Professionally Speaking...

Presentation Tip: Say It Again, With Feeling

I am a volunteer docent at the U.S. Botanic Garden where I give tours of this glorious facility nestled at the foot of the U.S. Capitol in Washington, DC. The Conservatory building and outdoor gardens are exquisitely beautiful with ever-changing seasonal displays, each more creative and alluring than the last.

My tour presentation, alas, is not ever-changing. I highlight the same plants and use the same stories each time I give a tour. And herein lies the public speaking challenge.

How do you keep a presentation fresh when you deliver it over and over and over?

The key to success...and the most difficult thing to accomplish...is staying totally present and connected to the audience. Extreme familiarity with your content can cause you to sound like a robot as you deliver your remarks from memory; however, it can also give you the comfort and security to free you up to be fully engaged with your audience. You no longer have to worry about forgetting something; your material is solidly implanted in your brain. So you can watch facial expressions, make eye contact, pick up on side comments made by audience members and invite questions confidently.

TECHNIQUES TO STAY FRESH

When you deliver material over and over, one of the key things you have to guard against is your own boredom. Because your remarks come almost automatically, you need to find ways to challenge yourself to stay present and get out of your own head. Here are some ideas:

• Remember that each group you present to is hearing your presentation for the first time. By being "over there" with the audience instead of in your head, you'll be more conscious of and responsive to what they're experiencing, which will keep you more animated.

• Be mindful of your pace and enunciation. When you've delivered a presentation multiple times, the tendency is to speed up your pace because you're so familiar with what you're saying. Reflect back on the previous point -- the audience is hearing this for the first time.

• Record yourself from time to time (or ask a colleague to evaluate you) to assess your tone of voice, inflection, general presence. Do you look and sound bored? Or are you still conveying your enthusiasm and interest in the subject? 

• Mix things up to force your brain to stay present. Obviously you don't want to reorganize your presentation so that the logical flow is disturbed. But use different examples or use a different opening or closing. In my tours, I will sometimes change the direction I take through the Conservatory and cover things in reverse order from my typical presentation. Since the information isn't sequential, it's not confusing to the tour participants but it keeps me on my toes.

Whether you're a tour guide, flight attendant or business person delivering a presentation or training program multiple times, keeping your presentation fresh and interesting is completely within your control. Review these tips occasionally to remind yourself to connect with your audience and it will make saying it again seem like the first time.

Q & A in Presentations

Each time you make a presentation, you have a decision to make about how to handle questions. Will you take them throughout your remarks? Will you ask people to hold their questions until you have finished delivering your information? Will you announce a specific time for Q & A?

Q: Which option is best?

A: Although it depends somewhat on the format of your presentation, the size of the audience and the venue in which you're presenting, my bias is to welcome questions at anytime during your presentation. Questions demonstrate that the audience is engaged and stimulated by what you're saying. Why would you stifle that by doggedly sticking to a predetermined script?

Q: Won't questions throw me off track and potentially cause me to miss some of my key points?

A: If you are well prepared, have streamlined your content to one main point with a couple or three sub points and anticipated what questions the audience may ask, you likely won't be thrown off track. You can weave some of your points or supporting information into the answers you give and comfortably segue back to your planned outline. In most cases, a lively discussion with audience members will be more fulfilling and engaging for all as you will be meeting their needs for specific information.

Q: How do I handle a hostile question?

A: With respect. Acknowledge the questioner's difference of opinion or emotional reaction. Don't engage in argumentative dialogue or meet him on the emotional battlefield. If you think his opinion is representative of the majority of the audience, it might be best to open up the discussion and let others weigh in, although this will certainly depend on how comfortable you feel managing that interaction. If his opinion isn't representative, asking the audience to weigh in can take the "monkey" off your back and allow his peer group to suggest other perspectives. Another viable alternative is to invite the questioner to continue the discussion with you after the presentation.

Q: How do I keep the rest of the audience involved when one person asks a long-winded question?

A: Once you get the gist of the question, break in at an appropriate place and use your skills of paraphrasing and summarizing to concisely re-state the question. This ensures that the audience hears and understands the question. Then ask the audience what they think or what they'd do. This will involve others and spread the interaction among more people.

Q: What do I do if I don't know the answer to a question?

A: This is a big fear for many presenters. The best advice is to not bluff your way through what will end up being an inadequate response. Acknowledge that you don't know the answer but offer to find it out and get back to the questioner, put them in touch with someone who does know or refer them to resources where they can find the answer.

Q: How do I end a Q & A session, especially when many people still want to ask questions?

A: Never, ever let the Q & A session be the end to your presentation. Always take back the floor, even if it's only for a couple of minutes, and conclude your remarks with the key thing you want your audience to walk away with. Ask yourself, "What is the one thing I want people to remember from this presentation next week or next month?" Invite people who still have questions to come up and speak with you after the presentation or, if that's not feasible, offer to chat with them by phone or email.

Questions are the lifeblood of any presentation. Invite them, embrace them and worry when there aren't any.

What other techniques have you used to encourage and manage questions in your presentations?

Photo Credit:
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Travelin' Librarian's Photostream

Presentation Tip: Don't Memorize

Memorization works well for a lot of things: telephone numbers, Latin verb endings, the song lyrics for the holiday concert. Memorization doesn't work so well for presentations.

Yet far too many times, presenters -- novice and experienced alike -- resort to memorizing their material. Ironically, of all the preparation techniques for a presentation, memorization is the riskiest. Forget a word or phrase and that can derail your entire presentation as you struggle to remember what comes next.

ANOTHER PROBLEM WITH MEMORIZATION

Memorization makes it difficult to be really present with your audience. Since your mental energy is channeled into recalling what you've memorized, you have little or no bandwidth for engaging and interacting with your audience. Your focus is on not forgetting what you're supposed to say.

SO WHAT SHOULD YOU DO INSTEAD OF MEMORIZE?

• Know your subject matter well. Be very clear on what you want to say, the organization of your remarks and the specific message you want to leave with your audience. Rehearse your delivery at least 5-6 times to internalize the content, flow and examples.

• Let go of perfection. I know when I craft a presentation, I work hard to come up with just the right words and phrases to get my points across. And so I get quite wedded to these specific words. But in the moment of the actual presentation, it's far better to not worry about finding the perfect words and instead free yourself up to be natural and focus on your audience. As long as you have rehearsed adequately, you'll be able to communicate your points clearly even if you don't use the "perfect" words. And remember, the audience never knew what your perfect words were anyway.

• Feel free to use notes to jog your memory. Presenters sometimes have the feeling that if they present with notes, they'll lose credibility. But in my experience, I've never seen an audience yet who objects to a presenter referencing (not reading verbatim) notes throughout the presentation.

• Trust in the power of connecting with the audience. If you are truly "out there" with your audience, sharing information with them and engaging in dialogue, you're not likely to forget key points because you will be feeding off their energy, interest and questions.

So leave memorization for the more mundane things you need to remember and both you and your audience will find your presentation more enjoyable.

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Zen's Photostream