Category Archives: questions

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, clearing slides, metaphors, questions, slide-craft

Presentation Tips From One Of The Masters: Steve Jobs

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I used to love watching Steve Jobs unveil the new Apple products every year. I usually volunteered to cover the story at work, just so I could watch the announcement! He was always so passionate about what he did — and it certainly showed. I hope I can develop my presenting skills enough to convey the same excitement and conviction he did. I thought this article from Forbes was a great summary of his techniques he used: http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2012/10/04/11-presentation-lessons-you-can-still-learn-from-steve-jobs/

One thing he always did so well was tell stories. He didn’t just explain why the iPod or iPhone was great; he wove a tale to make you understand why it was so great and want to buy it! You really felt like he was inspired by the product, and that you should be too.

He was also a master at keeping it simple. Jobs always managed to describe these complicated devices with simple, beautiful language that didn’t talk down to the audience. His slides were simple too: never cluttered with too many words or graphics. He let the images speak for themselves.

I also liked the way he stayed focused on his message. He never highlighted more than 3 things at a time. The human brain is only trained to process so much at once, so this enabled viewers to comprehend what he was saying in small, easily remembered parts.

If you have time, watch the video on the website of Jobs’ 2007 Apple talk. It’s worth it!

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07d-Delivering a presentation, clearing slides, questions, slide-craft, Uncategorized

Most people give bad speeches. But most people can give good speeches

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“Most people give bad speeches. But most people can give good speeches.” These are within the closing statements of Megan Mcardle’s article, “The Fine Art of a Proper Powerpoint”. Throughout our lives, we’ve had to listen to countless presentations and have probably had to give a few ourselves. Among these, there are those that captured our attention while others have lulled us to sleep with no recollection of what the subject of the presentation was. There are plenty of resources online to help guide what a proper presentation should look like, but I don’t intend to bore you with that. Miss Mcardle makes several good points in her article, which I will touch on, but I’ll also describe what experience has taught works best.

The number one mistake that most people can identify as a guaranteed sleeper presentation is when the presenter puts all the material on the slides and then proceeds to read what the audience is looking at. As Ms. Mcardle puts it, “Listening to people read from their notes or their slides is considerably less interesting than listening to a five-year-old read from “My Pet Goat”–at least the five-year old is really trying.” As a presenter, it’s important to remember that you are meant to be the subject matter expert on what you’re presenting, otherwise, why are you the presenter? Being the most knowledgeable on a topic doesn’t come easy, but that’s why you’re given time in advance to prepare (for the most part anyway). In your slide craft, it’s important to know what information the audience needs to visually see versus what they should expect to hear from you. With that in mind, you can begin to prepare your slides.

Avoiding the “reading” method of presentation will help reduce the overall word count that is placed on each slide. It forces you to take on the role of the educator with the material, rather than the messenger. Slide craft focuses on ensuring enough material, mixed with white space, appropriate graphics and visuals, and proper takeaways are present from each slide. Slides with a purpose are the only ones that should fill a presentation. Crafting the look of the slides is often the easiest part, the content chosen needs to be meticulously determined by understanding who the audience is and catering the content specifically for their position. Not all gaps have to be filled within the slide, there’s a Q&A session for a reason. No presentation, however, can ever account for content not prepared for; therefore, the most important part of the presentation is the pre-work of the material you’re presenting on (recall the Delta presentations, without the work we put in before, we would’ve had no material to present).

At this point, the slides are mostly ready and the delivery practice begins. When delivering, remember that you know the content of the presentation and you’re explaining to, expanding on, and educating with the material to the audience. This requires audience engagement. The #1 way to be sure that they’re engaged is to look at them. Eye contact helps not only engage the audience, but it also lets you know when you’re beginning to lose the audience. This awareness helps you change your presentation on the fly. Since you’re familiar with the material, you can determine if you need to expand further on the slide, move on, or ask a pertinent question to determine overall audience engagement. Knowing the material and being passionate about what you’re delivering help this type of presentation style. If you are excited about your subject, the audience will feed off this energy and remain engaged more easily. There are many more nuances to presentation delivery, and the best way to improve is to just give more presentations, which will help you find the style that works best for you. Plenty of resources are available online but if you can keep the presentation clean and focus on the audience, you’re well on your way. Besides, “The slides, after all, have probably already heard this talk before.”

