.
2. 3 minutes: read it again unnaturally slowly, Stanford's exaggerated-slowness exercise for fast talkers [8], then once at a normal pace.
3. 3 minutes: mark three pauses with a slash and three words to stress, and read it again.
4. 2 minutes: say your message to the far wall, projecting with clear consonants rather than shouting.

Measure it. Words per minute: record one minute and count the words, against your earlier runs and the 150 average. Also count deliberate one-second pauses at key points.

8. Fewer filler words

What it is. Replacing "um", "uh", "like", "you know" and sentence-opening "so" with a short silence. Stanford's program recommends a pause and a breath in place of fillers [7]; its exercise is to identify your own fillers, practise while a listener holds up a pen at each one (or review a recording), and count them [8]. Hamilton's center lists "um, uh, you know" among common mistakes and suggests a pause to collect your thoughts instead [12], and Northern Illinois University says to rehearse without them [3]. Aim for fewer, not zero.

10-minute drill: the pen-up filler hunt.

1. 2 minutes: record a 2-minute answer to a simple question, such as "explain your subject to a 12-year-old".
2. 2 minutes: play it back and tally every filler.
3. 4 minutes: give the same answer twice more while a partner raises a pen at each filler, or tap the desk yourself.
4. 2 minutes: a last run, pausing where the fillers were.

Measure it. Fillers per minute: the tally divided by the minutes recorded. Track your own baseline from day to day; no university source we read sets a target number.

9. Body language and eye contact

What it is. A settled stance, gestures that mean something, and eyes on people rather than the screen. Stanford's program recommends an open, neutral stance, feet about shoulder or hip width apart, arms relaxed, meaningful gestures and purposeful movement rather than pacing [7]. UNSW tells students to scan the room, where a brief glance is enough [17]; Northern Illinois University says to look from one side of the room to the other [4]. On video, Hamilton's center says to look into the camera, set at roughly eye level, with your head in the top third of the frame [16].

10-minute drill: gesture box and faces on the wall.

1. 3 minutes: deliver your opening in the neutral stance with your hands still.
2. 3 minutes: deliver it again inside Stanford's gesture box: gestures stay in an imaginary box in front of your torso and leave it only for emphasis [8].
3. 4 minutes: stick five paper faces around the room (Stanford draws them on a whiteboard [8]) and finish one sentence at each face before moving on.

Measure it. From a video, count the 10-second blocks spent looking at people (or the lens) rather than notes or the screen, and any repeated nervous gesture.

10. Managing nerves

What it is. Working with the adrenaline rather than against it. In Alison Wood Brooks's study (Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2014), 140 people prepared a persuasive speech; those who said "I am excited" beforehand gave longer speeches and were rated by independent evaluators as more persuasive, competent and relaxed than those who said "I am calm" (American Psychological Association release, 23 December 2013) [20]. Stanford's program says the same in plain terms: nervousness and excitement share physical signs, so channel the energy, prepare and breathe slowly [9]. Hamilton's center adds practising early, visiting the room, a friendly face, and a breath of ten counts in, ten held, ten out [14].

10-minute drill: fear list, breath, first minute.

1. 2 minutes: list your fears, each with its worst case and your fix; Stanford notes the worst case is usually not as bad as the speaker thinks [10].
2. 2 minutes: two or three rounds of Hamilton's ten-ten-ten breath [14].
3. 3 minutes: answer an impromptu question seated, then stand and answer another, as in Stanford's exercise [10].
4. 1 minute: say "I am excited" aloud.
5. 2 minutes: stand and deliver your first minute.

Measure it. Rate your nerves from 1 to 10 before and after each run, and count the rehearsals you did standing and aloud. The rating is for you, not a test score.

11. Handling questions

What it is. Taking questions calmly, answering briefly and being honest about what you do not know. Northern Illinois University's tutorial says to look at the questioner, repeat the question in a large room, answer briefly, take off-topic questions afterwards, announce the last question, and, when you do not know, say you will follow up [5]; it also advises rehearsing answers to likely questions [3]. Stanford's program adds: restate the question, do not fake an answer, and follow up [6].

10-minute drill: five dreaded questions.

