2. As a presenter, remember and apply Eleanor Roosevelt's maxim that "no-one can intimidate me without my permission". When you are a presenter you are in charge. The audience generally accepts this, and you are within your rights to control anyone who does not.
3. Remember also that "Depth of conviction counts more than height of logic, and enthusiasm is worth more than knowledge", (which is apparently attributed to David Peebles, about whom I have no further details - please let me know if you do). Passion is therefore a very powerful component in any successful presentation.
4. Good presenting is about entertaining as well as conveying information. As well, people retain more if they are enjoying themselves and feeling relaxed. So whatever your subject and audience, try to find ways to make the content and delivery enjoyable - even the most serious of occasions, and the driest of subjects, can be lifted to an enjoyable or even an amusing level one way or another with a little research, imagination, and humour/humor.
5. Enjoyment and humour are mostly in the preparation. These effects are not easily produced spontaneously. You don't need to be a natural stand-up comedian to inject enjoyment and humour into a presentation or talk. It's the content that enables it, which is very definitely within your control.
6. Research and studies generally indicate that in presentations you have between 4 - 7 seconds in which to make a positive impact and good opening impression, so make sure you have a good, strong, solid introduction, and rehearse it until it is 'second nature' to you and an action of 'unconscious competence'.
7. Try to build your own credibility in your introduction, and create a safe comfortable environment for your audience, which you will do quite naturally if you appear to be comfortable yourself.
8. Smiling helps a lot. It will relax you and the audience. In addition to giving you a relaxed calm appearance, smiling actually releases helpful 'happy' chemicals into your nervous system, and makes you feel good.
9. So does taking a few deep slow breaths make you feel relaxed - low down from the pit of your stomach - before you take to the stage.
10. Avoid starting with a joke unless you are supremely confident - jokes are high risk things at the best of times, let alone at the start of a presentation.
I was sent this excellent and simple idea for a
presentation - actually used in a job interview - which will perhaps prompt
similar ideas and adaptations for your own situations.
At the start of the presentation the letters T, E, A, and M - fridge magnets - were given to members of the audience.
At the end of the presentation the speaker made the point that individually the letters meant little, but together they made a team.
This powerful use of simple props created a wonderful connection between start and finish, and supported a concept in a memorable and impactful way. (Thanks P Hodgson)
N.B. There is a big difference between
telling a joke and injecting
enjoyment and humour (US spelling, humor)
into your talk. Jokes are risky. Enjoyment and humour are
safe. A joke requires quite a special skill
in its delivery. Joke-telling is
something of an art form. Only a few people
can do it well without specific
training. A joke creates pressure on the
audience to laugh at a critical
moment. A joke creates tension - that's why
it's funny (when it works). This tension equates to an expectation in
the listener, which produces a small degree of pleasure when the joke
works well, but a very unhelpful awkwardness if the joke is not
well-delivered or well-received. A joke
also has the potential to offend, and jokes
are culturally very sensitive -
different people like different jokes. Even
experienced comedians can 'die' on
stage if their jokes and delivery are at
odds with the audience type or mood.
On the other hand, enjoyment and humour are
much more general, they not
dependent on creating a tension or the
expectation of a punchline. Enjoyment
and humour can be injected in very many
different ways - for example a few
funny quotes or examples; a bit of audience
participation; an amusing prop; an
amusing picture or cartoon; an amusing story
(not a joke). Another way to
realise the difference between jokes and
enjoyment is consider that you are
merely seeking to make people smile and be
mildly amused - not to have them
belly-laughing in the aisles.
At the start of the presentation the letters T, E, A, and M - fridge magnets - were given to members of the audience.
At the end of the presentation the speaker made the point that individually the letters meant little, but together they made a team.
This powerful use of simple props created a wonderful connection between start and finish, and supported a concept in a memorable and impactful way. (Thanks P Hodgson)
11. Apologising to the audience can also affect the moods and atmospheres of presentations...
Generally try to avoid starting a presentation with an apology - unless you've really made a serious error, or an apology is part of your plans, or an intentional humorous device. Usually audiences will forgive you far more than you forgive yourself. Apologising for trivial matters can cause audiences to feel uncomfortable, and may also give the impression that you are not in control or confident.
If you do have to apologise for something, make the apology briefly and clearly, and if possible try to make light of it (unless it's really serious of course).
It is normal to make mistakes, and even the most experienced professional speakers and presenters make mistakes, so just relax and keep calm if (when) you make one.
In acknowledging minor mistakes it is usually better to keep the mood light and relaxed, with phrases such as (or similar approaches):
"Observant delegates among you perhaps will have noticed (refer to the error)..."
or
"Welcome everyone. Who among you has noticed my deliberate mistake?..."
or
"Welcome everyone. You might have noticed the experimental 'deliberate mistake' icebreaker this morning (refer to the mistake). Could you split into groups of three; analyse the situation, and prepare a two-minute presentation as to how the 'corrective-action loop' might be applied to minimize the chances of this happening again...... No, seriously..."
12. Try to start on time even if some of the audience is late. Waiting too long undermines your confidence, and the audience's respect for you.
13. The average attention span of an average listener is apparently (according to various sources I've seen over the years) between five and ten minutes for any single unbroken subject. Younger 'Playstation' and 'texter' generations will have even less tolerance than this, so structure your content accordingly.
14. Any audience will begin to wriggle and feel less comfortbale in their seats after about 40 minutes of stting listening/watching. So presentations which are longer than this time should include a reason for the audience to move a little, or ideally stand up and move about, after about 40 minutes.
