You probably recognize the symptoms. Palms sweaty, throat scratchy. A band of pressure stretches across your forehead from temple to temple. Knots in your stomach and your pulse racing. Breathing comes in short, shallow bursts. Coming down with the flu? No. You’re about to make a group presentation.
“After more than thirty-five years in front of an audience,” says Stephen Eggleston, a speaking and presentation consultant of Alexandria, Virginia, “I still get jittery when I’m delivering a new program.”
With prospective sales, commissions, clients, permits, and perhaps, even jobs on the line, it’s little wonder that surveys consistently rank public speaking among the top human fears. In some polls, public speaking rates ahead of death.
Yes, some people, it seems, would prefer to die than face an audience.
“People would rather be in the coffin than speak at the funeral,” says Cindy Peterson, owner of Presentations For Results, a coaching and consulting firm in Boise, Idaho.
Should speaking in front of a group really be that terrifying?
A host of experts who earn their living through the spoken word all give a resounding answer: no!
“People think they need to be perfect when they make a presentation, but they don’t have to be,” says Peterson. “That’s where the fear starts.”
While presentation perfection may be achievable only by the experienced few, there are plenty of simple techniques and practices that can transform the routine into the memorable, a yawn-and-fiddle session into a momentous meeting.
“There’s no magic to presentations,” says Michael Thompson, chair of the Marriott School’s Organizational Leadership and Strategy Department. “But there are steps to take to improve.”
But first, a quick definition. What qualifies as a presentation? “There’s a difference in giving a report and making a presentation. In reports, you’re saying, ‘This is how things are. Business is up in this department. In this department, it’s down.’ You say what you need to say, keep it simple, then sit down,” says Eggleston. “With a presentation, you’re asking for something.”
So what do the experts say will help you shine the next time you find yourself in front of a group asking for something? Here’s a sampling of their advice.
Prepare, Prepare, and Then Prepare Some More
Lenny Laskowski of Newington, Connecticut, is the owner of LJL Seminars, which specializes in improving public speaking and presentation skills, and author of several books, including 10 Days to More Confident Public Speaking.
“The most important thing people can do to increase their chance of success is properly prepare,” he says.
Part of preparation is knowing your subject in-depth. Audiences expect you to be the expert. The other part of preparation is working on your presentation skills and techniques. Combine the two—your subject expertise and good presentation skills—and you’re on the way to winning over your audience.
“Success all comes down to knowing your subject. Every good presenter understands that,” Eggleston explains. “You already have the advantage. You’re up in front of them, on a stage or at a podium. That automatically makes you their leader. Don’t lose that advantage through lack of preparation.”
Peterson recommends rehearsing in front of a camera as part of the preparation. Video doesn’t lie. Taping your rehearsal may be painful, but it pays. “Have a friend or spouse tape you. On video, you only have one chance. It’s worth the investment.”
Thompson suggests that presenters take an extra step by rehearsing with a storyboard, “which is everything the audience will see,” and a script, “which is everything that is said.” A storyboard and script chart every step of the way, producing a powerful tool for improving presentation skills.
Added preparation pays other dividends. You’ll be more comfortable during the presentation, allowing you to cue in on the audience and how it’s reacting to what you’re saying. Knowing your subject in-depth also allows for flexibility during presentations—especially those where the audience wants to take a slightly different track than you had planned.
A common thread in most failed presentations is lack of preparation. Winging it doesn’t work, no matter how skilled you are. “Practicing and rehearsing are the most important things you can do,” Laskowski says.
Know What Your Audience Wants
If preparation is the most important step for a successful presentation, knowing what your audience wants is a close second. From the moment you accept the presentation opportunity, learn as much as you can about the people and the purpose of the meeting. Learning should continue right up to the time your presentation begins. Eggleston, with thirty-five years of public speaking experience and coaching, employs the same routine before each presentation.
“What you do fifteen minutes before your presentation is critical. I always walk around the audience. ‘Hi, I’m Steve, nice to see you. Whatcha’ looking for today? What’s important to you? What do you want to take home?’ If you spend those fifteen minutes chatting up the audience, you’ll know what they’re there for.”
