The best presentations are the ones where you feel the presenter is talking directly to you. Where ideas flow naturally and it feels like an easy discussion. However, many presenters have a hard time making their speeches sound like this. It’s probably because they don’t think about their presentations as conversations. Instead, they think of them as formal events where they talk, uninterrupted, in front of a large crowd. Normal interactions don’t happen under these conditions. Therefore, you must find a way to change things around so you can practice your presentation as a conversation.
1. ENVIRONMENT Practice in an a different environment. Practice giving the full speech on your couch talking to your best friend. Practice in a coffee shop. Practice while you are taking a long walk with a coworker. When you practice, don’t just go through the “talking points” but fully explain each idea, as if you were giving your presentation. Figure out where your voice goes into “automatic” and you stop sounding genuine. Or have your friend point out when it no longer sounds like you are speaking to them, but at them. By changing up the environment, you will start to notice when your tone, pitch and delivery sound out of context. Then practice giving the talk, in that natural way, in the actual space where you will be presenting. Try to bring the “genuine” and conversational tone into the formal environment. 2. VISUALS When you are having a conversation, you are normally telling a story. You are relying on your voice to paint a picture. In presentations, people rely on their slides to tell the story and explain the concept. Instead, practice telling your story without any visuals available. Notice what changes when you have to use your words to make the ideas come to life. Or, try using a whiteboard to draw the visuals as you tell them. By changing up the visuals you usually rely on, you will find more natural ways to convey the information. 3. QUESTIONS In a conversation, people can interrupt you to clarify a point, ask a question or offer thoughts. In a presentation, the speaker is the only one talking and there is no give and take. It is just one voice that continues to speak for an extended period of time. To make the presentation more conversational, practice having a friend ask a question before each slide. Then, answer their question with the information on that slide. You can even put that question in the “presenter notes” section of your talk. That way, you continue to give the information in your talk as if you are having a dialogue with the audience. Summary Switch up your environment, change up your visuals and practice answering questions to make your presentations more conversational. That way the audience will feel more connected to you and your content. Soft skills are essential for success in any field and there are ample opportunities for people to improve their presentation skills. People can read books, take workshops, enroll in courses, and train individually with experts. However, there is another training opportunity, one that is easily accessible, that is often overlooked. Next time you attend a meeting, go to a conference, or even watch a speech online, take extra care to tune in to the presentation. Analyze the speech. Take notes during and after it. Actively engage with the entire process. Things to Consider During the Presentation: 1. When do I get pulled into their speech? Note at what moment you become engaged with their presentation. Was it a phrase they said? Was it their body language? Was it an image they created? Write down what the presenter did to hook you in. 2. When do I tune out? It is critical to notice when, instead of paying attention to the speech, you are focusing on your to-do list or thinking about some project on your plate. Once you realize your mind is wandering, try to tune back into the presentation and figure out why. Was it the way it was organized? Does the presenter sound engaged with the content? Is the information too technical? Figure out what is happening in front of you that made you tune out. Things to Consider After the Presentation: 1. What do I remember? After someone is done speaking, it is a good idea to take a moment and think about what stayed with you after the presentation ended. What phrases come to your mind? What images, either from the PowerPoint or from their stories, are still in your head? What did you learn from the presentation? 2. What questions do I have? Instead of disengaging with the presentation after it is over, ask yourself what questions you have about the content. Is there a term or a concept that you aren’t clear on? Was there a statement or a claim that you didn’t understand fully? What follow up questions would you send the presenter if you had the chance to continue the conversation? 3. What notes would I give the presenter to help them improve? This is the most important question to answer. How would you reorganize the presentation to make it clearer to the audience? How could the speaker sound more engaged with the content? Was there a slide that had too many graphics on it? Think about how you could help the presenter improve their speech and what steps you would take to make it happen. After you do this with a few presentations, you will start to see patterns. For example, you might notice that you tend to tune out of a presentation during the overview slide. Therefore, when you give your own speech, take extra care to make sure that your overview slide is engaging. You can change up the graphics, infuse it with active statements instead of passive ones, or even get rid of the overview slide altogether. Answer these questions and analyze your answers. Don't miss an opportunity to improve your own skills. Actively engage with every speech you hear and apply what you learn to your own presentations. In the last two years I have coached hundreds of graduate students on their talks for conferences, thesis defenses and symposiums. While I am always impressed by their innovative, creative and noteworthy research, there are definitely ways to improve their presentations of it. There are three things in particular that I consistently advise graduate students to eliminate from their research talks.