 

07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, questions

Presentation Tips from Stand-Up Comedians

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Stand-up comedians are some of the best public speakers around. They ooze confidence and make it look easy, and if you follow these tips for success, you can succeed in the business world, too.

  1. Know your audience. Would you give an X-rated stand-up routine to a church group? In business, would you give an overly technical presentation to a group of executives who don’t understand (or care) about all the details? I didn’t think so. It is very important to understand the context of your presentation.
    • The culture: What communication style do they prefer? From what starting point or base of knowledge do the people in the room have? In the business world – is it an internal presentation to superiors, to your direct reports, or is it external to members from a certain industry? Knowing the culture will help you relate better to the audience.
    • Their level of knowledge: Is English the native language of your audience? If not, keep the phrasing simple and speak clearly, but don’t insult them either by talking very loud and very slow. Are you giving a training to a room full of beginners? Avoid overly technical phrasing and start from the beginning so the whole audience can understand where you are coming from.
  1. Practice, practice, practice. So much of stand-up comedy is in the timing and the delivery. If you are telling a story in the wrong order or blurt out the ending out of sequence, the joke will fall flat.
  2. Don’t force it – be yourself. Dave Chappelle doesn’t pretend to be anyone other than himself, so why should you try to act like someone you’re not? The audience can gauge authenticity quite well, so it’s best not to pretend to be someone different than you really are.
  3. Be likeable. The audience is rooting for you to succeed. Who wants to go to a comedy show where all of the comics crash and burn? In the same way, you should understand the audience, come across as genuine and confident, and don’t be afraid to stumble. If you slip up, chances are that the audience hasn’t even noticed.
  4. Watch out for hecklers. Know your facts and figures well enough to be heckled. Whoever will be asking you questions at the end or in the middle of your presentation may be analogous to a heckler at a comedy club. Be confident and knowledgeable enough to respond succinctly but firmly to keep the presentation on track. Not all questions in a business presentation are from would-be-hecklers, so it is important to distinguish the two.  Stay on your toes. You never know who might be about to throw a (metaphorical) shoe at you like this guy did to George W. Bush.

Inspiration:

http://www.trainingmag.com/content/supercompetent-speaking-tailoring-your-presentation-your-audience

http://www.mrmediatraining.com/2012/04/25/want-to-learn-public-speaking-try-stand-up-comedy/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1g35RNrsoU

http://thecomedybook.wordpress.com/tag/presentation-skills-2/

 

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, questions, storyline structure

Masters of Storytelling

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Master Storytellers are known to utilize the three I’s of Storytelling: Invitation, Imagination and Impact

Invite people to think outside of the box. Make them curious by asking them a question like “Do you want to make a change ____?”.

Use people’s imagination to paint a picture of a better tomorrow. Guide them to thinking about how this improved future will impact them more specifically.

People desire for impact. Everyone wants to see that their work has a meaning. Every so often during your presentation take a slight pause to see how your presentation is affecting the group.

 

Some more exact pointers for storytelling using the three I’s of storytelling include:

–       Don’t dump facts and numbers on your audience, be investigative of sorts and ask your audience

–       Do not jump from point to point without making sure your audience is absorbing your content

–       Practice timing, do not rush through your presentation

–       Think of certain images for your audience, say things like: “Imagine this…” or “Picture that…” People respond well to imagery.

–       Do not forget to keep a pulse on the people in the room to see how you are effecting them.

 

Anyone out there a good storyteller? Is there anything you consistently do that heightens your ability to tell a story?

The inspiration for this blog post:

http://magazines.toastmasters.org/display_article.php?id=1140160

07a-Crafting an effective formal presentation, 07d-Delivering a presentation, questions, storyline structure

Dealing with a Distracted Audience

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Whether it be a cell phone, laptop, tablet or phablet, people are finding themselves more and more self consumed with technology than ever before.  Do not be alarmed or offended when this happens, as it happens to everyone. You want to have a casual atmosphere when presenting and you don’t want to start the presentation banning technology use, who knows someone may be posting something positive on social media about your presentation and your voice could be reaching an even larger audience than you think.

Presenters should not judge their audience based on their attention and body language as you have to earn their attention by developing a connection with people. Here is a novel idea on attaining their attention, force it. Force your audience to participate. Instead of being more concerned with being the sole speaker be the guide of the presentation. Just like when we have our MBA classes, students are encouraged to bring the group through a conversational journey to an ultimate goal of learning certain topics. Student engagement is vital to keep our attention after a long day at work, at 9:00 at night.