If your material doesn’t match the audience’s expectations, sometimes those fifteen minutes mean a change in what you had planned to present. But that’s okay. If you’re knowledgeable about the topic, adjustments aren’t difficult, Eggleston says. “You can make them on the fly.”
“It’s vital to know your audience. If you wait until the start of a presentation to get to know your audience, you’ve waited too long,” Laskowski says.
Peterson says, “You’ve got to answer the audience’s questions, ‘What’s in it for me? And why am I here?’ Once you do, you’ve hit a hot button, and they’ll listen.”
Connect With Your Audience
While knowing what your audience wants is essential to a presentation’s success, it doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ve connected with your audience. There’s a difference. Successful presenters have the knack of drawing in their audience. They know how to get audiences to like them.
That’s critical, according to Thompson. “Presenters will be judged on ‘Are they likeable?’”
You don’t have much time to make a positive impression. “I’ve heard that the first seven minutes are crucial to an audience, but I think it’s even shorter than that,” Peterson says. “If you keep all your good stuff for the middle of the presentation, it’s too late. You’ve probably lost them.”
Other experts agree the time to connect is short, often brutally short. “Eight seconds. That’s all you’ve got to connect with your audience,” says Steve Cannariato, of Boise, Idaho, who has instructed commercial real-estate investment seminars for more than fifteen years. “In the beginning of a presentation, the audience might give you the benefit of the doubt and you might have a few more seconds. But without a fast connection, can you spell ‘glazed over?’”
The list of quick connections is long. Tell a story. Use a prop. Play off something you see in the group. Refer to a current event. Show a great visual. Ask a question. Draw a picture. Show a punchy video clip. Hold up a newspaper displaying a relevant headline. Repeat a quotation. Toss out a startling statistic.
“Grabbers can be a lot of things. But not long and not a lot of detail,” Peterson says.
Secretary of State Colin Powell connected with a worldwide audience in February by holding up a small vial of white powder during an address to the United Nation’s Security Council. The vial represented how such a small amount of anthrax could devastate an entire nation.
“It was a little thing, but very effective,” Peterson says of Powell’s prop. “It connected emotionally; it got right into your gut. It will be the enduring image of the session.”
As Powell demonstrated, even when presenting in front of large audiences, it’s imperative to get the group’s attention, connect, then maintain the connection. In front of thousands, Eggleston, the Virginia-based consultant, has been known to zero in on an individual and bellow, “Hey! Are you still paying attention?”
Maybe that’s not quite your style, but the point remains: “Keep looking out there. Keep your audience involved. Ask questions. Make eye contact. It doesn’t matter if it’s an audience of twenty or twenty thousand,” Eggleston says.
It’s a Journey and a Destination
Presentations need a definite starting point and ending point, with well-crafted messages tailored to the audience along the way. A common fault, especially among inexperienced presenters, is the tendency to wander off the topic, or worse, not be sure where the presentation is headed to begin with.
Effective presentations are not voyages into the unknown, but well-charted journeys with little left to chance, the experts stress.
“You need a clear objective. You need a road map in mind of where you are going to start and end. Your audience must understand where you are headed,” Cannariato says.
Your Parents Were Right—Just Be Yourself
The temptation is almost irresistible, especially for less experienced presenters. You witness a great presentation and decide the next time you’re in front of an audience, you want to be just like Mike, or Dave, or Sally, or whoever gave the terrific presentation.
That’s a mistake. A big mistake, presentation coaches say. BYU’s Thompson, in fact, says it may be the most fundamental error of all.
“The first rule (of presentations) is ‘know thyself,’” he says. “You need to find your voice, your authoritative voice on a given topic. Your presentation must contain a principle or topic that is important to you and applies to your audience’s everyday work situation.”
Cannariato seconds that notion. “You’ve got to be yourself. Your natural self has to come through—that’s when we’re at our best anyway. Audiences will see through you. You may not be really funny, so don’t try to be humorous.”
The opposite is also true, according to Peterson. “Some people are big and expressive, but along the way, they’re told to speak quietly and keep their arms at their sides. Let your own personality come out.”
