What’s your presentation’s message?

When you are making a presentation – whether inside your organisation or as a paid keynote speaker – it’s essential that you are clear about your message.

I’ve heard many very talented speakers who perform well, entertain the audience, but leave an empty space in the ‘what was that all about?’ category.

If you’re going to deliver a presentation the place to start is the end.  What is the message that you want your audience to take away and remember?  Once you’ve got that clear in your mind it will be much easier to put your presentation together.

• Each of your key points should help your to get to that final message.
• Everything that helps you to illustrate your key points should be focused on that final message.
• Your introduction should headline your key message – don’t keep them guessing – all that happens is that they engage their brains in trying to work out where you’re going, instead of listening!

All this focus creates power.  A powerful message that builds throughout your presentation and is delivered with a knockout punch makes the audience think ‘Wow! That’s what I want to do.’  And then get off their seats and take action.

That gets the speaker asked to do that again for other audiences and a reputation for delivering great content as well as having star quality!

Once upon a time …

One of my clients says ‘I can’t get my head around the fact that I need to learn my own stories, I know them already’.  The problem is that every time he tells them they are slightly different, sentences are left out, added in, pauses come in different places – and, because he knows them so well, he doesn’t always understand how a first time listener takes the story on board.

I’ve heard him relate a really good story that demonstrates his point far better than any theory.  The last time he ‘winged it’ he missed out two key bits of information that really brought the story into bold relief, and then blew the final statement that made the point so it not only sounded weak, but also lost all the energy from the story.  He didn’t even pause to let people digest the issues.

This is why learning a speech is so important; it allows you to hone your stories to a shine so that every word makes its presence felt and your audience get the point clearly, concisely and in a way they won’t forget.

It nails your points down – so that they are remembered.

Winging it

When someone says ‘can you speak for 10 minutes’ at our group meeting – are you ready?

If your keynote is 45-60 minutes the answer is, probably not.  If you have a 30 minute and a 20 minute version – it’s still ‘No’.  Never fall into the trap of thinking you can wing it; it doesn’t work.

Firstly, you’ll either have to cut something out and may lose a key point or the key information that relates to another point.

Secondly, if you think ‘I know my stuff, I’ll just talk about it for 10 minutes’, you’ll probably find that your focus is fuzzy and people don’t get it.

Thirdly, if you haven’t polished it, it will come over as average rather than exceptional.

Finally, you never know who is listening.  If you don’t do a professional job, you’ll be seen as an amateur – and if someone who is looking for professional speakers happens to be in the audience, or someone who could recommend you to a booker, you won’t get the recommendation you want.

It pays to invest the time in your presentation – and you’ll feel so good when you know you’ve delivered a stunning presentation!

Preparing to speak

A speech is a bit like an iceberg, the visible part is a small part of the whole.  The preparation for even a ten minute presentation is considerable – if you want it to be really successful.

The difference between an amateur and a professional speaker is in the preparation.

First you need to plan out the key subject areas and write the speech, then you need to practise and polish the presentation.  There are two things that are really key to getting this part right:

1. The language you use
2. The way you rehearse

Most of us structure our written language differently to our spoken language.  No matter how much you think you’ve written spoken English, when you read it out loud you’ll find it feels quite formal.  You need to adjust the language to sound natural so you’ll need to rephrase it into spoken English. #

This means that your speech effectively goes through six stages -

1. draft outline;
2. written in full;
3. rephrased in spoken language;
4. performance level delivery;
5. choreography;
6. introduction of props and visual aids;

It sounds like a lot of work – because it is!  However, the level of input = the professionalism of your presentation.

I mentioned two things earlier – language and rehearsal.  Let’s look at the rehearsal part now.

Once you’ve got the words sorted out you need to practise until it flows naturally and you are not constantly thinking ‘what comes next?’.  Whenever your mind is engaged with trying to remember the next point, you’re not doing justice to delivery of the current part, as your mind is not fully ‘present’.

This is why it is recommended to learn your presentation.   Part of the learning process is to not simply know the words, but to learn the pauses, emphasis and how you use your voice to drive your points home.  Then there is the visual image you project from the platform.

