At one time or another, your boss has probably said to you, “Don’t get caught sitting down on this one.” The problem is, many sales presentations are made while you’re doing exactly that – sitting down.
It’s more difficult to be impressive and in control when making a seated presentation than when standing, say Judy Stein and Marya Holcombe, principals of Strategic Communications, Inc., a consulting firm in New Haven, Conn. They believe sales people who don’t adjust their delivery style inadvertently put themselves in the hot seat.
Fortunately, the problem is easily remedied with a few simple modifications. Here’s what Stein and Holcombe suggest: => http://bit.ly/wY36qK
The introduction to your speech is not your opening. The introduction begins before you do. Usually it is presented by an M.C. You will have planned the opening of your speech and its introduction to work best for you and your speech. You need to put the same amount of planning and exercise the same amount of control over the way you and your speech are introduced by the M.C. It can have a huge effect on the way the audience sees you before you begin. So rather than having to make up for a poor introduction, ensure you get a good one – one that works for you.
There are five basic ingredients your introduction needs to have.
Credibility
Briefly list why you have credibility on your topic, why the audience would believe you or even listen, why you have the authority to speak. Make the list very brief and very relevant.
It might include:
• Your education, work experience, past clients.
• Any books you have written or contributed to. Where you have been quoted
• Previous speaking engagements
• Life experience relevant to the subject and/or the audience
Remember two points here. This list must be brief. Edit it to only include those points that will impress this audience and relate to their interests or their reasons for being at this event. Otherwise it will just be a meaningless list that will begin to sound like a boring list or a boast.
Engage this audience
While the information you give needs to establish you as an authority on the subject, it should not elevate you above your audience to the extent that they cannot relate to you. Provide information that shows you are just like them in some ways, and that you have faced the struggles or problems or challenges they face. Letting them know that you will share how you overcame those struggles/problems/challenges will be a strong lead into your presentation.
In the end you need to reassure the audience that the subject of your presentation is relevant to them.
Include, too, something about you that is memorable. It could be something humorous or unusual. It need not be related to the subject of your presentation, but it should be something the audience can relate to. It’s a kind of hook that they can remember and associate with you and your presentation.
Make an impression
You can use the sorts of devices you would us in any speech to make an impact with the introduction. Choose an opening that gets attention and engagement. Include facts that might be unexpected or quirky of humorous. Finish, too, with something that has impact as well as leading into the presentation opening.
Details
Start with your name and speech title and end with your name and speech title with a segue into the opening of the presentation
Must be short
Edit the introduction so that it works as a spoken presentation. Use language that will be familiar to your audience. Edit it so that it takes less then 60 seconds to present. It should not be longer than around 100 words.
This is not a resume. It is not a biography. If necessary a resume and/or biography can be printed in the invitation, handouts and/or program.
Make sure it is printed so that it is easily legible for the person who is introducing you.
To further make your introduction work as successfully as possible, prepare the person who will introduce you. If you can choose this person, then so much the better. Choose the person who has the greatest respect/seniority/experience within the group, and you will improve your own credibility through their endorsement.
Allow time to explain the introduction and how it will work, and time for the MC to prepare it. Hopefully you will have been able to send a copy beforehand. Make sure you have another copy with you in case the first is lost or forgotten.
Make sure the font is large enough that the person can read it and so that the introduction fits on one page.
Include direction, if necessary, for example where to pause, how to pronounce difficult words and any stage directions that may be necessary, e.g. shake speakers hand and exit right.
If you can explain it all to the presenter, then do. You can take the opportunity, too, to point out the importance or relevance of what you have written.
Have a Plan B
The piece of paper gets lost and there is no introduction. The MC decides to create his own introduction including a biography, resume and numerous stories. There is no MC. Any number of things can go wrong so that your carefully crafted introduction is not presented as you expected.
So make sure you have a “Plan B”.
Ensure you have ways of incorporating the 5 elements we listed earlier into your presentation. Stories are a very effective way of establishing credibility and of bringing yourself back to a level with the audience. And humour will build engagement.
It really is important to be prepared for your speech introduction. It sets the scene for you and for your presentation. It builds your credibility and engages your audience. It sets the scene for your presentation and it can be a powerful lead in to your material. Prepare!!
© Bronwyn Ritchie If you want to include this article in your publication, please do, but please include the following information with it:
Bronwyn Ritchie is a professional librarian, writer, award-winning speaker and trainer. She is a certified corporate trainer and speech contest judge with POWERtalk, a certified World Class Speaking coach, and has had 30 years’ experience speaking to audiences and training in public speaking. In just 6 months time, you could be well on the way to being admired, rehired as a speaker, with the 30 speaking tips. Click here for 30 speaking tips for FREE. Join now or go to http://www.30speakingtips.com
Have you ever seen a speaker run out of time because he or she spent too much time answering very basic or very advanced questions that were irrelevant to most of the audience?
