Simple and effective tips for nailing your next presentation.
1. Prepare.
When we prepare for our presentations or speeches, most of us think—Write it / Practice it. True enough, but there is more to it if you truly want to engage, influence, or even dazzle your audience.
Before putting pen to paper, ask yourself:
- What is the audience’s predominant demographic, social, gender, political, financial, even philosophical makeup? What else do you know about them?
- How will your topic and delivery impact these people directly? What exactly do you want the participants to do, think, or feel when you are finished? What outcome are you striving for?
- What do the participants gain by listening to your speech? What’s in it for them? What are the top 3 key takeaways? What stories can you tell to bring the 3 key points to life?
- With the understanding that people are moved to act by connecting to their emotions and then use facts and data to back up their decision; What is your emotional hook? Do you have powerful facts, stats, data, quotes, or case studies?
- Remind yourself that your opinion of what is important is secondary to the listener’s perceived needs.
When asked about the secret of his powerful talks to the Roman Senate, the great orator Cato said: “Find the message first, and the words will follow.”
Answering the above questions aligns your presentation with your audience’s needs. It gives you the ability to customize and make it relevant and interesting to this particular group of people.
2. The Power Opener.
The old saying about having one chance to make a first impression is decidedly true in presentations. Here are some Dos and Don’ts:
Do
Intrigue your participants with a story, a powerful quote, a startling statement, parable, or statistic.
Example: Frederic Douglas, African American social reformer, abolitionist, orator, and a friend to President Abraham Lincoln, was giving a speech in Ohio on July 4, 1852. Douglas knew the crowd would be distracted. He knew that they had food, drinks, and maybe a little of that new game called baseball on their minds. He also knew he had to grab their attention if his important message was going to break through all of that. He started his speech by looking over the crowd in silence for several long seconds. He allowed the motion and noise to settle and said:
“Pardon me – why did you ever invite me? When the people I represent, and I have no reason to celebrate this day.”
Now that is how you open a speech! He then made a powerful case for incorporating all free people and slaves into the fabric of America. The participants can’t help but stop, leave their distractions and pay attention to the speaker after the power of his silence and then hearing such a poignant and personal statement.
Don’t
Open with the usual pleasantries of thanking the host, telling the participants what a pleasure it is to be there, etc., blah, etc. You will get to the point where thanking is both appropriate and much more powerful than opening with it. It is too expected and allows your participants’ minds to begin to wander before you are even two minutes into your address.
Do
Once the opening story /quote / or analogy is told, you can end it with,” and what this has always meant to me is,” or “this story is important because,” or “what (person from story or yourself) learned from this experience was this (insert learning here), or I can’t think of a better way to open the topic of X. But first, let me thank my host/s” Now when you thank them both the audience AND the hosts will be much more attentive and appreciative.
Your opening must immediately capture your audience’s attention and interest. That is the point of the opener. Remember, you only get one chance to make a first impression and to capture their head and hearts.
3. The Middle.
Winston Churchill, arguably one of the finest speakers in modern history, used to say that “a good speech is like a symphony. It may have three movements (open, middle, close) but must have one dominate melody.” Once your opening has drawn the participants in, and you have their attention, here is where you do your persuading and have them think, feel or do. What is your plan?
Do
Throughout your speech, consider your non-verbal communications. Speak up! Move! Engage your audience’s eyes. Pause to allow your point to sit in their minds a bit. This pause after saying something important or quoting a famous expert on a subject is critical. Let the statement, quote or parable sit for two, three, even four seconds. Allow the point and poignancy of the statement to settle in their minds before you go on. There is an element of theater in speaking. You certainly can incorporate these non-verbal’s without losing your authentic self. While most audiences will sniff out inauthenticity, your mannerisms can work for or against you and result in you not being taken as seriously as you would like.
Striking a balance between bringing your true self while using deliberate non-verbals is the recipe for holding the participant’s attention.
Consider this picture:
Let me ask you your impressions…
- Is she nervous?
- Is she prepared today?
- Does she believe in the material?
- Does she believe in herself?
- Is she competent?
Of course, we can’t know for certain, but 99% of us would say yes if we are honest. Why? Because everything about her appears to say I am ready, I am poised, I am confident, and believe in my subject. Humans take in a great deal of information based on Visual (how someone looks and acts), the
(how they sound), and to a lesser degree, the Verbal (the words they use). This is known as the 3V’s and is worth considering in all presentations. Use this knowledge to compel your audience to believe you are confident, poised, and, yes, powerful.