A good tip is that, once you have learned the words thoroughly, practise as though you were on a platform.  This means that you dress as you would for your presentation.  It may sound a little over the top, but you move differently in a suit to how you move in casual clothes.  Your posture changes, which affects your breathing and delivery.  Try it and you’ll see how it really works.

Be properly prepared and your presentation will look, sound and feel really professional.

When all is said and done …

The end of a speech is often the toughest part.  People practise their opening, know what they want to say, but when they get to end they finish with more of a whimper than a bang!

The secret is to know what you want people to take away at the end.  What thought do you want to leave in their mind?  Do you want them to go away and think or jump up and take action?  What will make it easy for them to remember your ‘take-away’?

One of my speaking friends, Peter Roper, says ‘Start with the end in mind’ – you need to work this out FIRST, so everything in your speech leads you to this final point.  Then you need to deliver it with passion and energy.

If your speech ends with ‘that’s all I have to say.  Thank you’ – you’ll be forgotten.

If your speech ends with:

‘If you think this is easy – it isn’t!

If you think it’s not for you – think again!

If you don’t take action you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.  Now what will you do to take that first step?  Good luck!’

You’ll rouse them from inertia and have a much better chance of both you and your content sticking in their memories and getting at least some to DO something!

Can you make a presentation?

Depending on your experience, that request can result in anything from excitement to raw fear!

You now have to decide whether to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ – or even ‘can I think about it for a while?’.  What dictates your answer?

If the idea of standing up in front of a group of any size makes your knees shake and your voice wobble, then you probably think you should scream ‘Noooooo’ and run and hide until they’ve found some other mug to do the job.  If you’re a keen exhibitionist and love sharing your knowledge, you may be ready to grab any opportunity to do so and are saying ‘yes’ before the words are out of their mouths.

Neither of these is really going to ensure that the audience get the best possible presentation for their needs.  First, you should ask some questions, starting with:

“Why have you chosen me for this?”

If it’s just because you’re a good speaker or because they couldn’t persuade anyone else to do it, that’s not necessarily a good reason.  There must be a really good reason for choosing you as a presenter and it’s usually because you have specialist knowledge, or because you have passion about the subject – not just because you could speak on any subject confidently.

Next question: “Who are the audience?” and “What are they expecting to get from the presentation?”, followed by “What is their current level of knowledge on this subject?”

Once you have the answers to those questions you should have a better idea about whether you can deliver the goods!  If you have the knowledge, the passion, the information that the audience wants, but are lacking in the confidence department, don’t say ‘no’; get some help – both with putting your presentation together and with the skills to deliver it.

If there’s someone else who knows much more about this subject than you do, no matter how confident a speaker you are, don’t be tempted – suggest they do it and offer to help with their presentation.  You’ll get far more ‘brownie points’ as a result – and the audience will get a much better level of information.

Presenting with passion

Most subjects that people speak about have been spoken about before by other people, so what makes your presentation so different from everyone else’s?  The answer is your passion.

There is something about this subject that really gets you going and that’s what you need to convey to your audience, without browbeating them, confusing them or overloading them with information.  It’s all in the planning!

If you aren’t passionate about the subject and you’re planning to take your presentation onto a platform – think again.  You’ll probably deliver a competent, but uninspiring speech.  Speeches come to life when the speaker is excited – enthusiasm is infectious; how many people are catching yours?

This all comes back to your planning – what is it that you really want people to catch?  What will help them catch it?  What do you find yourself ’soapboxing’ about?  What gets you going?  Jot down the issues that relate to your big message – why is this important?  What happens when people don’t do it?  What happens when they do?  Get your case studies, anecdotes and stories lined up and get excited.

If you find that you’re adding ‘interesting’ facts, but they don’t raise your blood pressure, you can probably safely leave them out – or find a way to relate them to something that does get you hot under the collar.  It’s all part of the construction process.  Don’t add information for the sake of another couple of minutes of platform time, put in what counts, add the stories that illustrate how important this is and leave the mundane stuff for handouts or supporting material.

As you put your speech together your enthusiasm and passion will come to the surface and when you deliver you’ll catch your audience and infect them.

