How We Say It: 5 Delivery Hints to Boost Any Presentation

Half of any presentation is what we say.

The other half is how we say it: our delivery skills, which can make or break the success of a presentation.

Our audience will be willing to listen to our message and consider our points only insofar as we are able to convince them that we are worth listening to. Projecting confidence and delivering our message compellingly are keys to gaining buy-in from our audience.

1. Vocal Quality (a.k.a. “the 4 Ps”)

The acceptance of our message will be heavily influenced by our delivery skills, of which a large part is vocal quality. There are four main points to maintaining good vocal quality: projection, pauses, pacing, and pitch.

Projection is simply ensuring that our voice has sufficient volume to reach all our listeners. If the audience can’t hear it, clearly the presentation will fall flat.

Keep in mind that projecting doesn’t mean shouting, which places strain on the vocal cords – and might possibly render us voiceless by the end of the talk. Remember that the key to good projection is breath control.

Pauses can be used before and after important points to emphasize them and to allow the audience a moment to grasp and reflect upon their import.

It can also be helpful to pause when shifting between topics. We can pause to take a breath or to gather our thoughts when we lose our place, or just to allow ourselves and the audience to rest for a moment.

Don’t worry – those brief silences don’t seem as long to the audience as they do to the speaker, and they’re very effective.

Pacing is all about speed control.

The natural tendency when speaking in public is to speed up because of nerves and adrenaline. At the other end of the spectrum is the slow, dreary droning of a bad college lecturer.

Be aware of pacing – it’s ok to speed things up to make them more exciting, or slow down to emphasize key points.

Pitch is our tone of voice. It has a powerful effect on the emotional mood we project: a low, calm tone or an excited one can make a huge difference in how our message comes across. Vary pitch to avoid monotony and according to the subject matter, but avoid creating a “sing-song” effect.

Varying volume, inflection, and pacing and using pauses helps us avoid a dull, monotonous delivery. Remember to convey conviction, enthusiasm and energy, or the audience will become bored and tune out.

2. Word Choice

As individuals, we all tend to apply our own filters to our perception of the world.

Knowing that people tend to “spin” reality to match their own expectations, we can recognize that it’s important, when presenting, to frame things in terms that convince our audience to understand – or to adopt – our perspective or argument. People can often be influenced to a surprising degree by simple word choice.

Remember how Tom Sawyer convinced every other boy in town to whitewash the fence for him by reframing it as a rare treat instead of a chore?

Similarly, we may have noticed that savvy businesspeople tend to use terms such as “opportunity” or “challenge” instead of “problem.” This builds motivation to deal with the issue – the words used can have a major impact on how that problem is perceived and handled.

Most of us would rather rise to a “challenge” or exploit an “opportunity” than confront a “problem.”

When trying to convince an audience to agree with any argument or message, consider word choices carefully. How might we influence our listeners by choosing one term rather than another?

3. Posture

When we stand in front of people as a speaker, we become their primary focus. Our body language, carriage, and posture speak volumes to the audience about our level of confidence and comfort – and lead, subconsciously, to their assessment of our competence and credibility.

The essence of good presentation posture is to be open.

• Stand tall but relaxed, with a stable, broad stance.
• Keep feet shoulder or hip-width apart, with weight on the balls of the feet and knees relaxed – don’t rock on the heels or lock the knees.
• Keep shoulders back and chin up; this posture opens our chest and throat for better breath support and projection, while also creating a confident impression.
• If we need to move from our seat to a stage or do any walking before or during our talk, we should walk at a measured pace, head up.
• We can move around in the available area, as long as we avoid turning our backs on the audience.

The more at ease and confident we appear, the better impression our audience will have.

4. Gestures

Hands should not become a limp liability in a presentation – we can use them to help us talk.

When speaking in public, many of us are uncertain about what to do with our hands, which can become awkward.

It’s a good idea to practice gesturing in front of a mirror, so we can get comfortable moving our arms and see what looks best. Robotic or random movements won’t help the audience, but natural, smooth ones will.

• Keeping our hands open and elbows away form the body will aid in making expansive, smooth gestures.
• Standing with our arms stiff or crossed or sticking our hands in our pockets will make us look “closed,” which will inhibit our delivery and diminish our audience’s confidence in our message.
• Keep hands visible when speaking; otherwise, our audience will subconsciously feel that we are hiding something.
• Twiddling, clenching, or clasping hands communicates nervousness, and splayed fingers convey a lack of control.
• Use large, open gestures to reinforce what the presentation is saying – to illustrate size, shape, direction, intensity, or sequence, and to emphasize points.

5. The Jitters

If we get nervous in front of a crowd – and even trained public speakers and performers do – it can adversely affect our delivery.

When fear triggers our body’s natural fight-or-flight reflex, all kinds of physical reactions result – adrenaline starts pumping, our heart rate and breathing increase, our palms sweat, our hands shake, and we may flush or turn pale in the face. As a result of this fear response, we may have a shaky voice, or talk too fast or too quietly for the audience to follow.

This level of nervousness can make it nearly impossible to perform effectively when speaking.

• Deep, calming breaths and some stretching exercises can help get our fear reaction under control.
• Use the remaining adrenaline boost to make the performance more lively and energetic.
• Look for friendly faces in the audience, and remember that most of the listeners are likely to be sympathetic – they’re not just waiting for us to screw up!

Finally, keep things in perspective – even if we don’t execute a flawless presentation, it really won’t be the end of the world.

Baker Communications offers leading edge Presentations Training solutions that will help we address the goals and achieve the solutions addressed in this article. For more information about how our organization can achieve immediate and lasting behavior change that leads to success during presentations in any setting, click here.