Sit or Stand During a Presentation?

Maybe I’m old school, but if you’re presenting something to an audience, then I think you should stand.  It looks more professional, it’s easier to hold the audience’s attention, you speak better, and it makes you PART of the presentation.  If you’re uncomfortable presenting, and think sitting would take the focus off you, then think again.    The only way to overcome that discomfort is to get up and start really presenting.  Sure it might take some time, and you definitely need to practice, practice, practice, but I promise you that you will get better.  One thing’s for sure, trying to keep a low profile by sitting is not helping you get better.

Now, let me just clarify what I mean by a presentation, because I think this is the thing that really answers the question of sit or stand.  If you are indeed PRESENTING something to an audience, for at least 3/4 of the time, then stand.  However, if what you are actually doing is holding a WORKING SESSION where you are presenting a portion of the content AND the audience is expected to talk more than 1/2 the allotted time, then sitting is the way to go.  There’s really practical reason for this.  Working sessions require you to take notes and capture the input of your audience – that’s tough to do while you’re standing (unless you’re using a flip chart or white board, then you’re back to standing anyway!).

So, now that we’ve got that out of the way, the next question is WHERE to stand during a presentation?