Professionally Speaking...

Presentation Tip: The Power of Lists

For some of us, lists are a way of life. There are top ten lists, Forbes' lists, to do lists, grocery lists, bucket lists...and the list [!] goes on. But what value do lists have in presentations?

They help the audience follow and interpret your message.

BENEFITS OF LISTING

Using a list format as a component in your presentation can produce a variety of benefits for both you and your audience. Lists:

• provide a template, helping to keep the presenter organized and on track

• make a specific promise to the listener of what's to come and, by omission, make it clear what won't be covered

• through the modular chunks, make it easier for the audience to digest the information you offer

• are more memorable because of the numbered structure which almost creates a visual in the listener's mind -- for example, ten key steps or three critical decisions

• help the audience maintain focus as they follow the road map you've outlined; if their attention does stray, it's easy for them to re-focus, knowing where you are on your list

• can create the perception that you're offering meaty content with lists like "The Ten Strategies to...."

Bottom line, lists are a powerful option in your presentation tool kit, keeping you organized and enhancing the memorability of your message for the audience.

Photo Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anitacanita/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Are We There Yet? Getting to the Point in Your Presentations

An audience's attention span is a finite and fickle thing. Even at the best of times, when the presenter does most things right, it's an on-going challenge to keep the audience engaged. At the worst of times, when the speaker can't seem to get to the point of the presentation, the audience's attention evaporates rapidly.

Why is it that some speakers don't seem to be aware of this presentation phenomenon and end up losing their listeners way earlier than they should?

LACK OF ORGANIZATION

As a speaker, not having a crystal clear idea of what you want to accomplish in your presentation, how you're going to get there and what you want the audience to walk away with is likely the primary culprit that causes a speaker to ramble and obscure her main message.

Solution: Before you ever start creating slides, make an outline of your presentation. Determine what your main point/message is and what supporting facts, evidence and examples you will use to make the message memorable. Your outline should be in point form, yet detailed enough that it would make sense to someone else reading it. Set it aside for a day or so and then go back and review it to see if your message comes through logically and clearly.

LACK OF REHEARSAL

Once you're delivering the presentation, rambling can be the function of not having prepared sufficiently. You sort of, more or less, kind of know what you're going to say and believe that it will all come to you, clearly and eloquently, in the moment. But lack of rehearsal means you haven't "tried out" your sentences to hear what they sound like. So, in the moment, you'll be more long-winded and choppy than crisp and focused.

Solution: Dedicate sufficient time to rehearse your presentation and work out the kinks and rough spots. You should plan to do at least 3-4 run-throughs, rehearsing with whatever tools (e.g., PowerPoint) you'll be using in the actual presentation.

LACK OF AWARENESS

Another culprit that causes speakers to ramble is ego. It is frequently difficult for a speaker, particularly one who is very knowledgeable about his topic, to hold himself back from sharing all his expertise. When a speaker lacks awareness of what the audience wants and needs to know, she can be lulled into thinking that the audience is as entranced by her subject as she is. Resulting behavior includes complicated explanations, too much focus on one small aspect of the topic and getting into too much detail when answering questions.

Solution: Put yourself in the audience's shoes and leave your ego at the door. Do your homework to find out what the audience already knows about your topic and what more they would find relevant and applicable. Understanding their needs will help greatly in guiding you what to include in your presentation and what to omit.

Some other ideas for keeping your presentation on track and on point are:

• Tell your audience exactly what you'll be covering in your presentation. This may encourage them to question you if you start to ramble or head off on some tangent.

• Write a reminder to yourself on each page of your presentation notes where you will see it when you glance at them...something like "don't ramble", "be crisp" or "remember the main point".

• Find a Pecha Kucha Night (pronounced pe-chak-cha), a style of presentation originating in Japan where presenters are limited to 20 slides (20 seconds per slide) to get their message across in a little under 7 minutes. You can also find videos of these presentations on YouTube. Study what allows these presenters to get to the core of their message in such a short time.

What other ways have been effective in helping you get to the point in your presentations?

Photo Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/lwr/ / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

Presentations Sitting Down

Sitting down is fine when you're working at a computer, eating a meal or relaxing with a good book. Sitting down is not so fine when you're giving a presentation.

There is a good reason why most business presenters deliver their presentations standing up -- they're more visible, have more flexibility to move and command more authority. Yet there are times when you just don't have a choice...you have to present from a seated position. That's the situation I found myself in this morning.

I was presenting to a dozen consultants at an area restaurant who were sitting around several tables that had been pushed together. I hadn't thought much about the venue or where at the table I would sit [shame on me] because these are all colleagues whom I meet with monthly. But as my presentation progressed, I was reminded of how awkward it is to present sitting down. So from someone who should have known better, here are some tips to make a seated presentation as effective as possible.

