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Welcome to this month's edition of
The Quest for Workplace Excellence (on-line
edition.)
In last month’s edition we tackled a tough
topic . . . public speaking. As a quick review, to help you
overcome “podium panic, we advised you to:
• Practice positive self-talk . . . fill your head with
powerfully positive images of your success as a presenter. These
images of success will have a huge impact on your confidence
level.
• Don’t think of yourself as a public speaker . . . think of
yourself as a subject matter expert who will share your
expertise with your audience.
• Clearly identify your purpose early on . . . tell them what
you’re going to tell them, tell them, tell them what you’ve told
them and then take your applause and sit down.
• Expect the unexpected . . . use humor to get through the tough
spots and know that your audience wants you to succeed.
• Practice. We don’t know of any short cuts here. To really
tackle “podium panic,” you’ve got to practice.
In this month’s edition, we provide a few more tips to help you
on your road to becoming a confident, polished presenter.
Strive for excellence, not
perfection,
Peter B. Stark
and Jane S.
Flaherty
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examples and stories
People like personal examples and
stories. After you have prepared your outline,
creatively think about how you can weave in material
that will add interest to your presentation. This is
often an area in your presentation that lends itself
to humor. Challenge yourself to think about your
presentation from your audience’s perspective. What
would be funny? What story would help your audience
better understand your point? Examples and stories
add human interest to your topic and help keep the
audience engaged.
Vary your tone, pace and volume
You can engage your audience and keep them focused
by varying your delivery. Nothing puts an audience
to sleep faster than a monotone delivery. Don’t be
guilty of pushing the snooze alarm. Wake your
listeners up! When you want to emphasize a point,
you can slow down your delivery and become more
emphatic, or get louder and faster. Even the driest
material can be enlivened by varying your tone, pace
and volume. Experiment. Get out of your comfort zone
and try out a little variety in your presentation.
Get louder, softer, faster or slower. You audience
will appreciate your efforts!
Keep your visuals simple
Just because you can dazzle your audience
technically with your animated graphics doesn’t mean
you should. Just because you can write your entire
presentation on a PowerPoint slide, doesn’t mean you
should. When it comes to visuals, less is better.
After you have organized your presentation, begin to
isolate key points that you wish your audience to
retain. Design your slides to emphasize these key
points. Typically, show one key theme or example per
slide. Conventional wisdom tells us no more than 6 –
8 words per line and no more than 6 – 8 lines per
slide. Remember, the show is you, not the
PowerPoint. If everything you say is on a slide, it
may be comforting for you, but bores the audience.
When it comes to visuals . . . keep it simple. And,
as we’ve said repeatedly, practice, practice,
practice. Before your delivery, share your
presentation with a trusted coworker. Ask for
feedback on what works and where your visuals could
be even more effective. Make changes, where needed,
to polish your visuals.
Watch your use of filler
words
“Um.” “Ah.” “ Well.” “Like.” “You know.” Listen to a
really accomplished speaker and you’ll note very few
of these “filler words” detracting from their
message. Those of us who are less practiced and
confident tend to use them when we are transitioning
from one thought to another. The more nervous we
become, the more we rely on these crutches. The
first step in becoming a more polished presenter is
to acknowledge your filler word of preference. The
second step is to begin identifying when you use the
filler and what you can do to eliminate it from your
vocabulary. If you are really serious about
jettisoning fillers from your speech, join a local
Toastmasters Club. In no time fillers will be a part
of your past.
Be prepared
for questions
Let you audience know up front when you’d like
questions . . . throughout the presentation, or at
the end. Anticipate questions that may be asked and
prepare responses. If the audience stumps you, don’t
try to make up a suitable response. Be honest. Say,
“That’s a great question. I don’t have an answer
right now, but I will get the answer and get back to
you by tomorrow.” If you’re not sure what a
participant is asking, try to have them rephrase the
question, or give you an example. If you don’t have
the answer, but think someone else in the audience
might, ask for help. For example, “That’s a good
question. I think Bill might be better qualified to
answer that one. Bill, could you respond or suggest
someone else that might have that information?”
Finally, whatever the question, don’t become
defensive. Keep your calm demeanor and if needed,
defer the question. If someone had an agenda and was
using a question to take you somewhere you didn’t
want to go, you could respond, “That is a good
question, but not one I want to answer here, as it
does not pertain to the entire audience. Let’s meet
after the program and I’ll respond individually.”
In your Quest for Workplace Excellence, you will be
called upon to make presentations. We hope the tips
these past two issues have boosted your confidence
and helped position you for success. Our
Powerful Presentations program
has helped hundreds of business professionals
strengthen their skills. For more information,
please call us at 858.451.3601.
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