1. Stop Reading Your Title Slide What I see: During presentations, graduate students walk up and say, “Hello” and then immediately turn to their title slide to read what is on it. Many times they stumble over what they have written up there. Sometimes, they even read their own name. Instead: Know your title. Your title slide is the audience’s introduction to you. This is the first time they hear your voice, get a sense of you and figure out if this is a talk worth listening to. If you walk up and have to read your own title, you are telling the audience that this is information you don’t know very well. How am I supposed to believe in your innovation if you can’t even remember what your presentation is on? You need to memorize your title. Don’t rush through it — take your time. This is your opportunity to get the audience excited about hearing your talk. 2. Stop Saying, “I'm going to talk about my research.” What I see: After students say their name and title, they follow up with “And today I’m going to talk about my research.” Instead: Get rid of that sentence or any variation of it. There is no need to state the obvious. The audience knows you will be talking about your research. It is a research presentation. In the first minute, you need to grab the audience’s attention. When students say this sentence, it takes away from getting to the point of the talk. It is an unnecessary statement and takes time away from convincing the audience that they should listen to your presentation. 3. Stop Transitioning With “So” What I see: After the presentation has begun and a student clicks to a new slide, they begin explaining the slide by saying “So”. Then, as the presentation continues, each transition begins with “So”. In a five minute presentation, I hear “So” more times than I hear the subject of the talk. Instead: Find other transitions to utilize. Otherwise, a five minute presentation can seem like a fifteen minute one. Instead of using “So” to propel the talk forward, drop it from the sentence. Therefore: “So we conducted three experiments…” becomes “We conducted three experiments…” “So the next thing I did…” becomes “The next thing I did…” “So this graph shows that…” becomes “This graph shows that…” Doing this makes the presentation stronger and more direct. That way the audience can follow the logic, feel the momentum of the talk and stay engaged with you and the content. Making these small changes will dramatically improve the introduction, the transitions and overall effect the presentation has on the audience. When I’m giving workshops on presentation tips, I often get asked about the “proper way to speak at a podium.” I always answer with one sentence, “Unless you absolutely have to, never stand behind a podium.” This response normally gets met with looks of fear and alarm.
I then explain how speakers have a hard enough time creating a connection with their listeners without putting a tree in between themselves and their audience. It is very hard to appear as the authority on your subject when you hide behind a block of wood. Many people feel the need to stand behind a podium because that is where the microphone is. If you ask ahead of time, normally there is another microphone option for speakers. There are lavaliere microphones, handheld ones and headsets. Or if the only microphone is on the podium, it is often adjustable. You can twist it to the side and stand beside the podium. That way the audience can see you and connect with you. Other people want to stand behind the podium so they can see their notes. However, your slides are your notes. They are there to help illustrate your points. If you have practiced, the images and ideas on the slides should be sufficient to help you remember what you want to say. If you like to see what slide is coming up, and your laptop is on the podium, you can stand close enough to it to glance at the screen as needed. Beyond logistics, people feel "safer" behind a podium. Nervous ticks are hidden from view. It gives people something stable to hold on to and ground themselves. However, you have to ask yourself what your ultimate goal is. If it is to feel safe, use the podium. But if your goal is to get people excited about your content, step out in front of people. It is worth feeling a little uncomfortable if it means people feel a connection to you and your ideas. Experts know it is better to speak to an audience directly. During award shows, no one stands behind a podium. The microphone comes up from the floor, or if there is a “podium” it is clear so the audience can see through it. During TED Talks, people use headsets and walk around the stage. When CEOs like Elon Musk or Tim Cook launch a new product, they don’t stand behind anything. They are front and center. A podium creates a physical barrier between you and your audience. Next time you give a speech and you see a podium, ditch it. Stand in clear view of your audience so they can connect with you and your content. Practice, practice, practice. We’ve heard it a million times and we will continue to. If you want to be good at something — to nail it — you have to work at it. However, when it comes to presentations, there will be times when you have practiced too much. When people have overly memorized a speech, or given it too many times, it can become robotic and lose the life it once had. It becomes like a song you hear on the radio, where every breath, pause and beat is preplanned. The audience won’t feel the need to listen if they can sense you are on autopilot. In order to breathe life back into your presentation, you need to intentionally break up the pattern. Not only will it disrupt the routine you have settled into, but you might actually find a new and better way of saying a section of your presentation. Here are five ways you can break up the routine: 1. Pace Change up the pace on purpose. Say the entire thing as fast as you can. Or, say it as slow as you can. Then, speed up and slow down throughout the talk. 2. Pitch Switch the pitches you are using. Say the speech like you are going on a vocal rollercoaster. You can go from a high voice, to low voice, to medium and back again. 