WHERE TO SIT

Always choose the head of the table if that option is available. I didn't and was constantly swiveling from side to side in an effort to make frequent eye contact with everyone up and down the expanse of table. The two people immediately on either side of me were impossible to connect with unless I turned my entire body sideways.

We tend to shy away from taking the head of the table, wanting to be more collegial or deferring to the person chairing the meeting. But that's a disservice to both ourselves and our audience; it makes us uncomfortable and it prevents some of the audience from seeing us clearly.

GESTURES

When you're sitting, it's normal to leave your hands on or near the table. The tendency is to keep movement close to your chest since it feels unnatural to raise hands higher [and you might whack the person next to you]. But to be effective, hand gestures need to be seen. So consciously move your hands out in front of you, closer to your face, where they're more visible.

POSTURE

Sitting back comfortably in your chair will lead to slouching which can have an effect not only on how you come across but on how you breathe. Always sit forward on your chair so your back is not touching the back of the chair and sit up tall. This will help everyone focus, you'll command attention and you'll be able to breathe from your diaphragm to support your speaking.

I can't claim that I did all of these things this morning. But you can be sure I will the next time if I ever again have to present sitting down.

Photo Credit:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/grahams__flickr/ / CC BY-NC 2.0

Presentation Barriers: Audience Attitudes

In the last two posts, I have looked at presentation barriers that are real, physical objects and ones that are in the speaker's mind. To end this series, I want to look at how audience attitudes can also create presentation barriers for the speaker.

The proper preparation for any presentation is analyzing our audience -- their existing knowledge of the topic, how they feel about it and what they need to know to make the information relevant to them. So our job is to try and get inside the minds of the audience.

But what happens when we discover attitudes there we'd rather not deal with? Attitudes that we find too challenging or too intimidating. Or maybe we don't uncover these attitudes in our preparation but rather get blindsided by them when we are face-to-face with our audience. In either case, uncovering less than supportive audience attitudes can throw us off, causing us to lose our confidence and become defensive.

Let's look at the types of audience attitudes that might cause us problems and what we can do to ensure they don't derail our presentation.

APATHY

It's easy to take offense at disinterest from the audience. We likely find our topic fascinating, have put a lot of work into preparing our presentation and feel it's a reflection on us personally when the audience is not engaged. We may compensate for feeling insecure or slighted by exhibiting behavior that exacerbates the audience's apathy: reading our slides; providing detailed explanations in an effort to get them to see the light; bravely pushing on to the end.

Solution: Find out why the audience is apathetic. Perhaps it's because they don't understand how your information will benefit them. Perhaps they don't know why they were asked to attend your presentation. Focus on the WIIFM (What's In It For Them) with lots of examples. Show relevance to their situations. Engage them with stories. Appeal to them more through the emotional connection of pathos versus the rational logos.

HOSTILITY

Another attitude that's very difficult not to take personally. But generally, people are hostile to a speaker or topic because they feel their way of doing things or beliefs are threatened in some way. So the hostility may actually be directed at your subject matter or your position or the organization you represent more than at you as an individual.  Even so, it's hard to separate the facts from the emotions. As a reaction to hostility, a speaker may exhibit the fight or flight response, becoming either very aggressive or very passive.

Solution: Find out why the audience is hostile and what they're hostile to. Address the elephant in the room and let them know that you know they're hostile. Be clear about your position on the topic. If you agree with the audience's concerns, say so. If you don't, explain why that is and what you hope to accomplish with your presentation. Engage them in problem solving an acceptable solution.

DISAGREEMENT

When the audience is in disagreement with your position on a topic, you can feel that it's a challenge to your credibility, particularly if you are a subject matter expert. A common temptation is to get defensive and argumentative, digging in your heels even more firmly about how right you are. When this happens, it's unlikely that you will actually hear anything the 'other side' says. All your energy is going into preparing your rebuttal.

Solution: Rather than shutting down audience members who disagree, engage them. Find out what specifically they don't agree with. You may discover that a lack of or inaccurate information has led them to their conclusion. Build your own case logically, using examples, research and statistics. Choose your words carefully to avoid incendiary language. If only a small portion of the audience disagrees with you, enlist the remainder as your ally by asking them to share how they see the issue.

There's no question that audience attitudes you perceive as negative can cause you anxiety, shake your confidence and derail your presentation. Do your homework and anticipate what the audience's mind set will likely be about your topic; then build in the above techniques to address any attitudes that could become barriers to an effective presentation.

Related Posts

Presentation Barriers: The Speaker's Mindset
Presentation Barriers: Physical