Eggleston puts it another way. “The audience picks up on insincerity immediately. And I mean immediately.”
It’s what your parents said to you years ago. Just be yourself and people will like you and listen.
Passion Counts
You’ve been there before, settling into your chair with high expectations as a presentation begins. The topic should be interesting and relevant. The timing is good. You’re hoping to learn something that will make you a better manager or employee, and maybe even a better human being.
Ten minutes later, you’re looking at your watch, thinking of the work you could be doing if you were back at your desk, or daydreaming about the round of golf you played last Saturday. The ten o’clock break can’t come fast enough, or last long enough. And all the while, the speaker drones on.
The emotional physics are simple. If the speaker is boring, the audience will be bored. If the speaker cares about and believes in what he or she is presenting, the audience will likely care and believe too.
“Moods are literally viral. A moderate amount of emotional energy, even on perfunctory presentations, is vital,” observes Thompson.
Eggleston takes it a step further. “The trick is knowing your subject and then believing in it.” What if you’re not a true believer? “That makes you an actor. And not a very good one.”
A good presentation, says Laskowski, is well-organized, and delivered with confidence and knowledge. A great presentation, he says, “has all the attributes of a good one, plus presenters demonstrate their passion for the subject and show enthusiasm.”
Visual Aids: They’re Gravy, Not Meat and Potatoes
In this day of great gadgets, gizmos, and gimmicks, the day of grease pens on clear overheads is long gone.
Right? Wrong.
Presentation coaches have a healthy respect for the simple tools of presentation and a lingering mistrust of presentations that rely on high technology.
“You can overpower the audience. Technology is a means to an end. You can get so excited about what you’ve created, the twirling and whirling images, that you lose the message,” says Cannariato. “The object lesson becomes bigger than the message, and in the end, the audience remembers the object and not the lesson. You can become a technology junkie. Click and go, click and go.”
How much high tech is appropriate? Peterson has a rule of thumb. “Presenters should ask themselves the question, ‘If something happens to my technology, could I make the presentation anyway?” If the answer is no, he says, you’re relying too much on technology.
Another drawback is that technology can leave the audience behind.
“You become so focused on getting through the show that you don’t allow the audience to interact. You lose flexibility,” says Peterson. “Maybe what was really important to someone was three slides back, but you’re just clicking ahead.”
If you want to really stand out, think retro. Thompson says, “Sometimes in a long line of presentations, the more primitive visual aids—flip charts, overheads—hold everyone’s attention much better. They stand out because they’re different.”
Still have a drawer filled with old grease pens? Better hang on to them.
Herd Those Butterflies
Cindy Peterson is used to performing in front of crowds not only in her current job but also as a world-class speedskater who appeared in two events during the 1976 Winter Olympics, representing the United States. Does she still get butterflies when standing before a group?
“Always,” she says.
She’s not alone. Thompson says he’s intrigued by the number of top executives who are “anxious and fearful about speaking publicly.”
A case of the nerves is not necessarily a bad thing.
“Stage fright provides energy. A high-anxiety speaker is usually a lot more exciting than a low-anxiety speaker,” says Thompson.
Peterson welcomes the jitters. “I like to be nervous. It raises your focus to a new level. Nerves are good. It’s what you do with them that counts. You’ve got to herd those butterflies.”
Thompson recommends that presenters worry about their topic and message, then their audience. “By the time you do that, you won’t have much ‘worry’ left in you about your presentation.”
Other techniques to put your nervous energy to work include exercising, rehearsing the presentation, circulating among the audience beforehand, breathing exercises, and reminding yourself that the audience wants you to do well.
Lack of nervousness could be more serious than a case of the jitters.
“If you’re not nervous, you probably aren’t excited about your presentation, or don’t believe in what you are saying,” Peterson says.
Keep It Short, Keep It Simple
Few things frustrate people more quickly than feeling their time is being wasted. When it comes to presentations, less is usually more.
“Say you had a three-hour block of time. What if you only used an hour? Will people really be mad?” asks Peterson.
Thompson illustrates by analogy. You’re about to make a presentation to the company’s CEO. Suddenly, he gets an urgent phone call and must leave the meeting. He invites you to ride the elevator down thirty-eight floors with him and says, “Give me a summary of what you were going to say.”