3. Movie Genres Instead of giving your presentation in the normal professional style, imagine you are in a movie. You can pretend you are are in a western, horror film, comedy, musical, James Bond film, etc. 4. Volume Change the volume. Start by saying your speech in a whisper and then gradually increase your volume as if you were telling it to someone across the parking lot. 5. Environments We go into “presenter mode” when we rehearse. We settle into our professional persona as we see ourselves on a stage or in a conference room. To disrupt this pattern, imagine you are in a different environment. You can be underwater, at a concert or talking to kindergarteners. Imagine you are giving this speech in a different space. With all of these techniques, your pitch, pace, intonation, key words and pauses will change. By doing your presentation wrong on purpose, you are giving yourself the freedom to play around again. You are letting yourself experience this presentation in a new and fun way. Whenever you have a routine, you can get bored with the predicability and start to tune out. By giving your presentation variety again, you are inviting spontaneity back in. This way you can reestablish your connection with the message and bring your presentation back to life. Before giving a presentation, it is critical to check in with yourself and be realistic about your fears. No matter how confident you feel, there is always going to be that little voice in your head reminding you of the things you feel uneasy about. Instead of trying to quiet that voice — listen to it. Actively investigate what makes you feel nervous. Once you figure out why you are uneasy, you can take the necessary steps to overcome it.
BEFORE A PRESENTATION ASK YOURSELF: 1. What are you the most nervous about? If you know what you fear the most, you can take time to prepare so it doesn’t happen. If you normally speak too quickly, practice taking extra pauses during certain slides to naturally slow you down. If you are afraid of going over time, practice the whole presentation and time yourself. If your timing stays consistent over a couple rounds, you won’t be nervous about it when you go on stage. Once you realize what you fear the most, you can figure out a game plan to combat it. 2. What parts in the presentation do you always forget? It is an important clue if you always forget a certain key point. It means that your ideas don’t flow logically enough for you to connect your current idea to the next one. Notice if you have a pattern of “blanking” on a certain section. It means the logic behind those thoughts isn’t strong enough. Take the time to add in another transition sentence so that your ideas flow easily. 3. What parts of your presentation do you hate rehearsing? There is normally a reason you hate rehearsing a specific section. You either don’t feel confident in the material, fear someone asking you a question about it, or you aren’t prepared enough to present the material. The part you want to avoid practicing the most is normally the part you need to spend the most time on. 4. What questions are you worried about people asking? Your gut is normally correct — trust it. If you fear that someone will ask you a certain question or challenge a specific point, someone probably will. Take the time to write out the questions you hope people won’t ask. Go through the questions one by one and figure out your answers. However, you need to do more than just think about what you will say. You need to practice saying it. If you are a person who enjoys writing everything out, write out all the answers to the questions and then practice saying them out loud. Make sure you feel comfortable articulating your thoughts. If you don’t, your face and body language will show your insecurities. Instead, rehearse voicing your answers with clarity and ease. 5. What opposite views could derail your presentation? Take time to play devil’s advocate. What comments or questions could undermine your arguments? Write them out. Then practice giving clear, efficient and powerful answers. That way, if someone in the audience brings that point up, you won’t be flooded with panic. Instead, you will already have a strategy in place. SUMMARY When you give a presentation, you need to feel confident and prepared. The best way to do that is to take the time and investigate your fears. Face them ahead of time so you don’t bring them up on stage with you. This way your full focus can be on connecting with the audience and bringing your ideas to life. Crafting the content for a speech is a critical part of your presentation. Before you begin, you need to know your whys. You can do this by answering three questions:
1. WHY DOES THE AUDIENCE CARE? First, you need to let the audience know why they should care about listening to you. People have a lot going on in their lives. The internet is constantly flooded with information on things the public needs to care about. Why is what you are talking about worth paying attention to? Why is what you are saying worth turning off my own thoughts and concerns to focus on you? Many people think they should put the why at the end of their speech, in their conclusion. I disagree. All the time and energy you spend leading up to your point, will be lost since I wasn’t paying attention. In the first minute of your talk, I need to know how your subject impacts me. Once I know that this is important, I will pay attention and listen to what you have to say. 2. WHY DO YOU CARE? Second, you need to know why you care. This doesn’t mean there has to be a statement stating, “I care about this because.” Instead, this means the audience needs to see, notice and feel that you are passionate about your subject. If it doesn't look like you care about what you’re saying, why should I care? I’m certainly not going to stop thinking about my own life and listen to what you have to say if you don’t even sound interested in it. However, if you are invested, focused, and passionate about sharing this information, I will know that it is worth listening to. 3. WHY IS THIS IMPORTANT NOW? If you are giving a presentation, I need to know why I need to pay attention to you, right now. If I don’t know the urgency of it, I will just tune out and say, “I’ll worry about that later…” Why is what you are saying critical to listen to, and care about, right now? Is the information you are presenting a new way of thinking about things? Is this time sensitive? Is this a subject that is being overlooked and needs more attention? Is what you are talking about new and innovative? Tell me why, in this moment, your subject needs my focus. SUMMARY There are times when your answers to these questions will overlap — that is fine. As long as the audience knows why your subject impacts them, that you care about the information and that they need to listen right now, you will grab the audience’s attention. During a presentation, nothing steals the spotlight away from a presenter the way fillers (um, like, ya know) do. People work hard to make sure their presentation content is compelling, organized, and elegantly designed. They rehearse the speech over and over until they feel comfortable with the flow. However, once they get in front of an audience, they notice those pesky fillers — um, uh, like — peeking out. Until soon, the word they’ve said the most throughout their presentation isn’t the main topic, it is a filler.