For example, a few years ago, I attended a presentation on using LinkedIn. The program description promised an overview plus a few specific steps to improve success using LinkedIn. The speaker got about ten minutes into her presentation to an audience of more than one hundred, when she was interrupted by a few people who asked very specific questions.
She answered each question thoroughly, but the problem was that most of the questions were either irrelevant to the rest of the audience (for example, “what do I do when I get this error when I try to log into my account?”) or too advanced (“can you walk us through the specific steps to create and moderate groups?”) or took up too much time.
With less than ten minutes to go before the end of her time limit, she had only made it through one third of her presentation and handouts. I spoke with many people afterwards who were frustrated and disappointed by how she had let the presentation get out of control without delivering on what she had promised.
While questions usually signal that the questioner is interested in what you have to say, you also have an obligation to cover the material that the audience expected, based on the description of your presentation or how it was advertised. And especially with a large audience, not all questions are relevant enough to everyone else to make it worthwhile for you to spend time away from your planned presentation.
Here are five strategies to ensure that those very specific or largely irrelevant questions don’t take up all of your presentation time:
1. In the description about your presentation, set the expectations as to the level that you will focus on – beginner, intermediate, advanced – and then stick to it. Remember that you are in control of the presentation and timing and it usually can’t get out of control without your involvement.
2. At the start of the presentation, let the audience know if, how and when you will handle questions.
3. If the situation allows, ask people to write their questions on index cards or sticky notes during your presentation, then collect and review them and choose some that are most relevant to answer.
4. When someone asks a question, request that they save it to ask again near the end of your presentation, if you haven’t answered it in the course of your regular material.
5. Don’t be afraid to NOT answer the question – explain that your answer might be too specific or not applicable to enough other people in the audience and request that the person take the question “off-line,” by asking you one-on-one during a break or after your presentation.
While it’s good to be responsive to questions, you also have to avoid letting them derail you from covering your message within the time limit.
To get more tips you can use immediately to improve your presentation skills, sign up for Gilda Bonanno’s free twice-monthly e-newsletter by visiting http://gildabonanno.com/newsletter.aspx and entering your email address.
You’ll also receive a FREE Special Report, “Six Mistakes to Avoid in Public Speaking, So Your Presentation Sparkles.”
Gilda Bonanno is a speaker, trainer and coach who helps people from all walks of life improve their communication and presentation skills. Copyright (c) 2011
The will to win is important. But the will to prepare is vital.
— Joe Paterno
I saw this quote somewhere else and thought it was good. I’m not American or into sport here in my own country, let alone in other countries, so didn’t realise who I was quoting. Thanks for the comment, Richard. In no way do I support Joe, the man, but I have to leave the quote there because it is so true. As I said … “And sometimes, in public speaking, (as, no doubt, in sport, we need to be reminded of the vital connection!!)”
Presenting data is a very difficult challenge. It may be important that you be seen as the expert, but you are faced with the challenge of presenting this sometimes overwhelming mass of data so that an audience can understand and appreciate it. In Part One we acknowledged that, as for any presentation, the first step has got to be articulating for yourself what you want from the presentation, and that outcome needs to drive all that you say and all that you do with your presentation. In Part Two, we looked at visuals as a powerful support in this process and how to maximise their impact. Today, let’s look at the presentation skills needed to present data most effectively.
The first is to simplify the material as much as you can. Leave out some of the detail, if necessary, no matter how interesting it may be, so that you can keep your presentation focussed. And use language that will ensure the audience understands exactly what you want to communicate. Use plain English. Avoid jargon. If you must use acronyms explain them. Never take for granted that your audience is as familiar with your terminology as you are. Anything that will ensure there is no confusion, and that every detail of the presentation is understood.
Engage your audience. Data threatens to be boring. So add our own passion to the presentation. Make the delivery energetic and enthusiastic. You must be authentic. So inject your own personality and use your specific speaking strengths. If you are naturally funny, use that humour. If you are a natural storyteller, harness that. Enthusiasm is contagious!
Another way to engage your audience will also make the data more relevant and impactful. Use visuals, as we mentioned in Part Two. Draw on a whiteboard, or use photographs or images on your PowerPoint slides. Add a visual that makes the data real. Give it a human face. If you can, add a video of a person that represents the population in the data. Add emotion by telling a story about that person or the data represented, or use an analogy, and you will multiply the impact.
Finally, interact with the audience. This builds engagement. It will also give you the chance to make sure that everyone understands you and that you are getting the message across. Let them ask questions. Ask questions of them. Get them to agree or disagree with you so that they take ownership of the presentation and of the data and its relevance.