Making an impression on the platform

Creating a compelling speech is the first half of the equation, however, if you wander onto the platform in a boring grey suit and a pale shirt that doesn’t do anything for you – or a blouse or dress that drains your colour, you’ll lose a lot of the effort you’ve made.

You’ll all have heard of the phrase ‘dress to impress’ and when you stand up to speak it’s particularly important.  A professional speaking colleague once said ‘you should always be a little bit better dressed than your audience’!

Knowing which colours suit you and which don’t is a good first step.  Although popular wisdom says that a grey suit always looks smart and that a little black dress should be in every woman’s wardrobe, it doesn’t always apply.  Some men look drab in a grey suit and some women look ill in black!

Think about the compliments you’ve had – what were you wearing (and it may not have been specific to the colour – just a “You’re looking great today” indicates that something is working for you)?

Contrasts work well on the platform so a dark navy suit, a white shirt and a bold tie will work.  A single coloured suit for a woman or a bright jacket with a darker colour underneath.

Don’t wear anything (especially shoes) that you haven’t tried and tested – you should be totally unaware of your clothes so you can concentrate on your presentation – and pain shows in the face!  Don’t wear anything that might need adjusting – straps, scarves, waistbands, buttons, jewellery – every movement that distracts the audience takes away from your message.

Don’t be afraid of wearing something a little different – a colourful waistcoat, an unusual tie design (but not silly ties with cartoons), a fob watch, a signature necklace, a particular colour that you’ll ‘own’, an unusual pair of glasses (but think Dennis Taylor (snooker), rather than Elton John) – and you’ll plant a memory hook in the minds of your audience.

Get the outfit right and the presentation will make a huge impact.

Platform planning

The first time I got up in front of a group I was extremely nervous.  I was rooted to the spot; I fiddled with a pen (and my hair) and I focused on a nice friendly lady in the front row who happened to smile at me.  After a few minutes she became very uncomfortable and began to squirm with embarrassment.  I’ve learned a lot since then!

When you plan your speech you need to think about the movements you will make and the space you have and – more to the point – your own style.

It’s no good planning to pace like Tom Peters or leap about with excitement like Tony Robbins if that isn’t who you are.  Your movement has to come across as natural.  This means you need to be aware of what feels good to you and then build on that.

All this can be part of the creation process of the presentation – when you have a big point to make, think about what gestures, movements or pauses will help you to nail that thought into your audience’s minds.  It’s not an add-on – it’s part of the process.

If you think that a great presentation can be made standing behind a lectern, think again.  I’m not saying that great speeches have not been made from a lectern, but that you really have to be better than good to get away with it.  Get out from behind it and your audience can see the body language, the passion, the gestures – and the message is even easier to get across.

Find out how much space you have to work in – big gestures are great, but not if you are in danger of dislodging the fittings or somebody’s hat!  Making a journey from towards the back of a platform to the front to challenge the audience looks great on a big stage, but silly when only two or three paces are possible before you land in their laps!

Plan, prepare and then perform – and you’ll knock ‘em dead!

Planning a great speech

If you have been asked to make a presentation you need to be sure you can plan effectively and to do that you need all the following pieces of information in place first:

• The message you want people to go away with – usually a short one liner.

• The key points (2-4) that help you to arrive at that message.

• The supporting information for each key point.

• At least one story, anecdote or case study that demonstrates each key point in action – for longer speeches, longer stories or more of them.

• Your opening statement – how you’ll get their attention.  This should be provocative, confrontational or attention grabbing in some way.

• The introductory opening that follows this statement to tell people where you’re going and why.

• Any props you will use and the means of placing them on stage so you don’t spoil your opening by coming on carrying stuff you’ll need later.

• Visual aids – whether you decide to use this or not is the first decision and, if you decide to use it, what your visuals will be and how they’ll help you in getting your message across.

• An introduction for the MC to bring you on.

• An overview of your presentation (and a short biography) to send to the organisers up front so they know what the take-aways will be for the audience.

This is the right order to do all these things too – start with the end in mind!  It seems like a huge list, but if you work through it, your presentation will be focused, entertaining and deliver real value.