WHY DO WE USE FILLERS? People most commonly use fillers when they are trying to form their thoughts. Instead of staying silent they interject sounds (uh, um) or words (like, so). Speakers often fear silence. This fear stems from every presenter’s nightmare of forgetting their speech and standing up on the stage not knowing what to say. Silence can trigger that inner panic about forgetting. Therefore most speakers subconsciously would rather fill their speech with filler words than be on stage without anything to say. IT IS OK TO SAY UM In real life, people say um, uh, so, etc. During a long presentation, if a filler is used, it is fine. I am always a fan of a conversational tone over a fake, memorized one. Normally the audience won’t register a couple of fillers. However, when those filler words start being noticeable and take away from the momentum of your speech, that is when there is an issue. HOW TO DECREASE FILLERS The first step when addressing any issue is to be conscious that one exists. If a speaker does not know that they have an issue, they won’t take the time to fix it. During a rehearsal ask the audience if they notice a lot of filler words. Or, listen to a recording of a rehearsal or previous presentation and count how many times a filler is used. The next step is actually working on the issue by being extra conscious of fillers during rehearsal. Get into the habit of pausing instead of saying fillers. If a filler starts being spoken, stop and pause before beginning the speech again. Sometimes it is helpful to start the section over and focus on not using the filler words. However, use this technique sparingly so a new habit doesn’t form of always restarting sentences whenever a filler word pops up. Another tool to decrease fillers is to take extra time practicing the content. Make sure the ideas flow naturally. If the ideas are clear and fully flushed out, there won’t be a need to say fillers. SUMMARY Once your realize you use fillers, make a conscious effort to pause instead of using them. Without fillers, the message will be stronger and the presentation will be more powerful. Everyone talks to themselves. Whether you want to admit it or not, your mind is constantly full of dialogue. Sometimes this voice is helpful — like when you are about to leave the house and that little voice in your head suddenly reminds you that you forgot your phone on the dining room table. Other times, that internal voice can send you into a downward spiral. This commonly happens when you are stressed out and preparing for a large event.
That is why I always tell people to have a motto. Having a powerful motto is essential and finding the right one is a process. Most people, before they go on stage to give a presentation, talk to themselves by saying a variety of things like: "Don’t mess up." "Just get through it!" "I am going to get everyone excited about this." The problem with these statements is that they all depend on the outcome of the presentation. You are measuring your success by the audience’s reaction. While everyone would love to believe otherwise, you have no control over what the audience does with the information you are giving them. You do, however, have control over what you do and how you approach the situation. Instead of thinking about the outside reaction to your material, find a motto that doesn’t depend on the audience. This motto is for you. This motto sets you up for your entire talk. What would be the best thing to say to make you feel like you were at the top of your game? Great mottos depend on the person. They range from: “I am calm, centered, and ready to have fun.” “Let’s do this!” "Game on!” My motto is, “I am amazing.” Your motto will come in handy before you go on stage for a presentation or before an interview. You can use it if something unexpected comes up and you need to recenter yourself. Or you can say it whenever you hear the little voice in your head telling you how everything could go wrong. It is worth your time to find the perfect motto. After all, “You are amazing.” |
AuthorBri McWhorter is the Founder and CEO of Activate to Captivate. Categories
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