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Professionally Speaking by Susan Armstrong

Susan Armstrong shares shares her five tips for a powerful presentation

 

You cannot not communicate. Did you know that? And all communication is influence. Therefore, you cannot not influence. Like it or not, every day, all day you are influencing people as to what to think about you. Do they like you? Trust you? Find you credible? Can they connect with you? Will they listen to you? It all comes back to you.

This issue of presentations, of presenting ourselves is one we cannot ignore.

Whether it’s presenting yourself in a job interview, presenting your ideas to your colleagues or boss, or whether it’s presenting to a prospective customer, we all have to present ourselves, our ideas, and our information all the time. We do it every day, all day and yet when you ask someone how they feel about giving a presentation, most people cringe at the thought. Why?

Because… the idea of standing up in front of a group of people and talking is a huge fear!

It’s not the biggest fear we have as people, but it’s up there in the top five. So why is it that we worry about something we do every day anyway?

It’s the eyes. However many people you are presenting to you have double that amount of eyes watching you! And what happens? Our Centre of the Universe brain takes over and we start to think, ‘What if they don’t like me? What if they don’t like my ideas? What if they don’t like what I’m wearing? What if I make a mistake? What if I miss some information? What if they ask me a question and I don’t know the answer?’ And the list of, ‘What if’s’ goes on and on.

Are you panicked just thinking about it? Most people are. But it doesn’t have to be scary. As I said, like it or not, you do this all the time. We just have to spend a little more time thinking about what we are influencing people to think about us through our communication skills both verbal and non-verbal.

Here’s the point: over 90 per cent of face-to-face communication is non-verbal. So it’s never what you say it’s how you say it. What are the non-verbals that go along with the words? There is extensive research published by UCLA Professor Albert Mehrabian about his communication model that seven per cent of the message comes through the words, 38 per cent of the message comes through tone of voice and inflection, and 55 per cent comes through body language – and there is plenty of research and information trying to disprove his model. What experts can agree on is that it is not words that carry the message. They are a vehicle, yes, but in any communication there are two elements: content and emotion. Body language, voice tone and inflection give words context so whatever the percentage, it’s still not just about what you say, but rather, about how you say it. What are the non-verbals that go along with the words?

This is where we get caught when communicating or delivering a presentation. We get so focused on the words, the, ‘What am I going to say?’

that we forget about how we say it! So, if you want to deliver a powerful presentation whether it’s in a job interview, with a prospective client or with your boss, here are some tips:

1. Know your stuff

Speak about what you know, your area of expertise. If you don’t know enough then research, ask questions, find out. You cannot deliver a powerful presentation or communication for that matter if you don’t know the content. This also means in a professional environment you should never try to deliver a presentation that someone else wrote.

2. Don’t overthink

Prepare, prepare, prepare… rehearse, rehearse, rehearse. Yes, of course do these things but there is a line. There is such a thing as being overprepared or over-rehearsed. You’re not playing a role in a theatre production, you do not need to memorise your lines. Several things happen when we over-rehearse, and interestingly, these are some of the things we worry about.

When we overrehearse/prepare, that part of our brain is so focused on what we’re supposed to say that:

• We can’t engage with the audience – we can’t connect. We are stuck in our own brain and it becomes about us, not about the audience. Any good presentation is audience-centric so if they can’t connect with you then chances are they aren’t interested in what you’re saying.

• We’re so worried about not forgetting what comes next, about getting the ‘line’ right or the information correct that it causes those weird habits we all have like saying ‘uhm’ or ‘ah’ while we search for the next line in our brain.

So if you want to stop the uhm-ing and ah-ing then stop thinking so much. Know what you’re talking about and connect with the audience.

• We’re so engaged with ourselves and what we’re supposed to say that our body language becomes stiff and rigid, our voice monotone and stilted. And again, it becomes difficult for your audience to listen to you.

3. Be audience-centric

Tell the story. A good presentation is about the audience, not the presenter.

It tells a story, and a story has three parts:

• The opening – the hook – which in the case of a presentation is the WIIFM (What’s In It For Me?) for the audience. Tell them why they should listen – what’s in it for them?

• The middle – the information.
Three major points only please!
  This is how we overcome information overload. Three major points with no more than three supporting points for each of these.

• The close – this should tie right back to the opening and support how the information helps achieve the WIIFM. A good close also contains a ‘call to action’. What do you want your audience to do as a result of this presentation/communication?

4. Limit your use of PowerPoint Please.

PowerPoint is a great support tool. It was never designed to deliver a presentation, but rather to support one. This means that graphs, charts, visuals, models, pictures should go on PowerPoint. Paragraphs, sentences, Excel spreadsheets and any font smaller than 26 point should not go on PowerPoint.

Here’s the problem when we put all of our information on PowerPoint:

• Your audience is busy reading the PowerPoint not listening to you. When you use a PowerPoint you will always be competing with the screen.
It always wins so you might as well just stay home and email the PowerPoint.

• When your slides have too much on them you have no choice – you have to read the slides. Which means several things: you are either presenting to the computer, or to the screen but not the audience. It also means that if you make a mistake, the audience knows because… well… they can read. You also have to cover everything on the slide because if you don’t chances are, someone will ask about it.

• When you have put everything on the PowerPoint you end up being handcuffed by your own presentation. You can’t be flexible, you have to remember everything and you can’t make a mistake. This does not lead to a good presentation. The most powerful presentations do not use PowerPoint so remember, if you have to use it, use it sparingly.

5. Be authentic, Be you!

We get so worried that people are judging us, but honestly, have you ever gone to a presentation thinking to yourself, “Gee… I hope the presenter does a really bad job!” Somehow I doubt it. And, your audience isn’t thinking that about you either. So, stop worrying, practise, don’t handcuff yourself to a PowerPoint presentation, and talk about what you know. Audiences of one or 1,000 don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care so deliver your message with authenticity, credibility and confidence.

Bottom line… you can be a great presenter if you can get out of your own way long enough. You just need to know your stuff, stop worrying about what the audience is thinking, provide them with value and then just let it flow.


Susan Armstrong is an internationally recognised professional speaker, trainer, author and personal growth teacher. She trains presentation skills to global organisations and individuals desiring to become more influential in their communication.

For more information visit susanarmstrongspeaks.com

Susan Armstrong

Susan Armstrong is an internationally known Professional Speaker, Author of An Invisible Prison, award-winning Trainer, Talk-Radio Host and Personal-Growth Teacher specializing in inspiring and transforming her program participants’ lives through the power of action. Susan provides concrete strategies to assist people in re-wiring their thought processes and behavior in order to find happiness, success and fulfillment in their personal and professional lives. Susan has helped over 50,000 people around the world transform their personal and professional lives beginning with her first client – herself.

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