“Often, the elevator version is more effective than what you had planned,” Thompson says. “The scarcest resource an organization has is its time, especially an executive’s time. Your presentations need to be crisp and compressed.”
Adds Peterson, “Be basic, be simple, be concrete.”
Much can be at stake when you’re making a presentation. Maybe even
your career. “The ability to present is probably the number one skill lacking today,” Peterson says. “If you can’t present well, you’re not going to move up in the company.”
Eggleston concurs. “Even a job interview is basically a one-on-one presentation, where you’re trying to sell yourself.”
Little wonder that your knuckles might turn white as you grip the podium. Even the professionals say those worrisome symptoms—sweaty palms, pounding temples, knots in your stomach—probably never will completely disappear before you stand up, clear your throat, and begin your presentation. But that doesn’t mean presenting should be regarded as a near-death experience.
Preparation, knowing and connecting with your audience, keeping your messages short and simple, just being yourself, putting butterflies to work for you, and judicious use of visual aids will practically ensure that you live to present another day.
Making a Splash: Swan Dives or Belly Flops
ABOUT TEN YEARS AGO, KAYE T. HANSON WAS GETTING SET TO CONDUCT A TRAINING SESSION AT AN OIL COMPANY’S HEADQUARTERS IN NEW JERSEY FOR A GROUP OF COMPANY EXECUTIVES FROM TEXAS.
Just before the session began, a news story broke that shook the entire class: An earthquake had rattled south-central Texas with reports of widespread damage. Through no fault of her own, Hanson was caught in a presenter’s nightmare.
“You can imagine how they reacted. I’d lost their attention before the session began,” says Hanson, now an assistant professor of management communication at the Marriott School.
Face it. Sometimes, jumping into a presentation results in a belly flop rather than a swan dive. Perhaps your material is wrong for the audience. Maybe you’re scheduled for the last afternoon of a weeklong meeting. Or you may have been thrust into the presenter’s role at the last minute. And there’s always the chance that an earthquake half a continent away rattled your audience’s attention.
“Their minds were all on home and their families, but they couldn’t be there,” Hanson recalls. And the class had to go on.
Her approach? Instruct the class in short bursts, with frequent long breaks to allow the attendees to call home. The class went on, the material was covered, though at a different pace and in a different atmosphere than Hanson had planned.
Every audience gives clues to a presenter, from the good (steady eye contact, people sitting forward in their chairs, active participation) to the not-so-good (wandering gazes, side conversations, little or no reaction, and yes, even dozing).
If reading the audience suggests you’re clunking instead of clicking, Hanson has advice. Consider shortening the presentation. Tell a story. Take a break. Ask questions. Turn the lights up a notch.
“Often, though, there’s no way out but to go straight through,” Hanson says. “So go.”
A common problem is fatigue. Hanson suggests a straightforward approach when facing an audience with drooping eyelids.
“Say, ‘Look, I know you’re exhausted, but if you stay with me for thirty or sixty more minutes, I’ll get you out of here early.’ They’ll usually rally.”
But if you can’t blame earthquakes in Texas or late-evening bashes for a less-than-enthusiastic reaction, what then?
“Ask yourself, ‘What could I have done differently?’” Hanson advises. “Could the introduction be clearer? Did I prepare with a specific audience in mind? Where were they interested, where did I lose them? Then fix it. Tinker with whatever issues you come up with and try again.”
Never be too hard on yourself. The audience has some responsibility, too. “Sometimes, no matter how dazzling, charming, or prepared you are, they aren’t ready to hear your message,” Hanson says. “That’s okay. You can only be responsible for your part of the presentation.”
The ups and downs of presentations are part of the appeal, Hanson says. They represent the chance for not only the audience but also the presenter to come away from the experience a more knowledgeable person.
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Article written by Donald S. Smurthwaite
Photography by Bradley H. Slade
About the Author
Donald S. Smurthwaite has worked in public communications and as a freelance writer for more than twenty-five years. He resides in Boise, Idaho and is the author of four LDS novels. He earned his BS in communications from BYU in 1977.
