Whether you realize it or not, one of the most important keys to a safe, successful airline flight is the preflight check list the crew follows before the plane is cleared for take off. The pilot may have skill and experience, but if he or she skips the check list, it could lead to a tragic result.
Effective presenters must follow a check list, too. All the talent and charm in the world can’t save you if you skip an important step and lose your audience somewhere along the way. Print out this list and refer to it whenever you are prepping for an important presentation, and you will have a much better chance of reaching your destination safely!
Know your audience. Who are they? What are their interests? What is the reason for this meeting? How knowledgeable are they likely to be about your topic? The topic of the meeting might be “Latest Advances in Medicine,” but presenting to an audience of senior citizens at a Medicare symposium is entirely different than presenting to a conference of neurosurgeons, even though the topic of the session might be worded exactly the same! Make sure you understand your audience and their needs before you develop your content.
Prepare thoroughly. Even though you probably have a background in your topic (otherwise, why would you be invited to speak on it?) that doesn’t mean you should just stroll up to the podium and wing it. Your audience deserves the best material you can share with them, so do whatever research is necessary to provide the most in-depth, accurate, helpful information you can find. Collect more information than you actually need, and then whittle it down to the best of the best.
Know where you want to end up before you start. If you think of a speech outline as a roadmap for the journey you are taking your listeners on, you need to start by marking out your destination. Those “you are here” maps in big shopping malls aren’t much help if you don’t know where you want to go from “here.” What is the most important thing you want your audience to know or do after they hear your speech. Decide that before you begin developing your outline.
Work from an outline instead of word for word. There is some difference of opinion here. Most memorable public speeches are delivered from a word for word text, with each syllable placed and polished just so. This is appropriate for a State of the Union Address, where one bobble or misspoken word could be costly in the eyes of the media. However, word for word speeches are not very effective for less ceremonial occasions where you want to connect with people personally. Your audience needs to sense that you are at ease and focused on them (not on your notes). For that reason, start out writing word for word if you need to, but quickly reduce your material into an outline form. Let this outline be the guide for your remarks, which you will deliver in a relaxed, conversational manner. What you may lose in fluid rhetoric, you will more than make up for in persuasive eye contact and body language because you aren’t chained to a script.
Start off with a bang. Use an attention grabbing image or unique key words from the very beginning of your speech. This helps grab the audience’s attention and let’s them know that you won’t be boring. Which sounds more appealing to you, “I will be speaking to you tonight about the need for tax reform,” or, “Ever since the Boston Tea Party, Americans have despised unfair, unreasonable tax programs, and I don’t know about you, but I am just about ready for somebody in Washington to take the Nestea Plunge!”?
Stick to a few simple, easy to remember points. Ever since the time of the Ancient Greeks, public speakers have recognized that there is some kind of magic behind having three major points. Maybe that is all people can keep in their active memory at one time, or maybe it is all they can sit for before they start looking at their watches. Anyhow, three points is a speech – eight points is a book. Make up your mind now whether you want to be a speaker or an author.
Don’t kill them with statistics. Numbers have only limited value in public speaking. Speaking is mostly about connecting with your audience emotionally. Sometimes a statistic can help you do that as in, “Last year, DWI fatalities in our state were up by more than 20%.” That statistic will get your audience’s attention. However, “Here are the statewide DWI statistics, broken down by county, for the last 10 years.” That rumbling sound you here comes from snoring that is breaking out all around the room. If your audience needs lots of statistics, give them handouts, but don’t plow through all of them during your presentation.
Close on a high note. “And this concludes my remarks” is not likely to leave them begging for more. Instead, close with a powerful story or a specific challenge to get them to follow through on the information you gave them. “I just want to close by reminding you of the proverbial frog in the beaker who boiled to death because the heat under the glass was turned up so gradually that his cold-blooded system acclimated to the change instead of recognizing his danger. Friends, our present tax system is about to reach the boiling point. It is time for us to hop up and do something about it.” Now there’s an image they will be sure to remember tomorrow.
This pre-speech checklist is simple but valuable. Follow it before you take off on your speech, and I promise you happy landings every time.
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February Presentation Quick Tip of the Month -- Back Your Way Into a Relaxed Presentation
If you are one of those folks who struggles with nervous tension before a speech or presentation, here is one quick tip to help you stay relaxed. If at all possible, stay at the BACK of the room until you are introduced. There is nothing worse than sitting up front for an hour, feeling like all eyes are already on you, while you wait for your turn to talk, The longer you sit, the more stiff, uncomfortable and anxious you can become. If you stay at the back, out of the view of most of the audience, you can stand up, stretch your legs, walk around, go out into the hallway to shake your arms and legs to stay loose, go to the water fountain, and take care of other “necessities,” all of which will help you maintain a relaxed demeanor and a clearer focus in advance of your big moment. Then, when you are called to the podium, you can stride to the front with a big smile and a dignified posture, because you are refreshed and ready to go.
