Professionally Speaking...

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of a Presentation Skills Course

Dear Presentation Skills Course Participant:

Now that you are scheduled to attend a training course to improve your public speaking skills, I know that you are looking forward to being transformed into a brilliant presenter upon completion. And while I, too, would like to see that happen, alas, my magic transforming wand can only accomplish so much.

Given that slight limitation, I offer you these suggestions for participating fully in the transformation process:

1. Come to the course with a specific objective. You have undoubtedly already had a small amount -- possibly a great deal -- of experience speaking in public. Reflect on what has gone well and what you wish could go more smoothly. From that analysis, pick 1 or 2 specific things you want to focus on in the course. Examples might be: manage presentation nerves; determine a process for organizing my content; create an interesting opening for my presentation; handle questions more effectively.

Although you will be tempted to focus on everything, picking just a couple things at a time will allow you to more effectively internalize the new skills.

2. During the course, question anything that doesn't make sense to you or that you couldn't see yourself doing. Ask for alternative methods. The instructor should certainly be able to help you modify various techniques to be more aligned with your personal style or circumstances.

For example, if the instructor recommends that you use small note cards to help you remember the main points of your presentation but you feel uncomfortable with that because everyone else in your organization uses PowerPoint notes, the instructor can show you how to either use the note cards unobtrusively or help you use the notes section of PowerPoint without compromising your eye contact with the audience.

3. Participate robustly in the videotaped practice. The feedback you receive from seeing yourself on video and the critique from the instructor and other participants will be the most valuable aspect of the course. You may feel shy, nervous, terrified or all of the above about being videotaped but find a way through those feelings so you can be present for this powerful piece of the learning. If necessary, speak to the instructor about your concerns and she can likely give you some perspectives that will help you manage your fears.

4. Take copious notes. Don't trust your memory to retain all the great ideas and techniques you're being exposed to. When you get ready to deliver a presentation, the elapsed time since the training and nervous anxiety will block out things that were crystal clear during the course. Take notes not only of the concepts being presented but also of thoughts that occur to you about specific applications or a particular [upcoming] presentation that would benefit from one of these new approaches.

5. Be generous in your feedback to others. By generous, I don't necessarily mean nice, although you certainly do want to look for the positives in others' presentations and comment on them. But equally important is the constructive feedback -- pointing out to others where they could have done something more effectively and what impact that would have had on you, their audience.

In many instances, if course participants are all from the same organization, you will have a better idea of company culture and context than the instructor and so your feedback will add valuable nuances. And best of all, if you're generous with your feedback, others will return the favor.

So, dear participant, embrace these five suggestions and you will speed up your transformation to brilliant presenter...and save me some wear and tear on my magic wand.

Photo Credit:
www.flickr.com C.C. 2.0
sheeshoo

Presentation Tip: Actively Listen to Your Audience

When you see a list of skills a presenter should cultivate, listening isn't usually one that's near the top. For presenters, there is more focus on the mouth than the ears. Yet as the wise Greek philosopher, Epictetus, said,

"We have two ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak."

The savvy presenter knows that practicing active listening skills is a powerful way to engage an audience.

It's easy, however, for any presenter to forget to listen:

• nerves might be driving you to want to just get through the presentation as quickly as possible

• ego might cause you to want to be seen as an expert, leaving little room for others' opinions

• you might have prepared a lot of information which you feel compelled to deliver to the audience, leaving little time for others' opinions

If any of those scenarios sound familiar, stop a moment and consider the benefits of actively listening to your audience:

• lets you know if the audience understands your message as they feed back questions or thoughts about what you've said

• lets you know if what you're presenting is relevant to the audience's needs as you hear them, in their questions and comments, apply your information to their situations

• lets you know how the audience feels about what you're saying

• encourages involvement by offering the audience some ownership of the content and the ability to "try it on" as they work to make it relevant

HOW TO LISTEN EFFECTIVELY

Agreeing that actively listening to your audience is important and doing it effectively are two different things. Try these techniques to show your audience you really do care about and value their thoughts:

• as audience members make comments or ask questions, don't finish their sentences -- be respectful and wait until the person has finished before you respond

• when audience members are talking, pay attention rather than planning what you're going to say next or re-arranging your notes

• make eye contact to show interest

• provide non-verbal clues, such as nodding or smiling, to show that you're engaged in the discussion

What other techniques have you used, as a presenter, to ensure you're actively listening to your audiences?

Photo Credit:
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Nero the Boston Terrier

Fear of Public Speaking

One of the consistent issues that many participants bring to my presentation skills classes is fear of speaking in front of an audience. In some people, this fear may manifest itself as mild anxiety while in others, it shows up as a nearly paralyzing force.