15. Break up the content so that no single item takes longer than a few minutes, and between each item try to inject something amusing, amazing, remarkable or spicy - a picture, a quote, a bit of audience interaction - anything to break it up and keep people attentive.
16. Staying too long (ten minutes or more) on the same subject in the same mode of delivery will send people into a trance-like state, when they are not properly listening, watching or concentrating on the presentation - often called the MEGO state (My Eyes Glaze Over). So break it up, and inject diversions and variety - in terms of content and media (the different ways you can communicate to people or engage their interest).
Using a variety of media and movement will maintain maximum interest.
Think of it like this - the audience can be stimulated via several senses - not just audio and visual (listening and watching) - consider including content and activity which addresses the other senses too - touch certainly - taste maybe, smell maybe - anything's possible if you use your imagination. The more senses you can stimulate the more your audience will remain attentive and engaged.
17. You can stimulate other things in your audience besides the usual 'senses'.
You can use content and activities to stimulate feelings, emotions, memories, and even physical movement.
Simply asking the audience to stand up, or snap their fingers, or blink their eyes (assuming you give them a good reason for doing so) immediately stimulates physical awareness and involvement.
Passing several props or samples around is also a great way to stimulate physical activity and involvement.
18. Quotes are a wonderful and easy way to stimulate emotions and feelings, and of course quotes can be used to illustrate and emphasise just about any point or concept you can imagine.
Research and collect good quotations and include then in your notes. Memorise one or two if you can because this makes the delivery seem more powerful.
See the funny quotations and inspirational quotes webpages for ideas and examples.
Always credit the source of quotes you use.
Interestingly, Bobby Kennedy once famously failed to credit George Bernard Shaw when he said that "Some men see things as they are and ask 'why?'; I dare to dream of things that never were and ask 'why not?'."
19. Failing to attribute a quote undermines a speaker's integrity and professionalism. Conversely, giving credit to someone else is rightly seen as a positive and dignified behaviour.
Having quotes and other devices is important to give your presentation depth and texture, as well as keeping your audience interested... "If the only tool in your toolbox is a hammer you'll treat everything as a nail." (Abraham Maslow)
20. So don't just speak at people. Give them a variety of content, and different methods of delivery - and activities too if possible.
21. Be daring and bold and have fun. Use props and pass them around if you can. The more senses you can stimulate the more fun your audience will have and the more they'll remember.
22. Some trainers of public speaking warn that passing props around can cause a loss of control or chaos. This is true, and I argue that it's good. It's far better to keep people active and engaged, even if it all needs a little additional control. Better to have an audience slightly chaotic than bored to death.
23. Planned chaos is actually a wonderful way to keep people involved and enjoying themselves. Clap your hands a couple of times and say calmly "Okay now - let's crack on," or something similarly confident and un-phased, and you will be back in control, with the audience refreshed for another 5-10 minutes.
24. Create analogies and themes, and use props to illustrate and reinforce them.
For example a bag of fresh lemons works well: they look great, they smell great, they feel great, and they're cheap, so you can give out loads and not ask for them back - all you have to do is think of an excuse to use them!
25. Here are examples of fun, humour, interest, participation and diversion that you can use to bring your presentation to life, and keep your audience attentive and enjoying themselves. Some people in the presentation field refer to these presentational elements as 'spice'. Like the spice of a meal, spice in a presentation gives it a lift - stimulates the senses, and adds texture and richness. Here are examples of the many sorts of 'spice' elements you can add to a presentation:
- Stories
- Questions and 'hands-up' feedback
- Pictures, cartoons and video-clips
- Diagrams
- Video-clips and sound-clips
- Surveys and statistics
- Straw polls (a series of hands-up votes/reactions which you record and then announce results)
- Inviting a volunteer to take the stage with you (for a carefully planned reason)
- Audience participation exercises
- Asking the audience to do something physical (clapping, deep breathing, blinking, finger-snapping, shouting, and other more inventive ideas)
- Asking the audience to engage with each other (for example introductions to person in next chair)
- Funny quotations (be careful not to offend anyone)
- Inspirational quotations
- Acronyms
- Props, samples, physical objects (see the visual aids ideas page)
- Examples and case-study references
- Fables and analogies
- Prizes, awards and recognising people/achievements
- Book recommendations
- Fascinating facts (research is easy these days about virtually any subject)
- Statistics (which dramatically improve audience 'buy-in' if you're trying to persuade)
- Games and exercises and icebreakers
- Quizzes
- Quirky ideas - (use your imagination - have everyone demonstrate their ringtones at the same time, or see who has the fastest/slowest watch time, or the most pens in their pocket/bag - depending on the occasion linked or not to the subject)
- and your body language, and the changing tone and pitch of your voice.
27. Take the pressure off yourself by not speaking all the time. Get the audience doing things, and make use of all the communications senses available.
28. Interestingly the use of visual aids generally heightens retention of the spoken word - by 70% or more. The figure is demonstrably and substantially more than 70% for certain things, for example: try memorising a person's face from purely a verbal description, compared with actually seeing the face. A verbal or written description is only fractionally as memorable as actually seeing anything which has more than a basic level of complexity.
29. Some people refer to the following figures on the subject of information retention, which are taken from Edgar Dale's theory called the Cone of Experience:
Edgar Dale's Cone of Experience
- Read 10%
- Heard 20%
- Seen 30%
- Heard and Seen 50%
- Said 70%
- Said and Done 90%
30. So use visual aids a lot in your presentations. Your voice is not the only or main tool at your disposal. Get visuals working fully for you, and your presentations will be more engaging, and a lot easier for you to deliver and enjoy.
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