Power stats and facts
As mentioned earlier, how are you backing up the key points to your topic? Do you have powerful statistics, facts, and/or data?
In the days before trillion-dollar deficits, then-President Eisenhower searched for a way to explain to the American people the enormity of a billion-dollar deficit. He did it this way in a speech. “To understand the billion-dollar deficit, imagine taking a billion-dollar one-dollar bills and laying them end to end. Why it would more than reach to the moon (pause for 2 seconds) and back.” That is an impressive visual and made his point beautifully.
Before a speaking engagement, I also like to ask myself am I most seeking credibility or memorability with my audience.
Credibility is established by conveying your knowledge, expertise, and experience on a given topic. To amplify your point, consider sharing important takeaways with a bit of flourish and theater. For example, at the point of producing a key statistic, I pull out a card or go to a piece of paper and read it for a second or two, look up, and say,
This year’s profits are up 52.4%.
OR
We reduced our accidents from 1 per 124,456 miles driven to 1 per 342,765 miles driven.
Pause for a few seconds to let it sink in, and then continue. Your participants will not remember the exact number, but they will remember it was significant. It is the exactitude of the data that gives it credibility.
Memorability is better established by appealing to the emotions of the audience. For example, in explaining to my audience the importance of not allowing the statistical norm of 30% of children to suffer and get behind in their education, I used a straightforward slide. On the slide, there were three children, all beautiful and full of promise. I simply turned to my audience and asked them to choose which child gets left out of the dream and promise they all have if we don’t secure the needed funds.
We got the money…
One more point on this. Certain audiences or persons you are trying to influence will require data to convince them of your cause. Give it to them! Don’t fool yourself into thinking your spoken points will influence this type of person you are trying to influence. To them, without data your points will fall flat. Explain at the beginning of your presentation that you have compiled relevant, powerful data for them to consider. Just don’t give it to them before you start. Giving too much info or handouts before you start your presentation ensures half of your audience is reading ahead. You want their eyes, ears, and hearts on you. Then give them the data and be prepared to do some business.
Speaking of visuals, your slide deck sucks. It’s boring, it’s too full of words, and you will find yourself mimicking the words on the slides. Most PowerPoint presentations are act5ually deal breakers to the presenter. This phenomenon is known as “death by PowerPoint” All of you know what I mean here.
I had a client who hired me to help him craft a speech. He wanted to express to a large audience, all of whom would be eating while he spoke, how well his transportation agency had performed the year before. Their specialty was transporting folks with disabilities. His was a noble cause and one that needs continuous funding to operate. He showed me a slide that looked something like this.
It was rich with data poor with impact. I had him change it to this.
It proved very difficult for the audience to deny this lovely young girl the funding that allowed her mobility. The agency raised record funds that day.
The lesson I learned over the years was that people are moved by their emotions to buy or decide and will then use facts and data to back up there decisions.
Finally,
4. The Power Close.
Many fine presentations have been left somehow dissatisfying due to a weak or nondescript close. In many cases, this is the memory that seals the deal on your message.
Maya Angelou said
Consider using stories that inspire or borrowing phrases or quotes that depict a point. I have quoted King, Kennedy, my Captain in the Army, and an old man who taught me a great life lesson over lunch.
Consider engaging the participants not just intellectually or emotionally but physically by getting them up or creating audience interaction. For example, to incite introspection, I have asked audiences to stand and look at each other as I explain that each of us has our stories of courage, these passages in our own lives have made us plenty strong enough to face the challenges that lie ahead for the company/group/team…you get it. “Look around! This is a great team! You’ve got this! Getting people to introspect in this way leads them to feel as if they have gotten their “money’s worth.”
End powerfully, and you will be remembered.
Finally, to ensure there is no doubt in my audience’s mind, I am done with my presentation. I finish by looking intently into the participants’ eyes and say, “My name is Kevin Catlin, and it has been my pleasure to spend this time with all of you.”
“Goodnight, Good day, or Goodbye.”
They will believe you by now.
Cue applause… Breathe it in… You nailed it.
Written with a great deal of appreciation for, and hours of studying of,
Mr. James C. Humes’ masterpiece on public speaking: “Speak like Churchill, Stand Like Lincoln
Kevin Catlin | President & Managing Partner
Office: 310.783.9263
kcatlin@insightstrategies.com | www.InsightStrategies.com
HQ: 2340 Plaza Del Amo, Suite 205, Torrance, CA 90501
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