1. 3 minutes: write the five questions you would least like to be asked.
2. 5 minutes: answer each with a 60-second timer: restate it, give the answer in one sentence, add one reason or example, stop.
3. 2 minutes: practise your honest "I don't know yet, and I will find out by Friday" line on the hardest one.

Measure it. How many of the five you answered in under 60 seconds, and, after a real talk, how many promised follow-ups you actually sent.

12. Closing clearly, on time

What it is. Ending on your message and one action, inside your slot. Northern Illinois University advises restating the purpose, summarising the major points and finishing with something memorable [2], and planning time per point so you do not rush the end [3]. Hamilton's center lists "That's all I have" as a mistake and suggests memorable last thoughts instead [12]. Our guide to how to end a presentation has eight closings and a 60-second script.

10-minute drill: the countdown close.

1. 3 minutes: write a three-sentence close: the message again, the one action, a final line.
2. 4 minutes: run the last two minutes of your talk against a countdown timer.
3. 3 minutes: run the close again and finish with 30 seconds to spare.

Measure it. Seconds over or under your slot in every timed run, and whether your last sentence was the action (yes or no).

Presentation skills examples: before and after

What each skill sounds like in practice. The weak lines are the habits the university guides above warn against; the stronger lines are our editorial rewrites, on fictional talks.

How to improve presentation skills: a four-week plan

Ten minutes a day, five days a week, for four weeks covers all 12 skills. The shape follows van Ginkel, Gulikers, Biemans and Mulder's 2015 synthesis in Educational Research Review, whose seven design principles for developing oral presentation competence include learning objectives, behaviour modelling, the opportunity to practise, the intensity and timing of feedback, peer assessment and self-assessment [21]. In plain terms: know the target, watch it done well, practise, get feedback soon, and score yourself and each other.

For behaviour modelling, swap one drill a week for ten minutes of a talk you admire, and write down one thing to copy. Shorter deadlines:

How to measure progress: a one-page scorecard

Fill in the baseline in week 1 and the last column in week 4. A filled example for a fictional Year 12 student with a 5-minute history talk; the direction matters more than the values.

Presentation skills for students and kids

The skills are the same at every age; what changes is how many you work on at once and how long the drills run. Your three starting skills are in the first table, and the teacher's brief or rubric always comes first.

Presentation skills for kids, ages 6 to 11

One skill at a time, in drills of five minutes rather than ten, played as a game. A child's message can be one "did you know" fact, and holding a real object gives the hands a job. Stanford's volume exercise, very soft and then very loud, suits a small voice [8], and faces on the wall teaches eye contact without the phrase. Practise to one family member twice, praise one specific thing, then suggest one change.

Presentation skills for high school and college students

Read the rubric, the time limit and the source rules first, and rehearse against all three: a source under every fact, a timer on every run, and the questions rehearsed as hard as the talk [3]. For topics to practise on, our lists of speech topics, persuasive speech topics and seminar topics each give a ready subject.

How to improve presentation skills in the workplace

At work, the same skills meet shorter slots, mixed audiences and more questions. Three adjustments help most.

• Lead with the answer. In a meeting, put the message and the ask in the first minute (skills 2 and 3), then the evidence. The detail can go in the follow-up email.
• Prepare for the room, not the deck. Run the audience brief (skill 1) for each group; a finance team and a field team need different examples (skill 5).
• Treat questions as part of the talk. Leave time for them and rehearse the five dreaded questions (skill 11).

On video calls, Hamilton's guide to presenting virtually adds two habits to the camera advice in skill 9: gesture so the audience can see it, and stand if you can, since standing tends to be better for the voice [16].

Presentation skills activities for a class or team

Eight activities for teachers, trainers and team leads, each built on one of the drills above. Most come from Stanford's Oral Communication Program exercises; the times are ours.

Presentation skills on a resume

NACE's press release of 23 April 2026 on its Job Outlook 2026 Spring Update (185 employer respondents, surveyed 12 February to 17 March 2026) says employers want, in particular, candidates who can work in a team, problem-solve and communicate effectively, and that listing a skill is not enough: they want to see examples [22]. So "excellent presentation skills" in a list proves little; a bullet with an audience, a length and an outcome shows it.