There are a variety of techniques used to help presenters deal with their presentation nerves, but I have just finished reading a book that comes at this fear from a more holistic perspective. I would recommend It's Your Time to Shine: How to Overcome Fear of Public Speaking, Develop Authentic Presence and Speak from Your Heart by Sandra Zimmer as a very useful read to anyone struggling with this problem.

Zimmer's central premise is that "...stage fright comes from the belief that you should be perfect, and not only are you not perfect, you are not even nearly good enough. These feelings set up the devastating expectation that you are going to be judged as lacking or less valuable than others."

My work with people who experience presentation anxiety would absolutely support this. These folks have no tolerance for what they perceive as their shortcomings and they are convinced that no one else is as nervous about speaking to a group as they are. Often, no amount of facts to the contrary, positive reinforcement or actually seeing themselves on videotape doing a reasonably decent job will convince them otherwise. That's why I like Zimmer's approach to dealing with this issue.

She helps the reader re-frame stage fright from something negative to "...a sign of your sensitivity which you can tap to help you speak from passion..." Encouraging people to focus into their fear, she says, gives them permission to feel what they feel without judging that the feelings are bad.

The book is organized into three parts. Part I focuses on the hard, important work of exploring your fear and your feelings and Zimmer provides excellent, easy-to-do exercises on body awareness, grounding and breathing. There is also a useful discussion on self-talk, which I always recommend as a powerful tool in managing presentation anxiety.

Part II focuses on the critical skill of connecting with the audience, an extremely valuable antidote to stage fright, but a behavior that is challenging to those nervous in front of an audience. Zimmer uses what I think is one of the most powerful concepts to describe the presenter's relationship with the audience: "Your presentation is not about you; it is about them, being there for them, to provide information, inspiration and understanding. When you make this shift in your thinking and create a mindset of service, your fear will diminish dramatically."

Part III focuses on how to weave stories into your presentation as a way of reducing stage fright and forging a stronger connection with the audience. There are some great tips on how to pull the lessons from your stories and how to integrate stories into the content of your presentation.

In sum, It's Your Time to Shine is a nice mix of philosophy and practical advice. If you're strongly left-brained [as I am], you may struggle a little with the focus on feelings, but get over it! Fear of presenting is all about feelings that are deep-rooted and generally negative. All the presentation techniques in the world won't be very effective until you can understand, own and move beyond those feelings. Sandra Zimmer's method seems like a very effective way to do that.                                 

Using Props in Presentations

Hearing the word prop may evoke an image of a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat. And while I'd be the first to suggest that a good presentation does have an element of magic, props in a business presentation serve a much more worldly purpose: to aid the audience's understanding and involvement. 

Supporting your verbal delivery, props can:

• be stronger than words since they are concrete and visual -- when talking about how to dress for a presentation, show pictures or actual pieces of jewelry that could distract the audience
  

• reinforce and strengthen a point being made with words -- when talking about the amount of paper a new computer process will save, show the actual stack of paper

• grab attention, particularly when you show something unexpected -- when you're talking about creating a 'magic moment' for customers when they interact with your company, dress in a magician's cape

• inject humor -- when talking about an existing product being a cash cow, hold up a plush cow with dollar bills stuck all over it

Props certainly can be excellent ways of injecting fun and surprise into your presentation but beware of appearing too gimmicky. Know your audience and what they will find appropriate so you don't compromise your credibility.

HOW TO BE SUCCESSFUL WITH PROPS

If used incorrectly or awkwardly, props can derail your presentation rather than enhance it. Consider these best practices:

• If the props you use have any moving parts, make sure everything works as it's supposed to. You don't want a prop to malfunction in the middle of your presentation. Keep your props clean and replace anything that shows wear.

• Keep your prop(s) hidden until you're going to use it to heighten the element of surprise and ensure you get maximum impact from using it.

• Props should always be large enough for the audience to see. When presenting to a large audience, you may need to make some adjustments so your props will have the impact you desire.

• Assess your comfort level with using a particular prop (like the magician's cape above). If the prop makes you feel unprofessional or foolish, you likely won't be your best, confident self.

• As with other aspects of a presentation, practice ahead of time with the timing and handling of your prop(s) so your use of it is smooth and seamless.

Bottom line, props can add greatly to a presentation, making it more enjoyable, impactful, understandable and memorable for the audience. Props, however, won't mask a weak presentation. Ultimately you want to be remembered for the value of your message, not that you pulled a rabbit out of a hat.

Photo Credit:
www.flickr.com CC 2.0 The Rocketeer