Keep your audience engaged and entertained. Keep them and yourself focused on your message and you will have a successful data presentation.
An aide comes in with a note. Someone’s cell phone rings repeatedly. A baby cries. Two people chatter. An audience member faints. The fire alarm goes off.
For many presenters who haven’t had public speaking training, interruptions like these destroy their concentration, the mood they have set, and their overall impact. How can you be the exception? By learning these public speaking techniques to stay in control. We have split the speech interruptions into two types: annoying and serious. They should, obviously, be handled differently.
Minor interruptions:
Control is key.
Whatever the situation, let the audience know that you are not only aware of it, but that you will handle it. When something unusual happens in a group situation, everyone becomes tense. There is an individual and group feeling that somebody should do something about it. You need to be that ‘somebody’.
First, acknowledge the interruption. Ask the aide who he/she is looking for. Tell the cell phone offender that while you all love his special ring, you’d appreciate him and everyone else turning off their phones. Also ask if he needs to leave to take the call. For the crying baby, you might make a joke about agreeing with the baby’s complaint because what you are discussing is a terrible situation, then invite the parent to take the child out for a stroll.
Gabbers in your audience are a special case, because you don’t know whether they are discussing last night’s hockey game or making fun of what you are saying. Depending upon your confidence level, you have a couple of options.
The most dramatic way of bringing attention to the situation is to stop dead. For a few seconds, the chatters will continue to chat and others will become very uncomfortable and probably stare at the offenders and back at you. You can then make some comment about “just checking to see who was actually presenting”.
While a tempting technique, this has enormous risk in that not only will the chatters probably dislike you for embarrassing them, but the rest of the audience may resent being made a part of the obvious reprimand. Still, if you have exhausted all other approaches and they keep on talking, you may want to resort to this public speaking technique.
Before you do, however, here are a couple of other options. The simplest is to look directly at the offenders and ask, “Do you have a question about what I just said?” In most cases, this will remind them that they should use their ears rather than their mouths. If it is a small group, you can walk over beside the chatters, stop and focus your comments at them. They will quickly get the point.
Interruptions with health or safety implications:
Control here is vital.
You are the person with the microphone and with the attention of the group. Use it.
It goes without saying that you will immediately stop your presentation and deal with the emergency. If it is a medical emergency and you are not a medical person, ask if there is a doctor or nurse in the audience. If there is, direct them to the person in distress. Also, ask the rest of the group to make room for both. If none is available, ask a specific person to call for an ambulance – otherwise, wait until the medical person determines the severity of the situation, then ask. If it is determined to be a minor incident, ask the people around the person in difficulty to escort him or her from the room.
If it is a safety issue, eg.) the fire alarm goes off, stay calm and encourage others to stay calm and leave the room in an orderly way (you should, before your speech, have checked out where they should go once they leave the room). Keep them moving quickly but orderly. You are the captain of the ship: you leave last!
OK, we’ve had all this excitement and now you have to finish your speech! How to start again?
After the medical emergency has cleared the room (and you have figured out what to drop from your presentation to fit the time loss), thank everyone for their support of the patient, give them a synopsis of his or her condition, and let them know you will still finish on time. Sadly, they may care more about that than about the person who had the problem. Now, tell them where you were in your talk and continue.
If it was a safety interruption, chances are you will have almost no time to complete your talk. If this is the case, make some comment about them being a supportive group with whom to share an emergency, and offer to post your presentation on a website so they can get the information. Then, leave them with a memorable thought, poem, etc. from your ever-present presentation ‘kit bag.’
Interruptions, whether major or minor, need not disrupt your presentation or shake your confidence. Use these public speaking techniques as part of your preparations, and you’ll be able to pull it together and save your speech!
………………………………………………………………………
Delva Rebin is part of a family of professional speakers. Collectively, Norm, Delva and Niki Rebin have spoken to, trained or coached over one million people. The biggest question they are asked is: “How can I control my public speaking fears?” For your FREE e-book download, “50 Tips for Calming Your Public Speaking Nerves,” visit here.
What you do speaks so loud that I cannot hear what you say.
— Ralph Waldo Emerson (bio)
They allow you to provide more detailed information than you would put on a slide. They give your audience something to take away from your presentation, to review later. They are one more way for your listeners to be reminded of you and your key messages.
Handouts are especially useful if your presentation is highly technical or complex. They can further explain important information. For example, you may want to include in your handout supporting data that you chose not to include in your presentation, such as contact information, case studies, references, marketing literature, or other collateral materials.
Your handout also can serve as a summary of your key points. In any case, your handout can include more detailed information than you may have had time to cover in your presentation, or which — for your own good reasons — you’ve chosen not to include in your presentation.
Before or after? => http://bit.ly/rCqnC9