• Skills line: name the specific skills, such as public speaking, briefing senior leaders, facilitating workshops, presenting data, or handling Q&A.
• Evidence bullet: action verb, audience and size, length, outcome. A fictional example: "Presented a 10-minute pilot review to 40 regional managers; the rollout was approved the same week."
• Second example (student): "Led a 15-minute seminar on the 1929 crash for 25 classmates and took 8 questions from the group."
• Keep it true: list only talks you gave and numbers you can confirm, because an interviewer may ask you to present.

Make it in NOXI: a short practice deck from one request

NOXI (noxi.ai) is an AI maker for presentations and documents: you describe what you need in one request, and it builds a designed deck or document in one of 14 formats; the free plan covers five documents a month, downloads carry no watermark, and files export to PowerPoint, Word and PDF.

Here its job is narrow: a short practice deck to rehearse the drills against, when you have a skill to train but no talk, or a talk but no slides. The speaking stays yours. The flow is described in our NOXI 2.0 launch article of 3 November 2026 [25].

Which practice route fits you: six quick routes

• If you rehearse alone and present in English → use PowerPoint's Rehearse with Coach, because Microsoft says Speaker Coach gives feedback on pacing, filler words and reading slide text; it is English only and needs a microphone and an internet connection [23].
• If you want a countdown on screen while you practise → use Canva's presenting mode, because the Canva Help Center says pressing a number key while you present adds a timer of that many minutes [24].
• If you are a student with a campus speaking centre → book a session, because Hamilton's Oral Communication Center says its tutors can record your rehearsal and give feedback [14].
• If you have no coach and no budget → use your phone's camera, because UNSW suggests recording a rehearsal and noting what you do well and what to improve [17].
• If you want feedback from people → find a practice partner and the scorecard, because peer assessment and self-assessment are two of the seven design principles in van Ginkel and colleagues' 2015 review [21].
• If you want a practice deck made from one request → use NOXI: the Presentation format, free to start with five documents a month, and a PowerPoint download with no watermark [25].

What to check before you present

• The brief or rubric. Time limit, required slides and citation style come from your teacher or the person who asked, not from this page.
• The room and the equipment. UNSW advises visiting the room beforehand, checking that your slides display correctly and bringing any adapters [17].
• Every number and quote. Check each against its source and print the source under it on the slide.
• Recordings of other people. Ask before you record classmates or colleagues, and follow your school's or company's rules.
• Company policy. Use the approved template, and check whether confidential figures may go on slides or into outside tools.
• Your health. The drills here are for ordinary nerves. If anxiety about speaking is severe or affects daily life, talk to a doctor or a counsellor; Hamilton's center points students to its counselling service [14].
• The clock. Your last timed run finished with time to spare.

Frequently asked questions

What are presentation skills?

Presentation skills cover three stages of a talk. Before you speak: knowing the audience, one clear message, a strong opening, spoken language, examples and slides. While you speak: voice and pace, fewer fillers, body language and nerves. At the end: handling questions and closing on time. Each one can be practised and measured on its own.

How can I improve my presentation skills?

Practise one skill at a time for ten minutes a day, record yourself on your phone, and track one number, such as fillers or words per minute. Get feedback from one listener each week. A 2015 research review names the opportunity to practise, the timing of feedback, peer assessment and self-assessment among seven design principles for building these skills.

What are the most important presentation skills?

No research ranking applies to every talk, but two skills come first in practice: knowing your audience and having one clear message, because the other ten build on them. Next come pace and pauses, eye contact and finishing on time, then handling questions, which carries the most weight in meetings, interviews and seminars.

What presentation skills should students learn first?

Students should start with one clear message, an opening that leads to it, and finishing inside the time limit the teacher sets, checked against the rubric. Then practise from keyword cards instead of a script and, as Northern Illinois University's presentation tutorial advises, rehearse answers to the questions the audience is likely to ask.

How do I list presentation skills on a resume?

Name specific skills, such as public speaking, presenting data or facilitating workshops, then prove them with a bullet that gives the audience, its size, the length and the outcome, for example a 10-minute review to 40 managers that led to a decision. List only talks you actually gave.