Ask your audience questions throughout your presentation. By doing this you force people to be on their toes and concentrate less on being distracted and more on the topic at hand. You might even toy with the idea of asking your audience to have a 2 minute conversation with their neighbor about their experiences on an idea you are speaking about. This discussion encourages engagement that would otherwise potentially not be there.

 

For a more in depth read on keeping your audience’s attention check out the original articles I learned these concepts from.

http://www.inc.com/guides/how-to-improve-your-presentation-skills.html

http://magazines.toastmasters.org/display_article.php?id=1108437

07c-Telling stories, 07d-Delivering a presentation, questions, storyline structure

What not to do while Presenting

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We have all attended presentations where glaring errors have been made and we are just irking to exit the room, out of either pain or embarrassment. Surprisingly they are quite easy to make and with a little practice, easy to avoid.

 

1)   Failing to engage emotionally.

Explicitly speaking about facts will lose your audience. Incorporate an intriguing storyline that makes the presentation more meaningful. Ask yourself “Why is this important?” and speak to how the effects will hopefully help a process or employees.

2) Asking too much of your slides.

Keep your slides succinct. Nobody wants to be constantly reading and digesting your slides. Try to keep expansive bullet points to a minimum. Additionally keep your teleprompter text hidden from the audience’s view.

3) Trotting out Tired Visuals

Think of visuals you can present that are original. People can almost always predict what visuals you are going to present, so include some that are a bit different. Avoid Cliché visuals.

4) Speaking in Jargon

All businesses and departments have their own jargon, however you really need to avoid this highly technical or industry specific jargon. If people can’t follow your train of thought they aren’t going to be following your ideas any time soon.

5) Going over your allotted time.

One of my biggest pet peeves; nobody appreciates presentations going over the planned amount of time. You will start losing your audience to shuffling and IPhone use and realistically they will not absorb the information you are presenting.. People in general have the attention span for presentations of 30-40 minutes; if you can try to keep no more than that you will stand a chance of holding your audience’s attention.

 

View the original article below:

http://blogs.hbr.org/2012/12/avoid-these-five-mistakes-in-y/

07d-Delivering a presentation, clearing slides, questions

Pre-Speech Rituals from Speaker Camp ATL

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I was asked to serve as a mentor at a workshop this weekend called Speaker Camp ATL. The workshop is designed to prepare attendees for conference submission season. Attendees came prepared with presentation ideas and with the help of mentors they worked through the bios and abstracts they’ll use when they apply at various conferences in the fall. Then, at the end of the workshop, they presented for 5 minutes in front of a video camera (sound familiar anyone?). Following each speech the mentors offered encouragement and feedback to help them continue getting ready for a conference speaking position. For me, helping other people is a really great way for me to learn things myself, so I was super excited to participate.

There was a ton of great information during the workshop including things like setting realistic expectations on prep time for presentations (they suggested that a 45 minute presentation requires around 40 hours of prep and practice), and paying attention to details like arriving early to ‘case the joint’ so you feel comfortable in the space where you’ll speak etc.  The ideas behind the workshop come from a soon-to-be-published book of the same name.

My favorite discussion from the workshop actually centered around pre-speech rituals. I loved hearing what other experienced speakers do to get ready for a keynote presentation. I’d always thought that my pre-speech rituals were signs of inexperience and I was happy to hear that in fact these rituals frequently become more developed and specific as speakers gain more experience.

One ritual that several people shared was something they call “Power Posing.” Power posing essentially involves spending several minutes in a body posture that conveys power, such as standing up straight, feet hip-width apart with shoulders back and hands on your hips. The speakers in today’s workshop assert that they always do this for 2-5 minutes before they go on stage and that the results are transformative for them. They feel calm, confident and ready to share their knowledge and information with the audience. And much to my surprise, there’s some good research that backs this up. Specifically the CNN article above includes the quote,

“[power posers]… experienced significant increases in testosterone — a hormone linked to assertiveness — and significant decreases in cortisol — a hormone linked to stress. In other words — two minutes of preparatory power posing optimizes the brain to function well in high-stakes challenges.”

I’m so interested to try this out. Have you guys every heard of this or done this? Does it work for you? What other pre-speech rituals are helpful for you guys?

My ritual involves writing down my worst fears about what might happen during my presentation until I can’t think of anything else bad that might happen and then tearing up the paper and throwing it away. It seems to help clear all those irrational fears out of my head so I can focus on the speech itself.