How do I stop saying um during a presentation?

Record two minutes of speaking, count your fillers, then practise while a partner raises a pen at each one, an exercise from Stanford's Oral Communication Program. Replace each filler with a short pause and a breath. Aim for fewer rather than none, and track fillers per minute from one practice session to the next.

How do I calm my nerves before a presentation?

Rehearse aloud and standing, visit the room, and breathe slowly before you start; Hamilton College suggests ten counts in, ten held and ten out. Try telling yourself "I am excited": in a 2014 study, speakers who did were rated more persuasive and relaxed than those who said "I am calm".

How fast should I talk during a presentation?

Plan your script well below your speaking rate. The average rate of English speech in the United States is about 150 words a minute, per the National Center for Voice and Speech, while UNSW Sydney tells students to allow roughly 400 words per five minutes of presentation, leaving room for pauses, slide changes and emphasis.

How long does it take to improve presentation skills?

There is no fixed figure, and no university source we read gives one. A practical test is four weeks of ten-minute drills, five days a week, with a recording at the start and the end. Compare the numbers, such as fillers per minute and finish time, rather than how the talk felt.

What can I practise with if I have no presentation coming up?

Pick a topic you know, set a five-minute slot, and make a short deck with one idea per slide, then run the drills against it. A speech topics list gives ready subjects. NOXI can build such a practice deck from one request with your topic and minutes, free to start with five documents a month.

Sources and method

How this page was made: every fact comes from a university communication centre or programme, named research, a named survey, or a tool maker's own help page, opened signed out on 10 November 2026, with no cookie banner accepted, no form filled and nothing downloaded. Most of these pages print no date of their own, so the date given is the day we read them. The skill grouping, the drill timings, the measures, the before-and-after lines and the scorecard are editorial; the people and figures in the examples are fictional.

• [1] Know the audience's demographics, familiarity with the topic and role in attending; learn the purpose (inform, persuade, entertain, speak on a special occasion, educate) from the instructor or organizer · Northern Illinois University, Effective Presentation Skills Tutorial: Preparing the Presentation.
• [2] Open with something attention-grabbing and relevant (an important statistic, a quote, a question); avoid jokes with an unfamiliar audience; write the opening after the body; restate the purpose, summarise, end with something memorable · Northern Illinois University, Organizing the Presentation.
• [3] Plan time per point so you do not rush the end; anticipate likely questions and rehearse answers; rehearse without filler words; record and review · Northern Illinois University, Rehearsing the Presentation.
• [4] Look from one side of the room to the other; speak slowly and clearly; to stress a point, slow down, raise the volume and pronounce clearly; stand to one side of the screen · Northern Illinois University, Delivering the Presentation.
• [5] Eye contact with the questioner; repeat the question in a large room; answer briefly; off-topic questions afterwards; announce the last question; follow up or admit you do not know · Northern Illinois University, Handling Questions and Answers.
• [6] One-sentence summary; signposts such as first, next, finally; say what you will say, say it, sum it up; concrete examples tested with PQRS (purposeful, quick, relevant, simple); in Q&A restate, do not fake answers, follow up; tutoring at the Hume Center · Stanford Oral Communication Program, presentation content guide.
• [7] Clarity matters more than volume and comes from consonants; vocal variety; replace fillers and sentence-opening "And" or "So" with a pause and a breath; open neutral stance, feet about shoulder or hip width; meaningful gestures; habits to avoid; note cards instead of a script · Stanford Oral Communication Program, Delivery.
• [8] Exaggerated slowness; volume extremes; eye contact drawing (faces on a whiteboard); filler word practice with a raised pen or a recording, counting fillers; gesture box · Stanford Oral Communication Program, Exercises on Delivery.
• [9] Prepare; breathe slowly; channel nervous energy into excitement, since the two share physical signs · Stanford Oral Communication Program, Speech Anxiety.
• [10] Impromptu answers seated, then standing; list fears and discuss the worst case, usually not as bad as the student thinks; grounding breath · Stanford Oral Communication Program, Exercises on Speech Anxiety.
• [11] Slide audit: is it visual, is it truly an aid, is it for your audience; delete text the audience does not need; break the bullet point model; turn back to the audience after a visual · Stanford Oral Communication Program, Exercises on Visuals and PowerPoint.
• [12] Common mistakes: "So, my topic is", announcing a story, apologising for nerves, "um, uh, you know", "That's all I have"; use a hook, take a moment, leave memorable last thoughts · Hamilton College Oral Communication Center, Avoid These Common Speech Mistakes.
• [13] Spoken language uses shorter thought units and repeats key words; written language uses more complicated sentence structures · Hamilton College Oral Communication Center, Spoken vs. Written Language.
• [14] Practise early and often, aloud and standing; visit the room; find a friendly face; breathe in for a count of ten, hold for ten, out for ten; tutors can record a rehearsal and give feedback; counselling resources · Hamilton College Oral Communication Center, Dealing with Speech Anxiety.
• [15] A slide with only the graph or quote; black screen or a blank slide to hide slides; short fragments or keywords rather than full sentences; text visible from the back; do not read from the slides; keep backups · Hamilton College Oral Communication Center, Using PowerPoint Effectively.
• [16] Look into the camera, not at the screen; camera at roughly eye level, head in the top third; gestures large enough for the camera; standing tends to be better for the voice · Hamilton College Oral Communication Center, Presenting Virtually.
• [17] "Allow roughly 400 words per five minutes"; rehearse alone or recorded, then with a friend; watch the recording; vary pace, tone and volume; pause; nervous speakers rush; scan the room; verbal signposts; do not read from a script, notes or visuals, use them as guides; relatable examples and appropriate humour; visit the room, check the visuals display, bring adapters · UNSW Sydney, Preparing and delivering presentations.
• [18] "The average rate of speech for English speakers in the United States is about 150 words per minute" · National Center for Voice and Speech, voice production tutorial.
• [19] Garner, Alley, Wolfe and Sawarynski, International Journal of Engineering Education 29(6), 2013: the assertion-evidence audience understood and remembered the content better than the common-practice audience (p < .01); Aippersbach, Alley and Garner, ASEE 2013, on presenters · Penn State College of Engineering, Scientific Presentations: research.
• [20] Brooks, A. W., "Get Excited: Reappraising Pre-Performance Anxiety as Excitement", Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 2014; 140 participants prepared a persuasive speech; the "I am excited" group gave longer speeches and was rated more persuasive, competent and relaxed than the "I am calm" group; release dated 23 December 2013 · American Psychological Association release on EurekAlert.
• [21] van Ginkel, Gulikers, Biemans and Mulder, "Towards a set of design principles for developing oral presentation competence: A synthesis of research in higher education", Educational Research Review 14 (2015), 62 to 80; seven principles: learning objectives, learning task, behaviour modelling, opportunity to practise, intensity and timing of feedback, peer assessment, self-assessment · Wageningen University & Research, publication page.
• [22] Job Outlook 2026 Spring Update, sponsored by Jobscan; 185 respondents (142 NACE employer members, 43 nonmembers), surveyed 12 February to 17 March 2026; employers want, in particular, candidates who can work in a team, problem-solve and communicate effectively, and want examples rather than a list; release dated 23 April 2026 · National Association of Colleges and Employers, press release.
• [23] Speaker Coach feedback on pacing, filler words, reading slide text and more; English only; microphone, internet connection and a Microsoft account; Slide Show, Rehearse with Coach · Microsoft Support, Rehearse your slide show with Speaker Coach.
• [24] "Press any number on the keyboard to add a timer when you present"; 1 for one minute, 2 for two minutes · Canva Help Center, Present your design.
• [25] NOXI 2.0, published 3 November 2026: Presentation as one of 14 formats; sketches every page first; a design library of more than ninety styles; self-checks; edit by chat or by hand; present full screen with three motion styles or none; export to PDF, PowerPoint and Word compared with the pages; five documents a month free; no watermark; no credit card to start · NOXI 2.0 launch article on this blog, linked in the NOXI section above.

Pick one skill, give it ten minutes, and write down one number. Do that five days a week and the recording at the end of the month will show you what changed.